Why is it more difficult to train young people at Song Lam Nghe An as they go higher?

The Youth Football Tournament - Nghe An Newspaper Cup is a playground for children in the province and also a place where SLNA scouts select bright faces for the province's sports. Photo: Duc Anh

At the same time, the U teams of SLNA training center entered the national finals such as U11, U13 or the undefeated first leg of U17... showing that the youth training foundation that has been unmatched for many years is being continued in a steady and methodical manner, both in breadth and focused on improving to create resources for the first team and national teams according to the requirements.

U13 SLNA players. Photo: document

That is truly the pride of Nghe An and it can be said that for many years now, the locality and the base have really done a good job of launching the movement, building and gathering the initial factors for youth training. The problem is that since then, the sports sector from the province to the Central level, professional football clubs, and VFF have practiced training, competition, and selection to create quality teams when "bringing the bell to fight in foreign lands".

A recent fact shows that, if from the U11, 13, 15, 17... generations, SLNA always leads with many convincing results, then from the U19 generation onwards, this training center gradually weakens and becomes more and more difficult to compete with the Hanoi, Viettel, PVF or HAGL training centers. Xuan Tien, Van Cuong, Van Bach... played very convincingly in the U17 tournament, but only 2 years later, they had great difficulty competing with U19 Hanoi, U19 Viettel or U19 NutiFood Academy. The most convincing evidence is that Van Truong of U19 Hanoi was called up to U23 Vietnam to compete in the recent U23 Asian Cup, but that not only happened to Xuan Tien, a junior, but also to seniors such as Van Lam, Sy Hoang, Van Viet... who were "left behind" mercilessly.

More broadly, since Vietnamese football has grown and expanded, only Ngoc Hai and Van Duc are left from the SLNA academy, while the next generation is only called to the training camp and then eliminated at the decisive moment in the Vietnam National Team as well as the Vietnam U23. The story of the SLNA youth academy falling behind the U19, U21, U23... generations is certainly not a new topic for the media and those responsible and can be gradually overcome when SLNA has a new sponsor with passion and real power to invest and improve all aspects. And the tournaments of these U teams in the coming years will answer for themselves whether the SLNA academy can keep up with the Hanoi, Viettel... or will it still only come in third or fourth in those tournaments like before? The crucial thing is that, in addition to the abundant experience of the coaching team, the requirements for physical training, sports medicine, and the application of new technology... SLNA has been approaching and is on par with other training centers to create perfect, one-of-a-kind "products"..?

Higher and bigger is the story of youth training, competition of youth teams, young talents in the competition system of V. League 1 and 2 every year. When U23 Vietnam under coach Gong Oh-kyun completely changed the philosophy of playing football with new requirements on technique, tactics, physical and mental strength, Van Truong, Van Khang, Tuan Tai... met the requirements but clearly the further we go into the next round, the more... suffocated and defeated we are.

Look at the way the U23 Saudi Arabia players play with experience, skill, and outstanding strength... and you can see that, although they are young, they regularly compete in professional tournaments at home and abroad, while Van Truong, Van Khang, and Tuan Tai are only playing in the U19 youth tournament or the First Division. Look at the way the U23 Japan team (actually the U19 and U21 teams) defeated the reigning U23 Korean champions, to see the Japanese way of doing youth football, a whole system of monitoring and evaluating the quality of young players to serve the planning of the national teams, and how they anticipate the tournaments ahead...

While V. League 1 and 2 are struggling with using 2 or 3 foreign players, still calculating the need to have 1 U23 player in the club squad or a youth tournament accompanying the first team tournament... the world has taken great strides towards professionalism and reached new heights.

SLNA can be completely assured and proud of the young U-teams, the friendly matches that won resoundingly against amateur teams, weak teams... but how can we be satisfied with the fact that from the U19 team onwards, we started to struggle and struggle to win a medal. How can we be satisfied when the U23 Vietnam team gradually lacks SLNA players and this trend is a sad reality that cannot be ignored (?).

The question remains why, with a good foundation and a good starting point like the way the U-teams entered the finals, like the recent successful Youth Football Tournament - Nghe An Newspaper Cup, the higher we go, the deeper we go, the more we fall behind, losing strength compared to the leading centers?