SLNA is among the teams conceding the most goals in V.League 2017

(Baonghean.vn) - Looking at the players on the SLNA defense list such as Ngoc Hai, Van Khanh, Minh Duc, Manh Hung and goalkeeper Nguyen Manh, few people would think that, with such human resources, the Nghe An team is in the top of the teams conceding the most goals in V-League 2017.

Closing the first leg of V-League 2017, the Nghe team after 13 matches conceded 20 goals and ranked in the top 3 teams with the worst defense, after Long An 31 goals and SXKT. Can Tho 25 goals. With a goal difference of -4, SLNA is also considered to have "blunt offense, poor defense" in the V-League 2017 field. Up to now, except for HAGL's offense, the other 12 teams have broken through the defense of the Nghe team - long considered the training ground for defenders for the national team.

"Dull attack, poor defense"

It must be admitted that coach Nguyen Duc Thang has players with defensive caliber. Most notable are the central defender duo Que Ngoc Hai and Hoang Van Khanh, in addition to names like Minh Duc, Pham Manh Hung or goalkeeper Nguyen Manh who used to play for the national team. However, Que Ngoc Hai and Pham Manh Hung are 2 of 8 players who have scored own goals in silly situations.

When called up to play for the national team, most of the Nghe players, most notably Ngoc Hai, often play better than when playing for SLNA, making fewer personal mistakes. Many times when facing foreign players, taller in stature, the Nghe players play quite confidently. But that is not often revealed when they play for SLNA.

The pressure was always on Nguyen Manh's goal because the midfield could not hold the ball.

First of all, 2/3 of SLNA's goals were conceded at the end of the match when their physical strength was not guaranteed. Using 2 strikers for the attack, SLNA's defense always had to brace itself to resist the physical attacking style of the foreign players. Most coaches constantly asked for high balls into the 16.5m area, exhausting the SLNA defenders, waiting for them to "run out of battery" which easily led to mistakes. The goal conceded in the 94th minute at Hang Day Stadium in the match against Hanoi FC due to substitute defender Sy Nam's failure to control the ball was the most specific example.

The weakness in aerial combat of the Nghe An team in recent seasons has not been improved and has been continuously exploited by other teams. SLNA defenders are often slower than their opponents, so they cannot stop the attack, especially the foreign players who play with their heads. Foreign players Anthony Stevens (Hai Phong), Sadio Diao (S.Khanh Hoa), Patyyo (Thanh QN) have played football in Vietnam for a long time and can understand this "weak point".

In the 4 basic techniques of defense: tackling, clearing, intercepting and blocking, Nghe An players have a tradition of tackling and overusing them quite a lot. When analyzing the reason why SLNA only holds 34% of the ball possession time, journalist Duc Sao gave the following statistics: tackling 22 times, blocking 13 times, intercepting 9 times and clearing 31 times.

When Ngoc Hai, Van Vinh and his teammates cleared the ball 31 times, tackled the ball 22 times, while Hanoi had 13 and 10 times, it was enough to understand why the attackers were "hungry" for the ball. Not being able to keep the ball at their feet caused the defense to be constantly "hit by waves" by Van Quyet and his teammates throughout the match. The pressure of the whole match was on the defense and goalkeeper Nguyen Manh could hardly avoid personal mistakes.

The break in the first leg is the time for the duo Hong Thanh - Duc Thang to strengthen the midfield.

Need to change tactics

With only 275 passes compared to 531 passes of the home team, the accuracy rate only reached 69.45%, it is clear that the error leading to SLNA's 1-0 loss in the match against Hanoi FC and the first leg was not only for the defense. Against a strong opponent, it is difficult to blame SLNA players for having to defend, but against teams of equal or even lower level, the Nghe An team still only relies on speed to launch attacks, which is what makes the audience worried.

It is clear that from the training stage, the tactical planning and the compliance with the instructions of the coaching board are showing many mistakes. Sending both foreign players back to participate in defense is only a temporary solution, it is difficult to play like that for the whole season. If they cannot improve their physical strength, aerial ability and find someone to "control" the midfield area, SLNA will have a hard time improving their position.

An Thanh