SLNA is increasingly fading, losing its identity

(Baonghean.vn) - In its glorious past, the Nghe An football team has always been proud to be the most traditional football team in Vietnam. However, in recent years, that brand has gradually faded away as the team has declined in the V-League.

When mentioning Song Lam Nghe An, of course, deep in the hearts of fans, there is always a special affection for the Nghe An football team. Throughout its history, the yellow shirt team has always demonstrated its traditional values ​​as well as built its own unique identity that cannot be confused with other football teams. That is because, in addition to owning a youth training center that is considered the number 1 in Vietnam, where many talents for the club and the National team are nurtured and produced. SLNA is also proud to be the only club that has remained strong in all V-League seasons, since Vietnamese football officially stepped onto the professional path in 2001.

In the past, SLNA has always been known as a team rich in identity.

This is a proud achievement for a "poor" football team, without any strong enough sponsors behind it. Especially during that same period, many clubs were weakened by the cruelty of the power of money. Even many clubs, despite possessing a long and proud tradition, still disappeared from the map of Vietnamese football, when they could not adapt to the strong change in football towards the market economy.

In the whirlpool of money power that influences the success or failure of clubs, which seems to sweep everything away, SLNA still stands firm and knows how to overcome difficulties to add to its tradition with 2 more V-League championships in 2001 and 2011. Before that, the Nghe An team also won the National Championship in 2000. In addition, SLNA also created a record when it won the National Super Cup 4 times. Not to mention winning most of the championships in the youth tournaments that SLNA participated in.

To achieve success as well as build its name and brand, in addition to focusing on youth training, SLNA also built its own unique and fiery style of play based on the strength of the team as well as the solidity of the defense. Surely anyone interested in Nghe An football will never forget the tackles that have become a trademark passed down through many generations of Nghe An football.

However, after being crowned the champion of the highest level of Vietnamese football in V-League 2011 under the reign of coach Nguyen Huu Thang. The Nghe team, for many different reasons, is gradually losing the identity of a team that, when mentioned, will make opponents respect. Currently, SLNA is only a name, a prestige from the glorious past. Now, the Nghe team has become fragile and vulnerable when even mid-level teams such as SXKT Can Tho, Than Quang Ninh or teams that have always known only to draw and lose like Ha Noi T&T can easily defeat the Nghe team. The psychological pressure of the young players, the expectations and financial capacity have caused SLNA to fall into crisis.

SLNA is gradually losing its identity in V-League 2016.

To find a reasonable explanation for this decline in identity and performance is a problem that only those involved can understand. However, there is a reality that everyone realizes: due to financial constraints, the Nghe An team is forced to swallow the bitter pill and watch the products they trained such as Cong Vinh, Trong Hoang, Van Hoan, Van Binh, Hoang Thinh, Quang Tinh... all leave one by one to find the promised land.

The 2016 V-League season has come to an end as SLNA has lost its identity and plummeted even though the tournament has only gone halfway. The team is still young and weak, ambition is gone, coach Ngo Quang Truong is powerless to arouse the fighting spirit of his players. The misery is even more compounded when the main source of motivation for the team, the support of the fans, is also decreasing with each match. The climax is the defeat against Hanoi T&T, an opponent that has never known the taste of victory when playing at Vinh Stadium, like the last straw that made the fans, despite their love, turn their backs on the team.

Although, for SLNA, relegation from the V-League is unlikely, however, what the Nghe An team is showing after 12 rounds is an alarm bell for the fading identity of the team which is considered to have the richest tradition in Vietnamese football.

Cao Anh