Why did Osmar have to play as a substitute?

When buying Osmar, SLNA's coaching board hopes that this Brazilian foreign player and Olaha will become a double-barreled cannon like Fagan and Stevens of Hai Phong. The foreign players will both play aggressively and have personal skills to create opportunities, fight in the air and shoot from a distance. This is a style of play that V-League defenders are very afraid of, especially in the final minutes of the match when their physical strength is reduced.

The “no Osmar” option

In fact, Osmar is not a “wooden leg” striker but is a picky type. This player’s strength is dribbling at speed to get past the opposing defenders. SLNA’s midfield must create passes into the gaps so that this foreign player can accelerate and overwhelm the opponent thanks to his superior physique and physical strength.

Osmar is not a "wooden-legged" striker but is picky about the ball. Photo: Trung Kien

But with the fierce competition in the midfield area, Khac Ngoc and the midfielders rarely give space and time to make these types of passes. Unlike Olaha, striker Osmar plays as a striker, rarely participates in defense and is not good at creating situations.

This Brazilian foreign player also lacks the technique to pull the team together and create space for the second line to advance because he is not skillful in covering in the 16.5m area. When SLNA plays a 4-5-1 formation, Olaha falls back, and striker Osmar becomes isolated and is often robbed of the ball by the opponent.

With Tuan Tai, SLNA advocated playing without a striker. Both Tuan Tai and Olaha dropped back to participate in defense, waiting for passes from the midfielders into the space behind the opponent's central defenders.

The recent matches against SHB.Da Nang in the National Cup and V-League are the clearest illustrations. In the first leg, Khac Ngoc from home also had a long pass to assist Tuan Tai to score. Then from the right wing, Xuan Thang and Olaha also had a cross to set up their teammates.

In round 11 of V-League 2018, Xuan Thang once again had a similar assist for Van Duc to score. Next, Tuan Tai passed the ball to Khac Ngoc to score the next goal for SLNA.

Tuan Tai took advantage of Osmar's injury recovery time to prove himself. Photo: Quang Minh

With the “no Osmar” style of play, it seems that the Nghe An team has an additional layer of defense in the midfield. The opposing defenders have no specific target to mark because Van Duc and Tuan Tai both play low. This tactic has been practiced carefully, so the accuracy of the passes from the midfield has increased, matching the momentum of the teammates.

Air combat

With a height of over 1.80m, Osmar is still effective when SLNA needs a goal and there is not much playing time left. At that time, the ball will be stuffed into the positions of the two foreign players Osmar and Olaha. Or when it is necessary to disrupt the opponent's play, this foreign player will enter the field to play in the style of "attacking, not scoring".

With superior physique and strength, this foreign player will cause difficulties for opponents by accelerating and destroying their strength.

In any case, praise must be given to Tuan Tai, who knew how to take advantage of Osmar's injury recovery time to assert himself. This is something that very few domestic strikers of SLNA have been able to do for many years. As for the question of Osmar's position when the second leg takes place, it will be for coach Duc Thang.