Coach Park Hang-seo's calculation in the draw with Singapore?

Under coach Park Hang-seo, the Vietnamese team had three consecutive 0-0 draws in the third round of the group stage of the 2018, 2020 and 2022 AFF Cups against different opponents, Myanmar, Indonesia and Singapore, respectively. Not to mention, the U23 Vietnam team under the Korean coach also drew the third match in Changzhou 2018, drew the second match at the 31st SEA Games at home...

To see, the story of a competition that is on the rise and suddenly loses its rhythm, not achieving the desired results is "a part of football", an inevitable part of the teams led by a "wizard" or is it true that Mr. Park Hang-seo's playbook is always easily "dissolved", Vietnam is always unstable?

Coach Park Hang-seo directs the Vietnamese team in the match at Singapore's stadium on December 30. Photo: VnE

Remember, in preparation for the AFF Cup 2022, the Vietnamese team met Singapore and won easily 4-0 at Thong Nhat Stadium. It was a friendly match, but when entering the tournament, Coach Park Hang-seo and his team were completely deadlocked, even though in the second half, all the main players were put on the field, including keeping the explosive Van Quyet to play the full 90 minutes. Playing on artificial turf could be one of the many reasons why the Vietnamese team could not score against the home team despite holding the ball for 70% of the time. The opponent played solidly on both wings, concentrated in the middle, and neutralized most of the high ball situations... making it very difficult for the away team's strikers to have a chance and if they did, they would face countless difficulties and could not execute accurately.

Let's look back at the last 3 matches to see what Mr. Park Hang-seo was planning? In the opening match, the coach sent out the strongest lineup to find a winning match even though the opponent was weak. Many people thought it was unnecessary, but in fact, the players needed to play early to assemble and stabilize the framework from the start. Moreover, the gap between the match against Laos and the strong opponent Malaysia was 7 days, so keeping the main players' strength was unnecessary. In the second match, the coach left Quang Hai out and replaced him with Van Toan. This wrong calculation caused the whole team to go through tense moments due to playing with one less player and the opponent playing much more difficultly than before. The third and fourth matches were only 3 days apart, so calculation was a must if we wanted to think long-term.

Vietnam is not too regretful about the draw with Singapore, despite breaking the seven-match winning streak in all competitions. Photo" VnE

But here, it seems that Mr. Park Hang-seo encountered a problem when he sent 8 reserve players onto the field, causing everything to become deadlocked and go out of the expected orbit. The wings of Hong Duy-Van Thanh were "blunt", clearly harmless, especially Van Thanh's crosses lacked ideas and lacked precision. The midfield of Ngoc Quang-Hung Dung did not create any peace of mind, nor did it connect or create, so it was completely right for this duo to be replaced at the beginning of the second half. Van Quyet and Tuan Hai were lost in the middle of the Singaporean defense. What Mr. Park Hang-seo needed was the cunning and shrewdness of Van Quyet, but it did not happen. So once again, we can see the reason why the coach eliminated the star of Hanoi FC from the beginning, there was a specific, professional reason, not a matter of liking or disliking here.

So why when Mr. Park Hang-seo successively sent stars Quang Hai, Van Duc, Tien Linh, Hoang Duc, Tan Tai... onto the field, everything was only at the level of "opportunity", except for Hoang Duc's long-range shot hitting the post? Obviously, the old disease of the teams under Mr. Park Hang-seo still has no cure. Someone said it was because of the lack of Van Hau, but that was just an assumption, a regret. The problem is that Mr. Park Hang-seo wants to create opportunities for most of the players, prepare for the long run, so he has to accept errors in that process. After this unwanted draw, surely once again the coach will know exactly who are the pillars in the upcoming decisive matches, who will be the reserve factor only entering the field at the appropriate and necessary times.

A draw is certainly not a disaster, because there is still a match 3 days later with a weak opponent, Myanmar, to calculate. The Thais also just had a draw against Indonesia and who knows, this opponent might finish second in Group A. Will the Vietnamese team then need to finish first in Group B? It would not be good to face Thailand in the semi-finals, something that happened at the AFF Cup 2020 that took place late in 2021 a year ago and ended as many people remember? So, the Vietnamese team should just... draw first, draw to see how the situation is in the other group, then it is not too late to deal with it.

Furthermore, an undesirable result will force Mr. Park Hang-seo and his team to quickly regroup, know themselves and their opponents better to have enough strength to go far? Knowing and getting used to the "syndrome" of drawing the third match of the group stage and having overcome the 2018 AFF Cup and being helpless in the 2020 AFF Cup, is it possible that at the 2022 AFF Cup, Mr. Park Hang-seo and his team will not know how to overcome in a dignified and dignified manner in the knockout round ahead?