U23 Vietnam plays offensively, why not?

With such a short time since the end of the SEA Games in late May and the opening of the U23 Asian Cup finals in early June 2022, will the new coach have enough "powder to make glue"? The answer is no, because Vietnamese football has long been able to reach new heights thanks to a smooth defensive-counterattacking style of play, because opponents have always seen us as underdogs. Now that Mr. Gong Oh-kyun has changed to an attacking style of play, playing quickly, smoothly and proactively, will it surprise the opponent? Or will we hit walls, unable to break through and get hit by counterattacks, which is a cruel rule of football, knowing that but still having to suffer as usual?

Not to mention the opponents in this final round are U23 Korea, a real force in the continent; U23 Thailand and U23 Malaysia, the teams that just lost narrowly to Coach Park Hang-seo and his team, now full of hot blood to meet again.U23 Vietnamto pay off a debt that was unsolvable just a few weeks ago?

U23 Vietnam created consecutive opportunities towards the opponent's goal. To be more precise, in the 19th minute, Tien Linh could have opened the score for the red team. Photo: Document

Innovation and change are always strict requirements for any team to move up, but stability, personality, quality, and the “DNA” of success are always behind the success of those teams. Coach Park Hang-seo’s team was successful first of all thanks to a solid defense, not conceding a goal throughout the SEA Games, now transferred to the new coach. That is a significant advantage and it is difficult to say that the new coach should change and innovate when this house has a solid foundation and has overcome many challenges.

But when the team focuses on attacking, which means the defense will be higher and more willing to penetrate the opponent's penalty area, the requirements for the defense will also be higher and more difficult. The defense's cover and coordination against counterattacks must therefore be more flexible, more tight, and require more effort.

As for the midfield and forward lines, there is public opinion that the new coach plays with the 4-3-3 formation with strong attack as mentioned above, which is also not easy to get used to in a few weeks of training and friendly matches.

Whether the three midfielders play horizontally or in any way, this is certainly the hottest area of ​​each match, consuming a lot of physical strength of Hoang Anh, Cong Den or Quang Nho as predicted by some experts. This is also where the opponent will immediately counter-attack, just need a few adjustments to concentrate the majority of human resources to suffocate the playing space of the 3 people on the opponent's side, divide and "starve" the strikers, destroy in the "egg" all rotation or transition, neutralize all possible directions of attack... Surely, the match against U23 Korea or U23 Thailand with a large number of "Thai expatriates" will give us a hot and anxious feeling about the story of how U23 Vietnam will attack, how ready to fight against a strong opponent, top class in the region and continent?

U23 Vietnam faced many difficulties against U23 Timor Leste. Photo: Bao Long

But to be honest, all the above worries and concerns are still just... theories about a U23 Vietnam team under Mr. Gong Oh-kyun. Only when U23 Vietnam demonstrates its playing style in reality and the results it brings, can we recognize and give some positive or negative assessments. Not to mention, even in the long run, when U23 Vietnam does not achieve any good results in the U23 Asian Finals this time, everything is still not a disaster, having to be rebuilt, but we must consider them as useful and practical lessons for us to expect the necessary and upward changes from young Vietnamese football today.

Therefore, let's enthusiastically support every way to help Vietnamese football gradually reach new heights, not limited to success at the SEA Games or a certain youth football tournament, but should think further, longer, experiment, try harder to diversify identity, enrich courage, and build a successful "DNA gene" for Vietnamese football.