Is Song Lam Nghe An lenient when trying out amateur players from Japan?

Poor background

In an interview with Nghe An Newspaper reporter, Mr. Hideaki Shoji - Technical Director of the ClubLam River Nghe Ansaid: "The biggest limitation that Song Lam Nghe An is facing is the defense". In particular, the quality of personnel in the lower line is an alarming problem for Song Lam Nghe An. The domestic players are both inexperienced and weak in mentality, and the foreign central defenders are not very good either. Zaracho has brought great disappointment when he revealed his slowness, lack of precision in judgment and could not create support for his teammates in the defense line.

Therefore, in order for the Vinh home team to escape the bottom group, Song Lam Nghe An first needs to add more players to the backline.

In particular, changing foreign central defenders is the first option that coach Phan Nhu Thuat is aiming for. Realizing that this is a necessary option, Song Lam Nghe An has decided to try out some foreign players. And the first candidate to appear at Vinh Stadium in this "blood transfusion" of the defense is central defender Wada Koji from Japan.

The strange thing is that the reporter could not find information about this player on the network systems. Wada Koji is not even valued on Transfermarkt. This is a reputable global player valuation site and many players playing in the V-League are also on this site.

As it turns out, Wada Koji is just an amateur player, having played college football in Japan. And to understand better, we can look at this midfielder's introduction - a poor resume.

According to the introduction, Wada Koji grew up in the Yokohama F Marinos Junior Youth youth football training center, with his forte being a center back. After playing for the Yokohama F Marinos youth team, due to not meeting the professional requirements, Wada Koji had to switch to amateur football for Sendai University.

In 2024, the Japanese player joined Taichung Futuro Football Club in the Taiwan Premier League. However, due to injury, Wada Koji could only play 3 matches throughout 2024. With his performance declining after a period of treatment, the central defender born in 2001 lost his official position at Taichung Futuro. In order to play more, Wada Koji decided to seek opportunities at Song Lam Nghe An.

Don't let "money lost and disease suffered"

At the invitation of Song Lam Nghe An, on the evening of December 12, Wada Koji arrived in Vinh city. After a night's rest, on the morning of December 13, the central defender born in 2001 went to the training ground with the Nghe players. In terms of physique, Wada Koji is a player with a relatively good height (1.87m), but is quite "thin".

During the trial at Vinh Stadium, in order to test Wada Koji's ability and ability to integrate with his colleagues, the Nghe An team's coaching staff gave many in-depth defensive exercises. In particular, coach Phan Nhu Thuat required the players to defend against the opponent's dribbling moves. The defenders must be able to judge the situation and successfully block the fast attacks of the opposing striker. In addition, the Nghe An team's coaching staff also required the students to compete for the ball fiercely, not afraid of collision.

Although it was his first trial, the Japanese midfielder showed great determination and effort in every move. However, his strength and ability to read situations have not shown the outstanding performance as expected.

Looking at the training session, Wada Koji often fell into a passive position when marking the striker on the opposite side, or more specifically, let Olaha pass him quite easily.

Perhaps, the coaching board of Nghe An team only realized that Wada Koji is a player who has shown a serious and professional training spirit. However, if we judge intuitively, this player is not good enough to bring positive changes to the defense of Song Lam Nghe An.

And once again, if Song Lam Nghe An wants to stay in the league this season, there is no other way but to strengthen the defense. Replacing the current foreign center-back is necessary, but the Vinh team also needs to be careful in replacing the old with the new, do not let "money be lost and disease" happen.