Song Lam Nghe An - the strangest team in V.League 2019

After round 23, SLNA is ranked 4th on the rankings with 33 points, only 1 point behind the team above, Than Quang Ninh. The numbers also reflect that SLNA is the strangest team in V.League 2019. And if there had been good preparation at the beginning of the season, SLNA would have been a force in this year's season.

The numbers speak for themselves.

Firstly, SLNA is the team with the most draws in V.League 2019 up to now with 9 draws, 8 wins and 6 losses. In those 9 draws, there were 7 matches where the Nghe team held their opponents to a goalless draw. After drawing with Than Quang Ninh, SLNA drew consecutively with Nam Dinh, Viettel, Hai Phong, Khanh Hoa, SHB Da Nang and most recently Hai Phong.

The reason why coach Nguyen Duc Thang and his team became the "king of draws" in V.League this year is because the attack was too bad, weak in finishing at the beginning of the season. In the first leg, SLNA only scored 13 goals and conceded only 9 goals. However, now that there are still 3 more matches in V.League 2019, SLNA's attack has scored 17 more goals, an average of 1.7 goals/match.

When Vinicius scored, SLNA flourished. Photo: Huu Thanh

In the last 5 matches when no longer facing a force crisis due to injuries, SLNA had 3 wins, 1 draw and 1 unlucky loss to TP. HCM, with a total score of 10. Obviously, if Phan Van Duc and Pham Xuan Manh had not been injured and had solved the finishing problem early, the Nghe An team would have had a solid position in the top 3.

This achievement is thanks to the rising form of striker Ho Tuan Tai and rookie Joel Vinicius. At the moment, Tuan Tai has 8 goals and Vinicius has 5 goals, equal to Michael Olaha's achievement. Although having difficulty integrating, Vinicius's scoring efficiency is quite good, 5 goals/9 matches and Olaha's 5 goals/22 matches.

Defensively, SLNA is still the team with the best defense in V.League with 23 goals conceded. The two teams with the most solid defenses are Hanoi (24 goals) and Ho Chi Minh City (25 goals). This achievement also means that SLNA has had 11 clean sheets.

SLNA's domestic players are still very good but often get injured. Photo: Huu Thanh

Of the 23 goals SLNA conceded, there were 4 goals in the match against Hanoi and 3 situations where Dinh Dong, Quang Tinh and Dinh Hoang were awarded penalties. Notably, SLNA is one of the teams that benefited the least from penalties in the V.League with 2 goals from Khac Ngoc and Vinicius.

To have a solid defense, there are great contributions from faces such as goalkeeper Nguyen Manh, center back Damir Memovic and 2 full backs who used to play for the national team. Coach Duc Thang revealed that SLNA has focused more on defense and improved their ability to play in the air. However, this shows that SLNA's playing style is too perfectionist, boring perfectionist in the first part of the season.

Top 4 within reach

Although only 1 point behind the 3rd ranked team, SLNA's position at this time is very easy to be overthrown after 1 loss. With only 3 matches left in V.League 2019, it can be said that the Nghe An team still holds the right to decide to finish in the medal position.

SLNA was the most cautious team among the 14 teams in V.League 2019. According to statistics, SLNA did not score any goals in the first 15 minutes. However, SLNA scored 8 goals in the 15th - 30th minutes and 7 goals in the last 15 minutes of the match.

For the rest of the season, SLNA will host Hanoi and Than Quang Ninh and close the season with a trip to Quang Nam Club. If they win against Hanoi, the above opportunity for coach Duc Thang and his team will be even greater. Because in the first leg, SLNA played better than Quang Ninh and Quang Nam, earning 4 points.

One of the bright spots of SLNA this season is the rise and maturity of Xuan Manh, Ngoc Toan, Tuan Tai and especially the appearance of foreign player Damir Memovic in the defense system.

Pham Xuan Manh's return gives SLNA more options in attack. Photo: Huu Thanh

In V.League 2018, SLNA, despite facing difficulties, still finished in 4th place in a spectacular way with 12 wins, 6 draws and 8 losses. The achievement of the Nghe An team in the 2017 season was 8th place with 34 points, 8 draws, 10 wins and 8 losses. Meanwhile, in the 2016 season when coach Duc Thang took charge, SLNA finished in 9th place with 9 wins, 7 draws and 10 losses.

It seems that the Nghe An team can completely repeat the ranking achievement of V.League 2018. However, due to problems with sponsorship at the beginning of the season, dozens of injuries and foreign strikers shining too late, SLNA suddenly lost the opportunity from a championship contender./.

Coach Nguyen Duc Thang was surprised because SLNA won big against B. Binh Duong.

(Baonghean.vn) - Head coach of Song Lam Nghe An said that before the match he highly appreciated B. Binh Duong and was quite surprised with the final result.