V.League 2022: Four-horse race?

Through what has been shown, it is not difficult for experts and fans to realize that a four-horse race has begun to form, consisting of two capital teams, Hanoi FC and Viettel, and two central teams, Song Lam Nghe An and T.Binh Dinh, while Mr. Duc's team is being... ignored, because at present this is a disjointed, unpredictable group, although not lacking in ambition, especially with the rather "explosive" statements of the team's owner.

A training session of SLNA Club. Photo courtesy of Duc Anh

First of all, winning the Hai Phong Four-Hero Cup despite the absence of Quang Hai shows that the capital team is focusing on regaining what it has lost in the past 2 years. The absence of Quang Hai is of course undesirable, but with the addition of forces, especially those from the Vietnam National Team and a whole squad of U23 Vietnam stars in hand, the capital team is capable of challenging all the remaining teams, although someone is always mentioning the ally somewhere of the owner of this potential and dedicated team.

The U23 Vietnam stars who have been named in the Hanoi FC's roster include Van Chuan, Van Xuan (injured), Van Truong, Viet Anh, Tien Long, Xuan Tu, Van Dat, Van Toi... alongside the stars on the Vietnam national team such as Tan Truong, Duy Manh, Thanh Chung, Duc Huy, Van Vy, Tuan Hai... plus a formidable foreign squad, such as the "lucky" striker V. Siladi, will be a constant threat to any powerful team, including the three candidate teams mentioned above. Is the problem of Hanoi FC currently in the defense when in the last two tense matches they conceded goals. That was the match against host Hai Phong in the Four-Hero Cup (2-2) and the make-up match of round 3 at Nam Dinh (1-1). Without Dinh Trong and Duy Manh not returning, the central defender pair Thanh Chung - Van Toi have not proven to be the necessary replacement at this time?

Meanwhile, Viettel is proving its superior strength in the AFC 2022 qualifiers against regional teams. Although central defender Tien Dung has not returned, the biggest hope Hoang Duc has not really recovered after a long period of dedication, Ngoc Hai and Trong Hoang have returned home, but the potential of this army team is never exhausted, with the addition of top young players such as Manh Dung, Thanh Binh, Danh Trung and maybe Tuan Tai in the near future. Not as explosive and diverse as Hanoi FC, but the army team has the maturity and toughness of those who always know the enemy, know themselves, win with the minimum for the maximum score.

The "newly rich" football team in the Central region, T. Binh Dinh, is currently showing real ambition when gathering many Vietnamese football talents despite not having an abundant youth training source like its opponent SLNA. The match in round 2 of V. League-2022 betweenLam River Nghe An- T.Binh Dinh (1-2) showed that this is a formidable team, gradually forming a real force to challenge the potential teams mentioned above. Any team in the process of "marching and lining up" of the tournament will find the best lineup and the most suitable tactics to realize their ambitions.

The two Central teams with two young coaches Duc Thang and Huy Hoang facing off against two Korean coaches (Chun Jae - Hanoi FC, Bae Ji-won - Viettel) will be a more intense battle of wits than ever. The two Central teams have enough experienced players from the Vietnam National Team and a few U23 Vietnam players. Whether they can compete with the many teammates - opponents from the capital teams on the national field or not is also a very interesting and worth-waiting thing ahead.

There will be many big changes for SLNA Club in the new season. Photo courtesy of Duc Anh

This four-horse race will last until November and all predictions can be broken by interlopers like Hoang Anh Gia Lai, Hai Phong or Saigon FC and any dark horse team. Hopefully, the above predictions will soon be... bankrupt because of the continuous change of position after the rounds, because of the surprise of the round ball, because of the rise of a seemingly weak team. But whatever is said, whatever the surprise, there will be no story of football centers like Hanoi FC or Viettel falling behind, because the extremely high-quality resources of these teams have been tested at the regional and continental levels recently. Catching up with these teams is not simple and easy when for many years they have been the core, the main force of the Vietnam National Team and U23 Vietnam, contributing mainly to bringing Vietnamese football to a new level./.