Song Lam Nghe An: Is 2 months enough to patch up the defense?

(Baonghean.vn) - The 2-month break of V.League 2017 will be an opportunity for SLNA's coaching staff to focus all their efforts on patching up the leaky defense.

The defense of the Nghe An team has become a “known, painful, and talked about” problem since the beginning of the season. The reality is too obvious, the fragility of the SLNA backline has been continuously reflected by experts and fans with high density, even somewhat harshly.

But everything remained stagnant, Nguyen Manh still regularly went into the net to pick up the ball as if that was his main job. Of course, SLNA could not achieve positive results and a position in the bottom half of the rankings was the completely correct result.

SLNA's coaching staff still cannot find a solution to overcome the weakness in defense. Photo: Tram Uyen

After the 16th round of V.League 2017, SLNA and B.Binh Duong only had 1 clean sheet (ranked above the bottom team Long An with all 16 matches conceded). Obviously, allowing the opponent to score in 15/16 matches clearly reflects the weakness of the Nghe An team's defense.

Like B.Binh Duong or Long An, it is understandable because those two teams do not have quality players in defense. The Go Dau team said goodbye to center back Dinh Luat and right back Au Van Hoan before the season. Meanwhile, coach Nguyen Minh Phuong (Long An) only has players with average skills.

What about SLNA? The defense is the central defender duo of the Vietnam national team (Ngoc Hai - Van Khanh), the reserve for that pair is Minh Duc - former captain of the Vietnam national team. Standing in the goal is none other than the number 1 goalkeeper of Vietnamese football today - Nguyen Manh. Yet, the home team Vinh still conceded silly goals.

In football, no matter how high-class the defense is, it is difficult to avoid elementary mistakes that lead to the team's defeat. However, the mistakes of SLNA's defense are truly a "chronic disease" that has not found a cure. It does not stop at the individual level, in isolated situations, but has become systematic and occurs regularly.

Center back Minh Duc (number 19) has continuously made mistakes in recent matches. Photo: Tram Uyen

Just look at the 3 goals SLNA conceded against Than Quang Ninh, Quang Nam (Minh Tuan's equalizer 3-3) and Ho Chi Minh City Club (Hong Viet's goal) all came from the elementary mistakes of veteran center back Minh Duc. In those situations, the player born in 1983 could have simply resolved the situation instead of being confused and slow, allowing the opponent to seize the opportunity to defeat goalkeeper Nguyen Manh.

At first glance, it was all the fault of central defender Minh Duc, but if we look closely, it was the entire defensive system. The distance was too far and the lack of understanding between the satellites playing around Minh Duc were the main reasons for those goals. If only Nguyen Manh had been quicker and more decisive to come out, Van Khanh/Ngoc Hai had read the situation better to support his seniors... those situations would have definitely stopped at the dangerous level.

Anyway, everything has passed, mentioning it is only for reference. If the SLNA coaching staff and players do not learn from their mistakes, then goalkeeper Nguyen Manh will have to go into the net to pick up the ball many more times from his own mistakes and those of his teammates. Is 2 months enough time to patch up the holes in the defense? I'm afraid it's a bit difficult!

Thanh Hung