Will Song Lam Nghe An's changes break the curse against Ho Chi Minh City Club?

SLNA players are actively practicing to achieve their best form before returning to V.League 2022. Photo: Chung Nguyen

Is Ho Chi Minh City Club still scary?

On July 8, SLNA will return to the V.League. In round 6, the Vinh home team will welcome Ho Chi Minh City Club. This is the team that won big againstSLNAin the last two seasons. In round 5 of V.League 2020, SLNA had a sublime match and won 1-0 against the giant Hanoi FC, right at Hang Day Stadium. But immediately after that in round 6, the Nghe An team suffered a heavy defeat with a score of 3-0 against Cong Phuong's team and fell into crisis. In the 2021 season, SLNA also suffered a heavy defeat with a score of 3-0 when visiting the city named after Uncle Ho.

However, in V.League 2022, both teams have made many changes. Coach Huy Hoang's squad has been changed quite a bit, with the addition of a series of stars such as Que Ngoc Hai, Olaha, Oseni... Ho Chi Minh City Club has also been renewed when on the coaching bench is Coach Tran Minh Chien along with a number of stars such as: Trong Long, Ti Phong, Samson, Mauricio...

Speaking about this match, Coach Huy Hoang shared: “We cannot use the results of previous seasons as a criterion to evaluate the strength of the two teams at this time. Both they and we have been renewed. We will look forward to the match with the best spirit to have a positive result at home.”

Olaha had an excellent warm-up before entering round 6 of the 2022 National Football Championship. Photo: Xuan Thuy

In fact, Ho Chi Minh City Club is facing many problems. The "undercurrents" within the club are waiting to explode. In mid-April, the lawyers of 11 key players had a meeting with the club's leaders to demand their rights, when their signing-on fee for the first half of 2021 was cut. But after that, this issue was still not satisfactorily resolved by the team. Therefore, the fighting spirit of Coach Tran Minh Chien's students will certainly be greatly affected.

In the last round 5, they only had to welcome the underdog team Dong A Thanh Hoa. But Ho Chi Minh City Club only won by a minimum of 1-0. It is worth mentioning that in this match, Mr. Tran Minh Chien's team encountered many difficulties in launching attacks. There were times when Ho Chi Minh City Club was forced to play defensively under pressure from Mr. Petrovic's students. And Ho Tuan Tai's team had to rely on the brilliance of Hoang Vu Samson to enjoy the joy of victory for the first time this season.

2 years ago, Cong Phuong's team won a big victory against SLNA right at Vinh Stadium. Photo: Internet

With what Ho Chi Minh City FC is facing, facing them at this time is no longer as scary as in the past seasons. And Nghe An audiences are completely confident to welcome the joy when SLNA welcomes their opponents at home.

Changes of SLNA

The biggest disadvantage that SLNA is facing is the long-term injury of central midfielder Ojong Mark. This is a very important player, greatly affecting the club's playing style.

Coach Huy Hoang affirmed: "The most regrettable absence before the match against Ho Chi Minh City Club is that Ojong Mark cannot play. This is the midfielder who plays the anchor role in the tactical scheme that I have applied in the past 4 rounds atV.League 2022We have a few young players who can play in this position. I hope they will play well in the upcoming matches to fill this gap.”

Coach Huy Hoang is actively training a new tactical scheme to help SLNA achieve good results at home. Photo: Xuan Thuy

The absence of Ojong Mark brings certain difficulties to Coach Huy Hoang. Because this position is quite important, related to the defense system, as well as the ability to rotate the ball from the bottom to the front line. In the 3-5-2 formation, the 2 wingers will often join the attack. Therefore, when there is a defensive midfielder, it will be possible to cover this position in time.

The ability to “deal cards” is also a task that defensive midfielders need to undertake. They will have to know how to occupy favorable spaces, to receive the ball from the central defenders, thereby being able to launch attacks, or rotate the ball to the two wings.

Van Duc and his teammates will play well with the support of a large audience at Vinh City. Photo: Chung Nguyen

To solve this shortage, Coach Huy Hoang had to switch from 3-5-2 to 3-4-3. This is a suitable formation for SLNA at the present time. It will help the players support each other better in defense, as well as transfer the ball between the lines.

Coach Huy Hoang shared: “Changing the team formation is a very normal thing in modern football. Depending on each different time, each different opponent, the coach will decide which formation to operate. SLNA players must quickly adapt to this. Experienced seniors will guide the young players, so that they are not surprised when making the above changes."

What coach Huy Hoang can temporarily rest assured about is the presence of the central defender duo Que Ngoc Hai and Van Khanh in the squad. This will be a solid support to help the front line confidently penetrate the opponent's defense.

Besides, this season, with the presence of Olaha and Oseni, they have somewhat shared the burden with Van Duc. In recent friendly matches, the flexibility in the way the Nigerian striker duo swapped positions helped the yellow team create more options to approach the opponent's goal.

Coach Huy Hoang shared: “SLNA plays based on collective play, we do not depend on any position. In the past time, we have actively practiced to create better connections between the lines. And I believe that with new people, new energy, the match between SLNA and Ho Chi Minh City will satisfy the expectations of Nghe An fans.”