New head coach of SLNA: Believe in yourself

(Baonghean.vn) - The decision of assistant Nguyen Duc Thang, originally a goalkeeper, to become head coach of SLNA is being discussed by Nghe An fans. Some say this is the most reasonable choice, others say it is an unprecedented step backward in the coaching bench...

In football history, there are few coaches who started out as goalkeepers, that is true. But the audience witnessed Dino Zoff, the legendary goalkeeper of Napoli and the Italian national team, who became a coach.

After finishing his illustrious playing career, goalkeeper Zoff began his coaching career at Juventus and Lazio. In 1998, Zoff was appointed head coach of the Italian national team. He led the Italian team to the runner-up position at EURO 2000, only to lose in extra time to the French team. After leaving the national team, Zoff returned to coach Lazio, Fiorentina...

Coach Nguyen Duc Thang.

Vietnam football precedent

In Vietnam, goalkeepers such as Tran Van Khanh (The Cong), Duong Ngoc Hung (Nghia Binh), Nguyen Hong Pham (CSG) or Vo Van Hanh... after hanging up their gloves all participated in coaching work. Currently, V.League only has 5 Vietnamese goalkeepers holding the captain position, Duc Thang is the 6th.

After finishing his playing career, Duong Ngoc Hung switched to coaching, training many generations of good goalkeepers for the Vietnam National Team and he himself is the goalkeeper coach of the Vietnam National Team. At the club level, Coach Duong Ngoc Hung was the first goalkeeper to lead a team playing in the V.League for Binh Dinh. His greatest success was leading his hometown team to win the National Cup for 2 consecutive years (2003 & 2004).

When talking about The Cong, we cannot help but mention goalkeeper Tran Van Khanh, who was born in a family of 6 excellent goalkeepers. To date, he is the only goalkeeper who has ever been the head coach of the Vietnam national team. That was at the Tiger Cup 2004 when coach Tavares was fired after a 0-3 defeat at My Dinh Stadium against Indonesia. Coach Tran Van Khanh was temporarily assigned by the VFF to lead the Vietnam national team in the final match of the group stage. He left his mark with a 3-0 victory over the Laos team.

A son of Thanh Nam, Bui Huu Nam, also held the position of head coach of Hai Phong after ending his career as a goalkeeper at Nam Dinh. Bui Huu Nam is the coach who started as a goalkeeper and has coached the most youth teams. He has worked in youth teams in Nam Dinh, HN.T&T, Ninh Binh before returning to Hai Phong.

Former goalkeeper of Military Zone 7, Nguyen Duc Canh is the person who held the position of head coach in the shortest time in the history of V-League, only 2 days. In V.League 2011, he was promoted to head coach of V.Ninh Binh when coach Van Sy suddenly resigned. However, after only 2 rounds, coach Nguyen Duc Canh returned the position to Van Sy, a story that only happens in Vietnamese football.

Before Duc Thang, Mr. Duc also made a decision that was considered important to save the "nursery" HAGL from ruin when he appointed Nguyen Quoc Tuan as head coach before the V.League 2015 ended exactly 5 rounds. As the former goalkeeper of HAGL, goalkeeper Nguyen Quoc Tuan did not leave an impression like goalkeeper Vo Van Hanh. However, when replacing coach Graechen, Nguyen Quoc Tuan soon showed the qualities of a capable coach.

Compare the bundle of chopsticks

With the regulation that requires an AFC A-certificate to be able to lead a team to participate in the V-League, SLNA does not have many options. Either appoint someone with a certificate to the position of coach, while the real power is the Technical Director, like B.Binh Duong and FLC Thanh Hoa used with Mr. Le Thuy Hai. Or hire someone outside the club to lead the team...

Obviously, both options are difficult to accept, partly because of the culture of Nghe An football field, and partly because of the financial issue. When the budget was abundant, SLNA even invited the Brazilian coach to coach but after a short time, he had to part ways.

When giving power to Duc Thang and renewing the coaching board with the appearance of Thinh "den", it shows that General Director Nguyen Hong Thanh has carefully calculated the strengths and weaknesses of each member. For a team that is not too ambitious, this is considered the optimal choice in this particular period.

As the 6th goalkeeper of Vietnam to take over as head coach of a football team, whether Duc Thang will leave any mark, we need to wait for time to answer. First, Duc Thang must have confidence in himself before the audience believes in him!

N@T