SLNA and the foreign player dilemma: Knowing when to retreat in order to advance!

(Baonghean.vn) - With insufficient finances, SLNA will inevitably face difficulties in recruiting foreign players. Therefore, the team from Nghe An needs to acknowledge the reality and "make do with what it has."

Diego Fagan, Samson, Abass, and many other foreign players who left their mark in the V.League all once came to try out or play for SLNA. However, due to financial reasons and insufficient time to assess them, the Nghe An team all accepted their departure.

In the 2017 V.League season, SLNA continued to face difficulties in this area as Henry failed to meet professional requirements. Even as the second half of this year's V.League season has begun, SLNA is still hastily recruiting foreign players to strengthen their squad and attack.

Foreign player Olaha is gradually establishing his role at SLNA despite being a young player. Photo: Quang Trang

For foreign players to perform well in the V.League, they not only need to be fast, strong, fit, and have good finishing skills, but also need to be able to integrate. Therefore, they need at least one season to get used to the team's playing style and the Vietnamese football environment. This is coupled with other factors such as the food, weather, and cultural differences.

At the end of the first half of the season, SLNA had two months to select an outstanding foreign striker to solve their attacking problems. Some players who tried out at SLNA were rejected and immediately received lucrative offers from other clubs. Why, among dozens of foreign players seeking opportunities, has SLNA still not chosen anyone?

Foreign players possess strong physical attributes such as strength, acceleration, and tackling ability, along with ideal physiques, but they often struggle with finishing. Conversely, foreign players with good finishing skills may not meet the other requirements. Therefore, SLNA is still grappling with its old problem.

If a young, versatile player, fresh off the boat in Vietnam, possesses such formidable goal-scoring ability, then the Nghe An team simply doesn't have the financial resources to sign them. Either they won't come to Vietnam and will choose Thailand instead.

After three convincing matches in the National Cup and a disappointing draw against Than Quang Ninh at home, most Nghe An fans support the idea of ​​playing with only one foreign player, Olaha. As for the SLNA coaching staff, coach Nguyen Duc Thang believes that Ho Phuc Tinh is still weaker than the foreign players and that SLNA needs to strengthen its squad.

Of course, if they accept playing without foreign players but still maintain their form until the end of the season, the fans in Nghe An will not complain. Because after half a season in the V.League, the domestic strikers of SLNA will have accumulated some experience.

Striker Ho Phuc Tinh is perfectly capable of shouldering the responsibility of scoring goals if given complete trust. Photo: Quang Trang

The challenge now is how to ensure SLNA's domestic players still have opportunities to play, while also securing good foreign players to maintain their performance without incurring additional costs and time on foreign players. The only solution is for SLNA to retain their current squad, using the remaining V.League season as a time to test out the most suitable foreign players.

As long as they avoid relegation and don't perform too badly, the Nghe An team will have a number of promising young strikers in the 2018 V.League season. Furthermore, the first half of the season is an ideal time for SLNA to plan for the long term, especially for the following seasons.

June 29th is the deadline for finalizing the player list for the upcoming second half of the 2017 V.League season. Whether sooner or later, SLNA fans hope they find the most reasonable and effective solution. More importantly, they hope they don't repeat the mistakes of the past!

QT