From the U19 Vietnam team, Coach Le Thuy Hai made accurate comments about Hoang Anh Gia Lai

In 2013 and 2014, Mr. Duc "introduced" the first generation of players trained by the HAGL Arsenal JMG Football Academy. Cong Phuong, Xuan Truong, Tuan Anh... created a special effect for Vietnamese football with their beautiful and captivating playing style in the U19 Vietnam national team jersey.

The U19 fever has made many fans think that in the 2015 season, they will see this generation of players compete with other teams in the V.League. As expected, Mr. Duc liquidated all the veterans of HAGL and "promoted" this generation of young players to play professionally. However, a veteran coach who was very successful in the V.League like Mr. Le Thuy Hai does not have much confidence that the young players of HAGL will soon be as successful as expected.

“I think it is a good thing that U19 players are promoted to play in the V.League because not many players at this age get to play professionally. But whether they will be successful or not depends on one thing: time, two: the conditions, circumstances and abilities of that player. The V.League was formed by the best teams in Vietnam, so it is not certain that the players will be successful when competing there.

HAGL is having trouble in V.League because of its force. Photo: VPF

Football is confrontation, if you meet a strong team, you should coordinate A and B, B and C. For example, but when A and B are already marked, where can you coordinate? That is confrontation, and in U19 Vietnam, there are coordination phases like paintings. That is a beautiful feature of football, as taught in the books, but that is because the opponent is careless.

Playing against bigger, higher-level teams, you will never be able to do that. If the U19 Vietnam team splits up, many players will officially play in the V.League, but if they are allowed to gather together, it will not work. Because the young players of HAGL are lacking in physical strength, especially in collision strength and endurance strength..."

That is the view of Coach Le Thuy Hai from the perspective of a coach who has won many victories in the V.League. It means that Mr. Duc was too hasty in "harvesting young rice", bringing the Cong Phuong generation to the top too soon. Meanwhile, even the model of Song Lam Nghe An must retain the pillars to guide a few young talents who are transplanted into the squad every year.

Nguyen Cong Phuong's disappointment after losing to Saigon. Photo: VPF

In 2014, when the U19 Vietnam team with the core of HAGL players became the center of praise, Coach Le Thuy Hai's dissenting opinions were difficult to accept, even opposed and disliked.

And then, after Cong Phuong and his teammates were promoted to play in the V.League, HAGL began a series of bad days because a series of pillars and experienced players had their contracts terminated. In the 2015 V.League, HAGL was on the brink of relegation and ended the season in the second-to-last position on the rankings, losing to the bottom team Dong Nai by 1 win. In the 2016 season, HAGL ranked 12th overall and the position of the mountain town team in the 2017 season was 10th.

V.League 2018 is also witnessing a series of poor performances from coach Duong Minh Ninh and his team, even though HAGL's squad has a series of U23 Vietnam stars who played excellently at the recent U23 Asian Cup.

Now, 4 years after the shocking statements of coach Le Thuy Hai, people understand that it was not because Mr. Duc threatened to quit football that HAGL lost focus, but because of how big the gap is between an U19 player and a professional player. Unfortunately, Mr. Duc still refuses to accept that reality./.

HAGL has not received instructions from Mr. Duc to quit V-League

Head of HAGL Football Club Nguyen Tan Anh said that up to this point, Mr. Duc has not yet directed the team to stop playing in the V-League, after Mr. Tu's move to keep the position of General Director of VPF.