V. League and the fierce race off the field
(Baonghean.vn) - V.League in recent seasons has had remarkable movements with the appearance of "new football giants" such as Hai Phong, Binh Dinh and most recently Nam Dinh, along with the very noteworthy dissolution of Quang Ninh, possibly Saigon FC or Can Tho in the First Division.
Fortunately, after being invested in upgrading in all aspects, the "dark horse" teams such as Hai Phong and Binh Dinh have finished V.League 2022 with an excellent achievement: only behind the champion Hanoi FC. Hai Phong finished second by inviting a good coach, Mr. Chu Dinh Nghiem, plus a series of good players such as Hai Huy, borrowing Ngoc Quang, Van Toi... to create a solid framework, playing stably throughout the season. Meanwhile, Binh Dinh only finished third because at the beginning of the season, the outstanding factors did not really match each other, but towards the end, they played better and better and were one of the most difficult opponents in V.League.
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Topenla Binh Dinh. Photo: danviet.vn |
But next season, V.League 2023 with the current remarkable movement, will the 3 teams be able to maintain their position when another emerging giant, Nam Dinh, is shopping for a series of good players at Thien Truong Stadium? Hai Phong will no longer have Ngoc Quang, Rimario, Van Toi..., will they have enough strength to borrow more pillars when the youth training center here has been almost silent for a long time? Will it be a challenge for the team from the red phoenix flower city after a successful season even though they still re-signed a contract with Mr. Chu Dinh Nghiem, the best coach this season?
Meanwhile, Binh Dinh seems unwilling to accept the 3rd place when adding the foreign duo from Hai Phong Rimario-Moses, not to mention some other factors transferred from Saigon FC after the dissolution. More noteworthy is Nam Dinh with the biggest challenge to the top teams when adding Nguyen Manh, Khac Ngoc, Huu Tuan, Van Thanh, Hong Duy... It is very possible that Nam Dinh will "take the place" of Hai Phong next season if Vu Hong Viet proves that he is as "cool" as Chu Dinh Nghiem on the coaching bench? Nam Dinh has a tradition of training young people. But when they do well in training young people, the first team is very weak, much weaker than Song Lam Nghe An. Now, is it like they are going against themselves to achieve early success by investing heavily in shopping without expecting anything from local young resources? The newly promoted team Cong An Ha Noi also shows no small ambition when bringing in foreign coaching staff and some stars...
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The above-mentioned famous football teams, strangely, are not youth training centers with depth and breadth like Song Lam Nghe An or Hanoi FC. The fact that they have played well in a few seasons does not actually prove much about the development path of top-level football in these localities, such as Hai Phong for example. Let's wait for the 2023 season to see how long the team at Lach Tray Stadium will continue to "withstand the heat"? Even Binh Dinh currently has an extremely strong force, but has not proven its abundant resources from massive purchases rather than from fundamental and systematic training. It is a joy to have a team that is heavily invested in to achieve great ambitions, has a "stage" for good players to demonstrate their talents, so that they are paid commensurate with their efforts. But the worry will be bigger and longer when the team has no internal "roots", is not cared for from the root, but only has temporary, unsustainable achievements.
In that context, teams with a tradition of youth training such as Song Lam Nghe An or Hoang Anh Gia Lai are currently facing difficulties because the first team is not playing as well as expected and the process of "talent drain" has not been stopped in time. It is currently very difficult to hope that these teams will reach the top of the V.League when they do not have enough talent and strength to compete with the rich teams mentioned above. The problem is that they must continue to maintain the momentum of youth training with new and modern means and human resources to supplement young factors for the first team through competition and top-level competition, while at the same time having to retain a number of key and excellent factors to serve the immediate task and move forward in the long term.
Not every team that spends a lot of money will win the championship right away, and not every young team with potential today is the basis for the championship last season or next season. The U19 generation of Hoang Anh Gia Lai, or the countless gold medals of the U teams of Song Lam Nghe An, have not led to a championship, even in the top 3 of these teams in the V.League for many years. To see that doing professional football is many times more difficult than doing grassroots football. It also shows that going on the path to the number 1 position, maintaining the number 1 position like Hanoi FC is currently unique, is rare, although Viettel has always been a very formidable force.
In short, the above mentioned movements or in fact the fierce competition off the field before the new season has brought joy but also revealed many worries. But certainly, football will continue to attract audiences to the stadium to witness the top competitions, the shining stars of new teams. Therefore, will the map of Vietnamese football change in a more professional, more worth watching, more hopeful direction?
