Song Lam Nghe An and the goal for the new season

Entering the 2023/2024 season, Song Lam Nghe An will witness many changes. Notably, more than half of the team's personnel are young players. Therefore, the Nghe An Club will have to face many challenges. That makes coach Phan Nhu Thuat have to set specific goals, in line with current strength.

PV: Song Lam Nghe An entered the 2023/2024 season by promoting a series of young players to join the first team. To adapt to the new personnel, what significant changes has the Song Lam Nghe An coaching staff made in terms of playing style and tactics compared to last season?

Coach Phan Nhu Thuat:Entering this season, Song Lam Nghe An has promoted a series of players from the youth team to replace the seniors who have left to find new clubs. This has forced us to rebuild the playing style and tactics to suit the current personnel. However, in each specific match, we will apply different tactics and tactics. The coaching staff of Song Lam Nghe An has determined that they will not be bound to a stereotypical playing style, but will always have flexibility to increase the variability in the way the game is operated, thereby making it difficult for the opponent to read the game.

PV: What do you think about the young players who have been promoted this season?

Coach Phan Nhu Thuat:Before the new season, in addition to organizing training, Song Lam Nghe An participated in a friendly tournament organized by Viettel Club. Through this tournament, I highly appreciate the young players who have just been promoted to the first team this season. They have a lot of potential, but they also need more time to develop more firmly.

PV: Looking at the momentum of the Vinh Stadium team before the V.League 2023/2024, in your opinion, what is the biggest concern that the home team has to face?

Coach Phan Nhu Thuat:Preparing for the new season,Lam River Nghe Anfacing many difficulties. In particular, many young players are busy participating in the 2023 National U21 Tournament and the National teams. Therefore, the time for them to practice together at Song Lam Nghe An is very limited. This has affected the integration between new players and old players. However, we will also try to build a suitable training program, helping them soon find a common voice in the Song Lam Nghe An team.

Reporter: The departure of Que Ngoc Hai and Xuan Manh in the central defender and anchor midfielder positions has left a huge void in terms of expertise. So what solutions do you have to help Song Lam Nghe An stand firm against teams with strong investment this season?

Coach Phan Nhu Thuat:It must be affirmed that in the last season, Que Ngoc Hai and Xuan Manh were two very important players for Song Lam Nghe An. These stars coming to the new club will be a great loss for the Nghe An team. The juniors who will replace the positions left by these two pillars certainly cannot immediately meet the professional requirements. However, we still boldly give them opportunities to help them mature early and in the near future they will contribute more effectively to the team.

PV: Setting goals for a season is very necessary, because in addition to giving clear direction to the players, it also creates interest from the audience for Song Lam Nghe An. So with the current force, what goals should the Vinh Stadium team aim for?

Coach Phan Nhu Thuat:It must be determined that this year's season will be full of challenges for Song Lam Nghe An. The Nghe team has many new players who are very young. In addition, the teams competing in the V.League 2023/2024 have quite even forces and high professional quality. Therefore, we need to look straight at the problem to set specific goals for each match. In each match, we will have high concentration and I hope that the students will enter the field with a spirit of desire, fighting with all their might for the flag and shirt.

PV: The opening match is always very important, especially this year when Song Lam Nghe An will play at Vinh Stadium. So how did the Nghe An team prepare for this match?

Coach Phan Nhu Thuat:In each match, we study the opponent carefully. The opening match of a new season always brings a lot of emotions. This year, Song Lam Nghe An has many changes, we also face a lot of pressure, but the Song Lam Nghe An team is determined to bring a good opening match at Vinh Stadium.

PV: In the opening match of the new season, Song Lam Nghe An will face Viettel. This is a team that the Vinh team has faced many times in recent seasons. What is your opinion about this team? What are their strengths that Song Lam Nghe An needs to be wary of?

Coach Phan Nhu Thuat:Viettel is a strong team consisting of many national players such as Nham Manh Dung, Phan Tuan Tai, Khuat Van Khang... In particular, they own star Nguyen Hoang Duc - the owner of the Golden Ball in 2021. It must be affirmed that this is a very strong team and they set high goals for this year's season. However, the coaching staff of Song Lam Nghe An has also studied the strengths of this team and will have a plan to overcome the opponent.

I believe the whole Song Lam Nghe An team will overcome all pressure and confidently dedicate a good match to the fans.

PV: Thank you for this interview!