Round 15 V-League: SLNA's difficulties and opportunities
(Baonghean.vn) - Round 15 of V-League 2018 is quite special when the organizers' match schedule has coincidentally arranged for the bottom 6 teams to meet each other. Of the 3 matches, SLNA has the biggest chance to escape the "red light" group, the question is whether Duc Thang and his team can take advantage of it or not?
In this round, the hosts HAGL, SLNA and TP HCM will welcome Saigon, XSKT.Can Tho and Nam Dinh. Except for Nam Dinh, the remaining teams, if they get 3 points, will have a chance to escape the "destined position". SLNA is on the rise after 2 lucky wins, especially the match against the "host" B.Binh Duong at Vinh Stadium.
Waves at the bottom of the river
The Thong Nhat Stadium team, after the 3-1 win over Nam Dinh at Thien Truong Stadium 3-1 in round 5, has not known the taste of victory. They lost to Hai Phong, Hanoi, SHB.Da Nang, Than Quang Ninh, were lucky to draw with Quang Nam, HAGL, XSKT.Can Tho, B.Binh Duong and continued to lose to Hai Phong 0-2 in the second leg.
With 5 losses and 4 draws, the team that had a goal of being in the top 3 at the beginning of the season is now in 13th place, only 3 points ahead of Nam Dinh.
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| After 3 consecutive losses, Xuan Truong and his teammates are facing great pressure. Photo: AT |
If they lose to Nam Dinh at home, coach Miura's fate will probably be decided. Even if he wants to, Mr. Huu Thang will have no other choice but to fire the Japanese coach.
Despite having Gonzalo, Huynh Kesley Alves, Tavares, Dang Van Robert, Phi Son, they still lost to the home team Hai Phong in a match where the Ho Chi Minh City players played extremely hard. They will have a little difficulty when hosting Nam Dinh because Ngoc Duc had to sit out the match after receiving his 6th yellow card of the season.
The home team HAGL has just lost to Than Quang Ninh, Quang Nam and recently SHB.Da Nang, 3 matches conceded 8 goals, 2 matches lost back to back, proving that the defense is too vulnerable. The head of the HAGL football team has written a letter of apology to the fans and now it is time for them to show it with concrete actions.
Meanwhile, Saigon just won 5-2 against Hanoi amid the "buzz" about the "1 owner, many teams" situation on Vietnamese football fields. If they get 3 points, they will dispel all doubts and stay away from the danger zone.
If they win XSKT.Can Tho, SLNA will surpass this Tay Do team in the rankings. There is a slight disadvantage when Van Binh, a new player for the Nghe An team, has received 3 yellow cards. Although he only entered the field for the last 10 minutes of the match, Van Binh was still given a yellow card by the referee, showing that he is still a very tough player in the V-League.
But the Tay Do team is at a disadvantage as Huu Dung has returned to FLC Thanh Hoa, former captain Quang Tinh will be the replacement to lead the game. Physical strength is an obstacle for the away team's number 17 midfielder when the weather is hot and the SLNA midfield is inherently uncompromising.
SLNA's problem
The match schedule is very favorable for the Nghe An team. In addition to receiving a "gift from heaven" to welcome B.Binh Duong at Vinh Stadium, in the next rounds, the bottom teams will meet each other.
In round 16, SLNA will meet Saigon, the direct opponent at this time is Ho Chi Minh City will meet XSKT.Can Tho, the host Nam Dinh will meet SHB.Da Nang and HAGL will meet the second team on the table Than Quang Ninh. Not to mention round 17, Saigon will meet Nam Dinh... in a crucial match.
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| If he continues to lose, coach Miura will likely be fired. Photo: AT |
In fact, having 6 points after 2 matches with Hai Phong and B.Binh Duong, fans still cannot be assured with SLNA's playing style. The attacking pressure on the opponent's field is still not enough to disrupt the opponent's defense.
SLNA's defenders still make mistakes in situations where they mark and defend against high balls. The addition of midfielder Van Binh is necessary, but how to use him is not a simple problem when SLNA's current playing style is very different from 3-4 years ago, when this midfielder was still playing for the Vinh team.
Adding foreign players is still a hot topic, but it is clear that Vinh Stadium's audience has too many expectations, and the past has given many obvious lessons.
In the first leg, the schedule was quite favorable, SLNA also had 3 consecutive matches playing at Vinh stadium but the Nghe An team did not take advantage of the opportunity. In the second leg, coach Duc Thang and his team also have 3 consecutive matches playing at Vinh stadium, let's wait and see how Ngoc Hai and his teammates perform?
