V-League 2023: What hope for young stars?

The first two games of the season,Coach Huy Hoangboldly let the youngest midfielder of the tournament, Tran Nam Hai, born in 2004, start and this student did not disappoint his teacher and senior teammates when he scored a goal in the opening match, played extremely well in the second match away at Thanh Hoa for 65 minutes, really "burning himself out" before giving way to Xuan Tien.

Also in the two above-mentioned matches, Huy Hoang sent Van Cuong, Manh Quynh, Van Luong... onto the field and at different levels, they all showed their desire to contribute, wanting to do something like Nam Hai did, although reality is always cruel and strict with young players and mistakes in a split second are possible, like the case of Van Cuong's loss in the match against SHB Da Nang...

Center back Vytas Gaspuitis was one of the best players in the match between SLNA and Dong A Thanh Hoa. Photo: Xuan Thuy

The second “youngest” team, Hoang Anh Gia Lai, with an average age of 24.32, is also showing many positive signs, especially after the unfortunate 1-1 draw at Binh Duong Stadium. In the opening match at Pleiku Stadium, they were unable to show themselves, but in the next match, they showed a completely different side. If anyone thinks that Hoang Anh Gia Lai players are only good at technique and passing but do not have the ability to play aggressively and be annoying, they are completely wrong and will have to pay the price sooner or later.

Binh Duong's foreign players, especially in the midfield, who had experienced enough at home, could not keep their feet free to hold the ball and organize the game, to provide the ball to Rimario or Tien Linh. They were even outwitted by Thanh Nhan, Quang Nho... in many coordination situations and unexpectedly passed the ball deep to the opponent's field... If Binh Duong did not have the outstanding talent of goalkeeper Minh Toan when he made 3 spectacular saves, then who knows what would have happened to Tien Linh and his teammates against a team that has always drawn and won for the past 5 years?

The third "young" team, Viettel, with an average age of 24.8, also showed the positive contribution of the young players in the opening match against the reigning V-League champion, Hanoi FC. In this derby match in the capital, it was not the formidable foreign players of the two teams that decided the fate of the confrontation, but the domestic players who made the difference. On the home team Hanoi FC, Van Quyet, a famous "veteran", scored a controversial goal from the 11m penalty spot. On Viettel's side, Danh Trung's beautiful goal from a brave, courageous, and dangerous diving header is very commendable and worth learning.

Defender Mai Sy Hoang is the right choice of coach Huy Hoang on the left wing. Photo: VPF

A preliminary “roll call” of the youth squads of the 3 youngest teams in the V-League through the last 2 matches is enough to see their positive role and impact on the team, contributing to initially answering the question of why they were soon included in the list and soon put on the field. That is a positive thing not only for a team but even for the whole football industry, when training young players early reaps results, when young players get to rub shoulders with seniors and good foreign players.

When V-League teams rely solely on the scoring ability of foreign players, even with a resounding 5-0 victory like that team, the benefits for Vietnamese football, the Vietnam National Team or U23 Vietnam are not worth much, if not very little. Let's see when Rimario scored 3 goals in 2 matches for Binh Duong, when will young Tien Linh or Vy Hao have their own goals in the scoreboard. In that context, Nam Hai, Xuan Tien... of Song Lam Nghe An, Thanh Nhan, Quang Nho, Quoc Viet... of Hoang Anh Gia Lai, Danh Trung, Van Khang... of Viettel will have the conditions to develop their abilities and strengths much better than other teams when they only focus on passing the ball to foreign players, assigning the goal-scoring task to foreign players as we have seen?

It is also to see whether there will be more or less hope in the young V-League squad, when they are put on the field early, tested regularly, for the whole match or just a few minutes of substitution when the game is settled, the foreign players have completed their mission and are allowed to rest, waiting for the next match to "fight" again?