V-League 2018: New breeze from the coaches
(Baonghean.vn) - Exactly half of the teams participating in V-League 2018 changed coaches before the official start of the season. That once again confirms that sitting in the hot seat at Vietnamese football fields is not easy, even for foreign coaches.
Including rookie Nam Dinh replacing coach Pham Hong Phu with Nguyen Van Sy, 7/14 teams have changed coaches. Last season, Long An, HAGL, and Ho Chi Minh City changed coaches before the end of the season. Coach Alain Fiard (Ho Chi Minh City) - a tactician who worked in Ligue 1 (French national championship - NV) for Auxerre was even fired 2 matches before the end of the season. Coach Quoc Tuan, after his 4th consecutive loss, proactively resigned and handed over the hot seat of the mountain town team to coach Duong Minh Ninh from round 22.
Big ambitions
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| FLC Thanh Hoa expects to win the 2018 V-League under the direction of new coach Mihail. Photo: Internet |
During the pre-season, coaches Le Huynh Duc (SHB.Da Nang), Petrovic (Thanh Hoa), Nguyen Duc Thang (Sai Gon FC), Tran Binh Su (Binh Duong), Vu Quang Bao (Can Tho) left one after another for various reasons. While coaches like Coach Le Huynh Duc (SHB.Da Nang) left because they felt the need to renew themselves, Petrovic (Thanh Hoa) and Tran Binh Su (Binh Duong) proactively left because their age and health did not match the team's ambitions. Coach Vu Quang Bao (Can Tho) was forced to leave Tay Do when the team's performance did not match its potential, while Nguyen Duc Thang (Sai Gon FC) stood up because he did not share the same football philosophy as the club's new owner.
So up to this point, there are only 7 coaches remaining in their positions, including: Hoang Van Phuc (Quang Nam), Vo Dinh Tan (Khanh Hoa), Duong Minh Ninh (HA.GL), Nguyen Duc Thang (SLNA), Chu Dinh Nghiem (Hanoi), Phan Thanh Hung (Quang Ninh) and Truong Viet Hoang (Hai Phong). Among them, Hoang "bot" was on the verge of leaving Lach Tray Stadium but failed because Mr. Hung knew how to "tie" this coach with a binding contract.
Among the new head coaches: Nguyen Minh Phuong (SHB.Da Nang), Marian Mihail (Thanh Hoa), Dinh Hong Vinh (Can Tho), Toshiya Miura (HCMC), Phan Van Tai Em (Sai Gon FC), Tran Minh Chien (Binh Duong), Nguyen Van Sy (Nam Dinh), the two foreign coaches Miura and Mihail are the most promising. In fact, those who know HAGL well all believe that Mr. Chung Hae-seong, who registered for the title of Technical Director, is actually the anonymous coach of the mountain town team. This means that V-League 2018 has 3/14 foreign coaches from countries with strong football backgrounds.
FLC Thanh Hoa invited Mihail - former Technical Director of the Romanian Football Federation in the period 2011 - 2014, and HAGL went all the way to Kim Chi land to bring Mr. Chung Hae-seong, former assistant coach of the Korean national team in 2017 to coach with the ambition of winning the 2018 V-League championship. Meanwhile, Mr. Le Cong Vinh brought Miura - former coach of the Vietnamese national team in the period 2014-2015 to Thong Nhat Stadium with the ambition of entering the Top 3 this season. The bosses expect the past professional achievements of the foreign coaches to help the team compete in the V-League.
Pressure on young coaches
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| New challenges await young coach Tai Em. Photo: Internet |
Among these coaches, except for Minh Phuong and Van Sy, the rest have never had experience in the V-League. If Minh Phuong cannot save Long An from relegation, Van Sy, who has not coached in the V-League for a long time, is also considered an unknown. The young coaches Minh Chien, Minh Phuong, and Tai Em are all famous players of Vietnamese football in the past, have professional qualifications and are knowledgeable about the inside story of the field. But clearly, when moving to a new position, it is really a big challenge for them.
Looking at Tai Em and his colleagues Thanh Cong and Minh Duc, who are all very young, and the time to prepare for the season is quite short, many people worry about the Saigon team. Right before becoming the new coach of the Tay Do team, Hong Vinh was only an assistant to coach Hoang Anh Tuan in the Vietnam U20 team and worked for the HAGL youth team.
Having many young coaches in charge of the V-League makes this tournament more exciting and colorful. But at the same time, it signals a more fiercely competitive tournament, as this year's tournament has up to 1.5 relegation spots.
When names like Huu Thang, Huynh Duc, Duc Thang… are still unemployed, it means that if they are not successful, the young coaches will have to leave. Of course, no one wants to leave the game early!
