Vietnam National Team: Concerns stemming from the defense.

(Baonghean.vn) - The Vietnamese national team has officially secured a place in the semi-finals after two consecutive wins. This is a well-deserved result after what coach Nguyen Huu Thang and his team have shown. However, amidst the boundless joy of victory, there are still concerns about the defense.

Under coach Nguyen Huu Thang, the Vietnamese national team is making steady progress, displaying very impressive form. Before embarking on their journey to conquer the AFF Cup gold trophy, Coach Nguyen Huu Thang's team had only conceded one goal, against a representative from West Asia, the Iraqi national team, in the second leg of the 2018 World Cup qualifiers in the Asian region, out of a total of 15 matches played, including official matches, friendlies, and training games.

Looking at those impressive achievements, many people might mistakenly think that the Vietnamese national team has become perfect. Especially since the opponents that Coach Nguyen Huu Thang's team has overcome, such as North Korea, Syria, Taiwan, Indonesia… are all strong teams in the region.

The Vietnamese national team is soaring under the leadership of coach Nguyen Huu Thang.

However, to achieve that result, it was largely due to the attacking efforts, with the timely brilliance of captain Le Cong Vinh, along with stability in the midfield, especially the impressive form of Luong Xuan Truong, who consistently delivered passes that have become his trademark, a player currently under contract with Incheon, South Korea.

While the midfield and attack positions are showing improvement with each match, the defense still doesn't reassure the coach from Nghe An province. In particular, the central defensive pairing of Que Ngoc Hai and Dinh Luat has yet to find common ground and frequently makes regrettable mistakes, causing the Vietnamese national team considerable difficulties on several occasions.

Recognizing the inherent weaknesses in the defense, the former SLNA head coach repeatedly pointed out the issues and conducted experiments. However, all those experiments have yet to bring stability to Tran Nguyen Manh's goal.

In their opening match against host nation Myanmar, the Vietnamese team, drawing on their experience, defeated their physically strong and youthful opponents 2-1 with goals from Van Quyet and Cong Vinh. This opening victory delighted the fans. It had been a long time since Vietnamese fans had experienced such a joyous atmosphere.

However, in this match, the carelessness of the central defensive pair Dinh Luat and Ngoc Hai continued to make Vietnamese fans anxious. Coach Huu Thang repeatedly expressed his dissatisfaction with the defense on the field. The culmination of this carelessness and lack of concentration was the costly equalizer scored by Aung Thu, making the score 1-1.

The defense is currently the Achilles' heel of the Vietnamese national team.

Under normal circumstances, this mistake could have been mitigated after the Vietnamese national team secured the final victory. However, the đáng thing is that this wasn't the first time; it had happened since the training phase, and the feeling of unease persists.

In the match against their arch-rivals Malaysia, the central defensive pairing of Dinh Luat and Ngoc Hai, along with the unexpected replacement of Dinh Dong, Au Van Hoan, still made regrettable mistakes. Fortunately, those errors were not exploited by the Malaysian players. Coach Nguyen Huu Thang's team still got what they needed when Trong Hoang successfully converted a penalty, securing the crucial three points and bringing immense joy to the fans.

Under his tenure, coach Huu Thang is building the central defensive pairing of Dinh Luat and Ngoc Hai as the optimal solution for the defense system: Ngoc Hai's youthful energy and tenacious, aggressive playing style, combined with Dinh Luat's experience and defensive support, have led coach Huu Thang to consider them "veteran guards" in the national team's defense. However, after just two matches against evenly matched opponents like Myanmar and Malaysia, their limitations have been exposed.

Without a solution, it will be very dangerous. Especially in the semi-finals or even the final, the Vietnamese team will pay a very high price if these mistakes continue. As proof, in 2014, we lost to Malaysia due to defensive errors.

To achieve success, besides the attacking line knowing how to "finish off" opponents with goals, the defense must also be a solid foundation. Therefore, Vietnamese fans are hoping that with his previous experience as a defender, Coach Nguyen Huu Thang will find optimal solutions to strengthen the defense and achieve the goal of conquering the top spot in this year's AFF Cup.

Cao Anh