Song Lam Nghe An: Willpower alone is not enough?

The powerful home team only scored one goal in the first half from a set piece and then had to rely on the talent of Van Lam and the crossbar and the goalpost to escape the equalizer. Not to mention the second half played with more players but the home team still did not completely dominate the game and in the end only won by a narrow 1-0 against the determined visitors even though the tournament had reached the final rounds.

Thai Ba Sang received a second yellow card, making the chance to score points against the home team impossible. Photo: Chung Le

If we only count in this final "endgame" match, when Song Lam Nghe An clearly has no more goals to strive for, then the will to compete and the motivation to compete are commendable. Young players like Xuan Tien, Van Cuong, Nam Hai... are playing more and more steadily alongside their seniors after valuable trials, including the match with the "dark horse" Binh Dinh. Goalkeeper Van Tien, although rarely on the field, is completely confident and brave. Key players like Ngoc Hai, Xuan Manh, Van Duc... always prove their superiority in expertise as well as fighting spirit in a match as well as the whole tournament...

But there are still things that prove the reality that the above mentioned advantages and the high fighting spirit of Song Lam Nghe An as it is now are completely insufficient, not enough compared to the requirements, have not and will not reduce or completely eliminate their fatal weaknesses. The goal conceded in the 3rd minute of the first half against the home team Binh Dinh came from a set piece situation, the direct marking error belonged to foreign player Oseni but overall it was still the fault of the defensive system.

And certainly this is not the first time Song Lam Nghe An has been defeated from a set piece situation. The steel, the super defensive quality of Song Lam Nghe An has almost been eroded, beaten to pieces, even though the team has Ngoc Hai. Maybe someone said in that situation, if Van Khanh had been added, things would have been different. Right and wrong because with Van Khanh, Ngoc Hai would have had a more compatible partner, but remember that when having this full central defender duo, Song Lam Nghe An still lost in set pieces as seen, still weak in defending high balls, 2nd balls, still got counter-attacked more than once or twice?

Remember in the defense of Song Lam Nghe An, until this 24th round, defenders Ba Sang (twice?), Van Khanh, Ngoc Hai, Dinh Hoang… received red cards one after another, 2 yellow cards equal 1 red card, 3 yellow cards enough to be “suspended”. This is the fatal “deadly” point of Song Lam Nghe An’s defense, even though the word “cutting nails, cutting iron” is gradually being forgotten? In the match against Binh Dinh, when the game was going very well, Ba Sang lost everything with a redundant, immature move.

There may be cases where the referee is too heavy-handed, such as the red card for Ngoc Hai, but in general, the defender is too hot-tempered and aggressive, the gap between being brutal and committing malicious fouls and being brave and determined is extremely fragile, it is very difficult to argue with the referee when they blow the whistle, it is impossible to justify. Obviously, this is a bad point, a minus point, that needs to be quickly eliminated because it directly harms the team as a whole.

A very notable detail in the match against Binh Dinh round 24: when Song Lam Nghe An played with one less player after the red card, the away team was awarded a direct free kick on the right wing in the direction of attack. Standing in front of the ball were Van Duc and Olaha? Oh my, the team was short of attackers but at the same time both the most important strikers retreated far from the goal to play the ball, what is the reason? What strange tactic is here? One person running tactically to distract from afar and the other person kicking the free kick? The result was Van Duc lofting the ball into a place where all the opponents were waiting, while Olaha stood and watched?

With home field advantage and a strong force, Binh Dinh still played cautiously, waiting deep for opportunities. Did they know that Song Lam Nghe An often suffered counterattacks? And the yellow-shirted army still rushed forward, even when they were short of men, and luckily goalkeeper Van Tien did not receive a direct red card when he quickly rushed out to block Rafaelson outside the penalty area from a counterattack situation...

To say that, will is the strength, the tradition of a poor team, to overcome all adversities. But now, no one says that Song Lam Nghe An is poor and being poor means only fighting relegation from one tournament to another. Now, will alone is a failure, an even more serious failure with errors, mistakes from the command area to serious and minor errors in every moment of the match. If the above inherent problems are not thoroughly overcome, the team will eventually only be stuck in the middle or bottom of the table?