Challenge for coach Huy Hoang and Song Lam Nghe An

About the new coaches

V.League 2022 has 3 new coaches including Huy Hoang (SLNA), Phung Thanh Phuong (Saigon) and Chun Jae-Ho (Hanoi FC). According to experts, SLNA coach Huy Hoang will face the most challenges.

In particular, coach Chun Jae-Ho only took the hot seat exactly 1 week before the opening of V.League 2022, replacing coach Park Choong-kyun who suddenly resigned. In the past 2 years, Hanoi FC has changed its head coach 4 times in the 2020 season, not to mention they brought to Hang Day Stadium for a few months the duo of technical director Daniel Enriquez and assistant fitness coach Nicolas Baldini. So if Hanoi FC makes it into the top 3, it will be a success for the capital team.

The goal of finishing in the top 3 of V.League 2022 is really a significant pressure for coach Huy Hoang and the players. Photo SLFC

After Saigon FC failed with the Japanization strategy of "boss" Tran Hoa Binh, coach Shimoda and 3 Japanese foreign players returned home, assistant Phung Thanh Phuong took over. Compared to Huy Hoang, coach Phung is considered to have more seniority as he was an assistant at Navibank Club (2010), U23 Vietnam (2013) and has been with the 2 teams at Thong Nhat Stadium since 2014. Unlike SLNA, this season Saigon FC does not set a specific ranking goal, so the pressure on Phung Thanh Phuong will be significantly reduced.

Huy Hoang took over the SLNA coaching position after round 11 of V.League 2021 when his predecessor Quang Truong resigned. In recent years, the SLNA hot seat has only revolved around the names Quang Truong and Duc Thang with a rather monotonous playing style, mainly high kicks and long balls to the sidelines. The cancellation of the VFF V.League 2021 has made sponsor Tan Long and Nghe An fans breathe a sigh of relief, because SLNA "won without a fight" and did not have to participate in the risky relegation race.

With the tradition of using “homegrown talent” of the Nghe An football team, Huy Hoang seems to be the most promising name to sit in the technical cabin of SLNA. Formerly the captainSLNA,national team, participated in youth training and worked as assistant coach for previous SLNA coaches, has professional qualifications and most importantly has the support of the players.

More than anyone, sponsor Tan Long understands that experience in coaching V.League is something that Huy Hoang and his assistants Nhu Thuat, Van Quyen, Bui Le Minh still lack. Goalkeeper assistant Duc Thang has held the position of head coach and technical director but is not highly regarded for his coaching ability. With a complex tournament like V.League, the “career age” of the head coach is a matter of concern for many sponsors. If a new coach takes charge, there will be an experienced technical director sitting behind him to “reign”.

After consulting many "big names" of Nghe An football, Tan Long chose to hand over all professional matters to Coach Huy Hoang, while SLNA's coaching staff must complete the goal of winning medals at the end of the season. This is a professional way of doing football, clearly dividing the responsibilities between investors and professional coaching staff. Tan Long will basically meet the requirements of the head coach so that the team can practice and compete at their best, but the coaching staff and players must take on specific responsibilities.

Pressure to achieve

The goal of finishing in the top 3 of V.League 2022 is really a significant pressure for Huy Hoang and the players. Looking at the preparation process, we can see that HAGL, Viettel, Binh Dinh, and Hanoi are strong candidates for the championship. In addition, Ho Chi Minh City Club and SHB.Da Nang are unknowns, although they are not recruiting as vigorously as in previous years.

SLNA had a practice session to get familiar with Go Dau stadium before the match against the home team B. Binh Duong. Photo: Sy Hieu

After more than half a year of preparation, Nghe An audiences will look forward to Coach Huy Hoang’s first match of the V.League season at Binh Duong’s Go Dau Stadium, which is considered SLNA’s home ground. Not only 3 points, but how SLNA’s playing style will be under Tan Long is the issue that most Nghe An audiences are interested in. Will the spending of money to bring back a series of national players return to the original style of play?