Thanh Hoa - SLNA: A derby worth watching

Returning to football since April 1999, Mr. De has replaced 4 coaches. For Mr. De, even if a coach like Duc Thang did a good job professionally, he was replaced, so it is understandable that coach Fabio Lopez was fired. Thanh Hoa's series of 3 consecutive losses has caused them and SHB.Da Nang to sink deep into the bottom of the rankings.

Cruelty

What is quite interesting is thatCoach Nguyen Thanh Cong (1977) after his debut and officially started his mission of leading Thanh Hoa Club in V.League 2020 had to face SLNA. Surely the goal of the Nghe An coach in this match is to have 3 points. Coach Nguyen Thanh Cong's task is to help the Thanh team overcome current difficulties, as well as complete the season's goals.

Thanh Hoa Club. Photo from the Internet

Thanh Hoa is facing difficulties in terms of personnel as the possibility of captain Hoang Dinh Tung and striker Le Thanh Binh playing is still uncertain. The central defender pair Ewonde Epassi and Van Sau are showing a lack of solidity in defense. In the previous 3 matches, coach Fabio Lopez continuously rotated the central midfielder pair and Huu Dung and Thanh Long are the trusted names.

Thanh Hoa still has names like Trong Hung and Van Hoi who have a lot of experience in playing, but Hoang Vu Samson is still the most notable name. But coach Fabio Lopez has not yet found a way to play that can promote the ability of this naturalized player. The Italian coach has arranged Hoang Vu Samson to play as a winger and a center forward in a 4-2-3-1 formation, but Samson is still hungry for the ball. Josip Balic has not yet regained his previous form and is showing that he is a "stranger" to rookie Samson.

In fact, right before the season, Coach Thanh Cong was also mentioned by Mr. De. But it was only at this time that this teacher from Nghe An nodded because of two conditions: choosing a partner and having full authority to decide on professional matters. A seemingly obvious issue, but for Thanh Hoa at this time, it was a revolution in management. Everyone knows that Mr. De is famous for being someone who likes to hold a sand table and sit on the technical bench of the team.

This season, only 1 team was relegated, but that does not mean that the task of new coach Thanh Cong is easy. After all, Le Huynh Duc (SHB.Da Nang), Minh Duc (Hong Linh Ha Tinh) or Nguyen Van Sy (Nam Dinh) are not willing to sit still. In the race to get out of that lamp-holding position, it is clear that Thanh Hoa is at a disadvantage at the starting line and does not have many "allies" to support.

Difficult waiting

Hoang Vu Samson. Photo: Zing.vn

In addition to having only 4 days to prepare for the North Central derby, Coach Thanh Cong also cannot add more players. The foreign player market has just closed, and not many domestic players want to return to Thanh Hoa, under the command of Mr. De after Huynh Thanh Quang's sharing on television.

Thanh Hoa's match schedule is considered quite heavy, they will meet SLNA, Nam Dinh (home field), Viettel (away field) in turn... if they do not get points soon, they will immediately be identified as the "point bank" of V.League 2020.

The art of war still says, "know yourself, know your enemy, a hundred battles, a hundred victories" but perhaps at this time coach Thanh Cong knows more about SLNA than Thanh Hoa. The strengths and weaknesses of Van Lam, Dinh Chau, Van Duc, Tuan Tai of the visiting team SLNA have been clearly understood by the young coach. The most important thing now is in just 4 days, how will coach Thanh Cong assemble Hoang Vu Samson, Van Thang, Trong Hung and Dinh Tung?

The pressure is on the young coach, who has been given full authority, but if he does not achieve good results in the upcoming matches, anything can happen. In the past, Mr. De used to say flattering words for the appointment of head coaches, but until now he is still famous for being a "general killer". That makes the already tense derby even more worth watching.