Vietnam team and the lesson of 'using one's own petard to hit one's own back'

From opponents "bumping" into a multi-layered defense line, coupled with flexible state changes and unexpected counterattacks at decisive moments.

When facing the top teams in the continent in the 3rd qualifying round of the 2022 World Cup in Asia or the Thai team at the recent 2021 AFF Cup, of course the Vietnamese team continued to be under great pressure and had to proactively defend before considering launching a counterattack as usual.

The obvious difference is that up to this point, the "paths and steps" of the teacher and studentCoach Park Hang-seoAll of these were carefully studied by high-class opponents and appropriate countermeasures were quickly devised. One of those countermeasures was to counterattack quickly when the Vietnamese team was counterattacking, making the "golden star warriors" unable to react in time.

The 3-1 victory over China brought the Vietnamese team its first point in the third qualifying round of the World Cup and signaled a cool breeze of change. Photo courtesy of Viet Linh

There are many specific examples to prove this, including the example from the first leg of the 3rd Qualifying Round between China and Vietnam on October 7, 2021. The Chinese team proactively imposed the game on the Vietnamese team and when 45 minutes passed without creating a favorable breakthrough, they immediately retreated, temporarily giving the game to the neighboring team. While the Vietnamese team was "drunk" with the attacking tempo, they were immediately hit by a long ball and only 2 passes to the feet of striker Wu Lei, so that even though Tan Truong blocked the first shot, Yuning still managed to swoop in and score the opening goal, leaving the defense and goalkeeper helpless.Vietnam National Team.

In the most recent match of the Vietnam National Team in the second leg against the Australian National Team (January 27, 2022), 2 out of 4 goals of the kangaroo team came from quick counter-attacks when the opponent was attacking. That was the second goal, in the first half's extra time when the Vietnam National Team was absorbed in the attacking situation of pressing the opponent's field. A foul situation, the ball was kicked very quickly and just a few delicate passes were close to the goalkeeper and was shot cleanly, by Rogic.

Or in the first leg of the AFF Cup 2021 semi-final between Vietnam and rival Thailand (December 23, 2021). When Vietnam was awarded a free kick near the left corner flag of Thailand, almost all of the team's players rushed up and were immediately hit by the opponent's counterattack with a goal by Chanathip, even though Nguyen Manh had rushed out very quickly to narrow the shooting angle.

The joy of the Vietnamese team when scoring a goal against the Chinese team. Photo courtesy of Hai Hoang

The three specific examples above prove that the Vietnamese team's error in defending against counterattacks while trying to counterattack/attack is not a one-time, individual mistake but a repeated mistake. The brand of a team that is good at "defending-counterattacking" begins to be questioned and is at risk of bankruptcy when the opponent tries to predict the success more than once and is not a lucky one.

In fact, not only the Vietnamese team makes this kind of serious mistake, but even the world's top clubs like Man City or Chelsea occasionally lose in counter-attack situations like that. The problem is that the Vietnamese team has long been used to playing "defensive-counter-attack" as their forte, with a very strong defensive mark along with the surprise from the quick counter-attack situations that follow. Now there are no more surprises when the opponent is ready to give up the field, pulling the Vietnamese team up high and then falling into a trap, falling into two ridiculous situations. That is, not being used to playing imposingly and controlling, so they are confused and ineffective. That is, exposing the flanks, leaving the back loose, so they are counter-attacked, like the story of "the stick beats the owner's back". Of course, someone can argue that it is because the Vietnamese team lacks some key players and Coach Park Hang-seo and his team have overcome that with a historic victory against the Chinese team, right?

Yes, Mr. Park Hang-seo and his team have realized more than ever, have drawn profound lessons from the above counter-attack situations, and that is also one of the direct reasons for Mr. Park Hang-seo to start 2022 with the process of "renewing and redoing" many issues to consolidate the force and diversify the playing style of the Vietnam National Team. Hopefully, Mr. Park Hang-seo and the "golden star warriors" will gradually overcome weaknesses, create a new "winning formula" to continue the journey to the open sea in the coming time./.