What can we see from the way coach Philippe Troussier tests his players?

After the match between U23 Vietnam and U23 Singapore in the U23 Asian Group Stage as well as the third friendly match between Vietnam and Palestine, Coach Troussier will continue another task of leading the Vietnam team in friendly matches with China, Uzbekistan and South Korea.

From there, the French coach will find the most suitable framework for the Vietnam Team (including outstanding factors fromU23 Vietnam, even U20 Vietnam) to start the 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign, considered the end of the process of researching, testing, establishing a playing style and starting to realize the goal of reaching the continental level set out since taking office at the end of February 2023.

And up to this point, what coach Philippe Troussier has done, from SEA Games 32, assigning tasks to coach Hoang Anh Tuan at U23 Southeast Asia and ASIAD 19, U23 Asia qualifiers... has shown almost the complete steps, methodical and meticulous way of doing things of the "White Witch" compared to all foreign coaches who have led Vietnamese football, including the unprecedented level of success under Park Hang-seo or Calistore.

Recalling the 32nd SEA Games, the 3 group stage matches were 3 experimental matches for coach Philippe Troussier to find suitable players with long-term development potential. Only in the semi-final match against U23 Indonesia did coach Philippe Troussier temporarily stop experimenting and arrange the squad that was considered the best at that time to implement the set goal. Although U23 Vietnam lost the match, countless necessary lessons were learned and the main thing is that coach Philippe Troussier basically found new players for a new path. Those are Van Chuan, Tuan Tai, Thai Son, Huy Trong, Duc Phu, Van Cuong... and they will be the first players to be considered when calling for concentration later.

In the recent U23 Asian Qualifiers in Phu Tho, the difference was that in the second round, U23 Vietnam had to play the "group final" with U23 Yemen, so clearly there were not many opportunities to experiment. However, through the 2 halves of the opening match against U23 Guam, coach Philippe Troussier also put on the field as many players as possible, that is, 16 players, to test the abilities of the players that he thought needed to be tested. The 2nd half of this match was what coach Philippe Troussier learned about "reserve players who decide the match". However, in the 1st half of the decisive match against U23 Yemen, coach Philippe Troussier still persisted in experimenting in a few positions such as Duc Phu playing right midfielder or playing in the center with Thai Son; Van Cuong plays right midfielder but is allowed to play as a striker, to suddenly "come out of the ground" to score a goal like in the match against U23 Guam... Coach Philippe Troussier has also "restrained" Van Khang, Vy Hao or Dinh Bac for quite a while to promote the physical strength and desire of these special factors, helping the team overcome difficulties and complete the mission.

And of course, the most important thing is to remember the 3 friendly matches in the "new era" of the Vietnam National Team with the teams of Hong Kong - China, Syria and Palestine - opponents that are considered moderate at present. The three wins achieved do not say much, if anything, they are just encouragement for the teachers and students to reach a high position on the FIFA rankings, which are considered just a formality. The main thing is that coach Philippe Troussier on the one hand called back the old factors of Park Hang-seo's time, called up the factors that achieved high performance in the V-League and also the factors that are playing abroad with the reason that "they are still at the same level as the V-League players". Coach Philippe Troussier also mixed the personnel of the two teams, trained together, and then officially let the new factors emerging from the U23 Vietnam team such as Thai Son, for example, compete in the Vietnam National Team.

The above 3 matches were really consecutive tests, many positions could not stay such as Van Thanh, Hong Duy, to be replaced by Trung Hieu, Viet Hung in the position of full-back. Even Hoang Duc was tested to play as a striker when he played well at Viettel, then returned to the position of central midfielder to promote his excellent passing ability as in the match against the Palestine team. The goalkeeper position seemed "inviolable" for Van Lam but Dinh Trieu still took his place very worthy, while Nguyen Manh, who had high performance in V-League, was no longer chosen...

Next is the performance of the Vietnam Olympic Team at the 19th ASIAD and then the October gathering during the FIFA Days with extremely important and decisive friendly matches against the top opponents of the continent, to "choose who will be chosen" for the World Cup qualifying campaign starting from November 2023. With the available data, we believe that old factors such as Van Lam, Ngoc Hai, Duy Manh, Thanh Binh, Viet Anh, Hung Dung, Quang Hai, Hoang Duc, Tien Linh, Tuan Hai... will continue to be trusted, along with new factors such as: Thai Son, Van Khang, Van Cuong, Tuan Tai, Van Chuan, Van Viet, Minh Trong, Duc Phu, Van Tung... and of course overseas Vietnamese factors such as Filip Nguyen, are strategic cards for the entire campaign lasting from round 2, round 3, even the final play-off round towards the 2026 World Cup.

There have been many inconsistent opinions and assessments about the process of preparing the team and the playing style of coach Philippe Troussier. Many people are quite impatient when coach Philippe Troussier experiments too much, for too long while the Vietnam National Team, especially the U23 Vietnam, although playing well with ball control, has very few good ways to score goals, if not "innovative"? Of course, there are still countless things to discuss and learn about the story, but clearly, without careful and systematic preparation, can Vietnamese football go the long way, can it reach new heights? In this case, asking is also an answer? And moreover, without diligence, diligence, and even temporary failure, how can we dream of a bumper crop, of victory at the final destination?