U23 Vietnam: Problems after 2 draws with UAE and Jordan

In the match against U23 UAE, U23 Vietnam took the field with a 3-5-2 starting lineup. The problem of the defense was clearly exposed in the position of center back Tan Sinh, forcing coach Park Hang-seo to immediately send Dinh Trong in to replace him at the beginning of the second half.

Just about 10 minutes later, central midfielder Duc Chien was replaced by Trong Hung and Quang Hai played back to create the ball. Coach Park accepted to sacrifice a player with the ability to create breakthroughs to ensure the game.

However, the ability to control the ball and launch attacks in the midfield of U23 Vietnam has not improved much. And Tien Linh was withdrawn to let Thai Quy enter the field in the final minutes of the match.

Goalkeeper Tien Dung had an impressive performance with 13 ball recoveries, 10 attacks and 3 saves. Graphics: TK

At that time, the U23 Vietnam midfield was more effective and more opportunities came to Coach Park's students. However, the pressure was not big enough to score at the decisive moment. We created 17 shots but only 2 were on target, the ball possession rate was only 35%, the number of passes was also lower than the opponent (281/514), 21% of the passes were wrong.

Until the match against U23 Jordan, this opponent proved to be much more difficult. This team also played with a 3-center-back formation and surrounded the Vietnamese players, leaving them little space and time to organize their play.

The midfield with Duc Chien - Thanh Son completely failed to fulfill the task of supporting the two full-backs, intercepting from afar as well as passing the ball up. The rate of this player's mispassing and losing the ball is quite high.

The weakness of left-back Thanh Thinh was clearly shown in the times when this player was easily passed, forcing coach Park to send Dinh Trong in to let Ngoc Bao reluctantly move to the left wing just after 36 minutes of the match.

Dinh Trong is the mainstay of the U23 Vietnam defense. Graphics: TK

The same thing happened in the beginning of the second half, Thanh Son had a lackluster performance and was replaced by Duc Chinh. Once again, Quang Hai had to retreat to play as a real central midfielder. This meant that the forward line would be less unpredictable and the captain of U23 Vietnam had to focus on defense, organization, competition and even fouls.

The rare bright spots in the past matches came from the positions of goalkeeper Bui Tien Dung and center back Dinh Trong. In particular, Tien Dung had 3 saves against Jordan and 13 ball recoveries, 10 attack initiations.

Their experience helped U23 Vietnam to be lucky not to concede a goal, but when Coach Park made the decisive move, sending Viet Anh off the field and Thai Quy in to replace him, U23 Vietnam was still quite confused with misdirected passes. This left the pair Tien Linh and Duc Chinh in a "ball-starved" state.

Duc Chinh had no dribbling situations and only had 1 shot in the match against Jordan. Photo: Hai Hoang

The technical statistics in the second match against Jordan were not better with 2/11 shots on target while the opponent's was 4/13. Our ball control rate was better with 62%, the number of passes was 502/309 compared to the opponent but the rate of incorrect passes was 22%. In the match against U23 Jordan, Quang Hai had a successful pass rate of 82% and Thanh Chung 84%.

Through the two matches, Coach Park Hang-seo had to make maximum use of substitutions and constantly shuffle the team, patching up positions that left gaps. Not only experts but Coach Park Hang-seo himself also admitted that the striker pair Tien Linh and Duc Chinh were completely hesitant when it came to finishing or coordinating with teammates.

Just a moment of hesitation, not only will the scoring opportunity pass but it is also likely to lead to a counter-attack. In the last match, we also had some clear opportunities from Quang Hai's high pass to Tien Linh but the U23 Vietnam striker handled the ball quite cumbersomely. Tien Linh's passing rate of only 50% and Duc Chinh's only shot are telling numbers.

Professional statistics of U23 Vietnam through two matches at the AFC U23 Championship. Graphics: TK

Before Dinh Trong entered the field, "long passes with soul" as Coach Park of the previous U23 team or the national team called them did not appear from the 3 central defenders. This is one of the fastest ways to release pressure and approach the opponent's goal, but unfortunately, such passes from Ngoc Bao did not have high accuracy.

Before the 30th SEA Games, Coach Park Hang-seo shared: “The current 3-4-3 formation has been revealed and we have to decide whether to use it or not. I want the team to be combative but I am worried about changing it. It is okay when facing Southeast Asian teams, but if facing a strong team, I am not sure the 2-striker formation will be effective.”

Going from 3-5-2 to 3-4-3 and vice versa only brings poor statistics. The current players cannot develop the 3-4-3 style of play, which requires strength from the wings and comprehensiveness from the central midfielders as well as the versatility of the wingers. And at this point, the Korean coach's worries have come true.

Scoring U23 Vietnam - U23 UAE: Bright spot Bui Tien Dung

(Baonghean.vn) - The U23 Vietnam team had a draw with U23 UAE with positive highlights mixed with positions that have not yet fulfilled their roles. In particular, goalkeeper Bui Tien Dung marked an impressive return after a series of disappointing performances.