What weaknesses does U23 Vietnam need to overcome?

Of course, every medal has a rough backside and no matter how talented anyone is, they inevitably have an "Achilles heel". The Vietnam national team or U23 Vietnam under the leadership of coach Park Hang-seo had resounding victories at the continental and regional levels such as in Changzhou, such as the 3-1 victory over neighboring China, the victory over U23 Thailand at My Dinh... But besides that, the Vietnamese teams also left behind regrets or to be exact, there were times when they were caught out, their cards were unfortunately revealed, even though they did not lose, they were helpless against weaker opponents. That was the match between the Vietnam national team and the Indonesia national team at the AFF Cup 2021 (0-0) and most recently the match between U23 Vietnam and U23 Philippines (0-0) in the group stage of the 31st SEA Games.

2-2 draw against U23 Thailand. Photo: archive

That is when the opponent defends in a clustered, multi-layered manner, the teams under Mr. Park are forced to play against their strengths and become confused, passive and then helpless even though the squad is still full of force, full of desire to win. There are still Quang Hai, Hoang Duc and Hung Dung... but they cannot penetrate the opponent's net. The deployment strategies still rely on the mobility of the "wings" of the attacking fullbacks, but when the opponent focuses on defending the sidelines and preventing this fullback from going down the sidelines to flip the ball up or pass the wall in the middle, everything is like hitting a rock. Those are really matches that both waste energy, lose points, and prove the almost inherent weaknesses alongside the strengths that everyone knows and fears in the teams that Mr. Park Hang-seo is leading.

People have talked about Mr. Park Hang-seo's "success cycle" as inevitable when the above weaknesses gradually become more exposed, opponents know how to deal with them more easily. It is very fortunate that Mr. Park Hang-seo himself soon realized that not only through theory but also in practice, to both rebuild and renew the Vietnam National Team, and... transfer the U23 Vietnam team to his trusted compatriot Gong Oh-kyun after the great success at the 31st SEA Games.

At first hearing what Mr. Gong Oh-kyun declared about practicing an attacking style of play, different from his predecessor, it is easy to mistake that it is the only way to escape from the huge shadow of Mr. Park Hang-seo and the two coaches are two separate "worlds"? Then we vaguely understand that it is extremely difficult and even more difficult to get the ears of fans as well as experts when the first tournament that Mr. Gong helmed at the continental level was not simple at all.

But through the two official matches of U23 Vietnam in Group C, the U23 Asian Cup finals against the two giants Thailand and Korea, as well as through the recent friendly match between the Vietnam National Team and the Afghanistan National Team, everyone can clearly see that the two Korean coaches who are currently in charge of the Vietnam National Team and U23 Vietnam at the moment share the same direction, a new way of doing things for Vietnamese football. That is to change the playing style to suit the times, build a new philosophy, a new formation, focus on overcoming the remaining weaknesses (like what we proved above?)... to move forward together. And we must realize that U23 Vietnam and the Vietnam National Team are a unified entity, sharing the same way of doing things, playing, and going to success in the future.

U23 Korea could not overcome U23 Vietnam. Photo: Document

With two draws against big opponents, causing a stir not only domestically and in Korea but also in the region and continent, U23 Vietnam under Mr. Gong Oh-kyun showed initial positive signs and raised much hope for the upcoming matches.

Although the "fuse" of the team in the past and present still relies on the pair of attacking full-backs in the new 4-1-4-1 or 4-4-2 formation (Tuan Tai - Van Do or Tien Long), it is clear that the current way of playing is both more open, flexible and harder to predict. Remember how Van Do played on the left wing so helplessly before the final pass in the recent match against U23 Philippines to see that in the new way of playing, it is still Tuan Tai on the left wing who moves up to occupy space, passes the ball to set up the table but is much more leisurely and open. These two positions are not exhausted like before, due to the synchronized, mutually supportive movement of the whole system. From there, they have the opportunity to go through the plan set by the coach.

Interesting details in the match against the great opponent U23 Korea prove this. The number 1 creator Tuan Tai first passed the familiar high ball to Manh Dung to repeat the classic header but failed, patiently did it again with a low, low pass through a forest of Korean defenders to the ideal shooting range for Tien Long to finish unstoppably. And Tien Long, the first time receiving the ball from Van Khang's high cross on the left wing, held his chest and then fired an unsuccessful shot, but when Tuan Tai "invited" him a second time, he could never miss. That is the bold feature that is both old and new in the initial steps of innovation and development of U23 Vietnam, not everything but suggesting many things worth waiting for and following...