Song Lam Nghe An suffered losses in force before the confrontation with Hanoi Police.

From the mental boost

Lam River Nghe Anhas gone through 9 rounds with poor results. The home team Vinh has only won 5 points with 5 draws and 4 losses, ranking second to last in the rankings.

However, after nearly 2 months of V-League break to make way for the Vietnam National Team to participate in the Asean Cup, coach Phan Nhu Thuat has made a tactical revolution. And this seems to have partly shown signs of revival in the Nghe An team. Song Lam Nghe An found its first victory in the new season when meeting SHB Da Nang in the 1/8 round of the 2024/25 National Cup. This victory is a spiritual medicine to help coach Phan Nhu Thuat's team be more confident in the next stage of the V-League.

"This victory means a lot to my students. The Nghe players will play more confidently when the V-League returns. In the National Cup match, my students played hard and exceeded their abilities. I hope they will play with that spirit in the next stage of the season" - Coach Phan Nhu Thuat shared.

Target to aim

However, in round 10 of the V-League, Song Lam Nghe An will have to face the "high mountain" named Cong An Ha Noi. The former V-League 2023 champion possesses a force of many stars in the squad. This will bring great challenges to coach Phan Nhu Thuat's team on the trip to Hang Day Stadium.

1 point in the match against Cong An Ha Noi is probably the goal that the coaching staff of Song Lam Nghe An wants to aim for. To achieve this goal, coach Phan Nhu Thuat will definitely focus on defense before thinking about scoring away goals.

"Song Lam Nghe An's squad includes many young players who do not have much experience in competition, so we have built a different playing style compared to before. Song Lam Nghe An will focus more on the defense front, I believe that in the coming time, the home team's playing style will operate more smoothly" - Mr. Thuat said.

And to effectively limit the opponent's attacking power, Song Lam Nghe An has built a 4-2-3-1 formation instead of 3-5-2 as before. The strength of this new formation is better defense, along with faster counter-attack transitions. In particular, the role of the duo Olaha and Dinh Xuan Tien is extremely important.

Dinh Xuan Tien will play in the position of a shuttle midfielder, with the task of providing the ball for striker Olaha. With the ability to play independently and always have highly unpredictable moves, Olaha is expected to create diverse ways to penetrate the opponent's goal.

Loss of force

However, this faced a big disadvantage when the striker wearing the number 7 shirt suffered a thigh injury and could not be present in the match against Hanoi Police.

Most likely, Kuku will replace Olaha to fill the striker position. However, the player wearing the number 10 shirt has revealed many limitations, when he has not shown the ability to sweep and finish with versatility. Therefore, the absence of Olaha will cause many difficulties for coach Phan Nhu Thuat's team.

Not only Olaha is absent, defender Ho Van Cuong and striker Phan Xuan Dai are also unable to play due to injury. Since returning from Hanoi Police, former defender of Vietnam U23 team - Ho Van Cuong has been constantly sitting in the cabin. He was unlucky when he suffered thigh, back and most recently heel injuries. Without Ho Van Cuong, Song Lam Nghe An's ability to attack the ball on the right wing will be limited.

As for Phan Xuan Dai, this player also has a shoulder injury and is in the process of recovery.

However, fortunately for Song Lam Nghe An, the club has recently recruited a rehabilitation doctor from Japan. This doctor has scientific and highly effective injury rehabilitation methods. Hopefully, with the care of doctor Kawaguchi Kentarou, the injured players of Song Lam Nghe An will quickly recover and return to the field with the best performance.

However, first of all, Song Lam Nghe An will need to prepare the best tactics for the players who will be replaced. Nghe An fans hope that after the first victory against SHB Da Nang, Song Lam Nghe An will have a strong enough boost to enter the match against Cong An Ha Noi with the highest fighting spirit, thereby bringing about positive results.

Song Lam Nghe An will travel to Hang Day Stadium to meet Cong An Ha Noi. The match will take place at 7:15 p.m. on January 18.