Why has Song Lam Nghe An yet to taste victory?

What is Song Lam Nghe An lacking?

Following a disappointing draw against Ho Chi Minh City FC at Vinh Stadium in Round 6 of the V.League 2024/2025,Coach Pham Anh TuanHe pointed out many areas where the team is lacking and weak. "Song Lam Nghe An is currently lacking many things to be strong enough to win in the V.League. These include a lack of players with strong character, a lack of leaders on the field, a lack of playmakers, a lack of control, a lack of players to act as a link to create good passes...", Mr. Tuan said with a sense of helplessness.

Looking back at the match in round 6 at Vinh Stadium, we can see the words of the head coach.Lam River, Nghe AnThis assessment is entirely justified. Despite facing an equally matched opponent, Song Lam Nghe An still revealed many shortcomings in their ball control, defensive capabilities, and transitional play.

The aforementioned situation stems from the weakness in the midfield of the home team in Vinh. It can be said that the defensive midfielder position is currently the most worrying link for Song Lam Nghe An. As is known, players in this position need to possess a comprehensive skill set. They must not only control the tempo of the game, but also know how to dribble away when the opponent presses, pass the ball through the lines to players further up the field, dribble to find space, and intercept from afar.

However, in the previous rounds, Song Lam Nghe An has been unable to find a player capable of achieving that.

Furthermore, the two midfielders regularly used in the last three rounds, Xuan Tien and Quang Vinh, despite their best efforts, still lack the skills to live up to the role of central midfielder. It is easy to see that even when facing mid-table teams like SHB Da Nang, Hoang Anh Gia Lai, Hong Linh Ha Tinh, Binh Dinh, or most recently Ho Chi Minh City FC, Song Lam Nghe An's ball possession rate remains significantly lower than their opponents.

Furthermore, the Nghe An team is also lacking an "architect," someone capable of providing quality passes to the forwards. Therefore, in many recent matches, the two foreign players of Song Lam Nghe An have often been starved of the ball and had to drop deep to look for opportunities.

On the other hand, Song Lam Nghe An also needs to quickly improve its physical fitness. In recent matches against "The Red Battleship," from the 60th minute onwards, many players from Nghe An showed signs of fatigue and exhaustion. This was also the reason why Song Lam Nghe An lost its ability to control the ball and maintain the pace of attack.

It can be affirmed that, currently, the team based in Vinh is lacking and weak in many aspects. Therefore, after 6 rounds, Song Lam Nghe An is still languishing in the relegation zone, which is not too surprising to football fans.

Waiting for luck to knock on your door?

This is a question that's not easy to answer. Song Lam Nghe An missed a golden opportunity to secure all three points when they only had to face Ho Chi Minh City FC. And perhaps, to achieve this, the team playing at Vinh Stadium will need a stroke of luck.

Looking back at the match against Binh Dinh in round 5, Song Lam Nghe An was clearly very close to securing 3 points. However, defensive errors and a failure to capitalize on opportunities in the final minutes prevented coach Pham Anh Tuan's team from achieving victory.

The same reason applied to the match against Ho Chi Minh City Club. It must be acknowledged that Song Lam Nghe An had more scoring opportunities than their opponents. In particular, in the final minute, Kuku came very close to scoring, but the striker's close-range header failed to find the back of Patrick Le Giang's net.

Therefore, given the shortage and weakness of human resources as mentioned above, achieving victory for Song Lam Nghe An seems to require a great deal of luck. Especially in the upcoming matches, coach Pham Anh Tuan's team will face the second-placed team (Thanh Hoa) and play away in Quang Nam.