Vietnam national team's defense is shaky: As for the U.23 factor, coach Kim, don't forget it.

Vietnam team 'pierced'

The 3-1 victory over Nepal (on the evening of October 9) in the 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers probably made the Vietnamese team more worried than happy.

Besides the weak attack organization and opportunity taking, the "weakness" of coach Kim Sang-sik and his team has been revealed, which is the defense.

Hàng thủ đội tuyển Việt Nam lung lay: Còn nhân tố U.23, thầy Kim đừng lãng quên- Ảnh 1. — Vietnam team had a "tough" match with Nepal

There were two moments that most clearly exposed the shortcomings of the Vietnamese team's defense at the moment. First was the situation of conceding a goal in the 17th minute, when captain Do Duy Manh made a mistake in marking, allowing Sanish Shrestha to comfortably jump high and head the ball into Dang Van Lam's net. This was the 8th match in the last 9 matches that the Vietnamese team could not keep a clean sheet.

The second moment was when Nepal pressed high in the middle of the second half. But, instead of coordinating smoothly to get the ball back, from defender Pham Xuan Manh to goalkeeper Van Lam, they all received and passed the ball awkwardly. Van Lam even missed the ball without being under pressure, almost giving Nepal a free goal.

In both tasks of organizing defense to keep a clean sheet and passing the ball to support the attack, the Vietnamese team's defense has not fully completed.

The central defender trio Xuan Manh, Duy Manh and Bui Tien Dung did not have a good match, even though Nepal was an underdog, 62 places lower in the FIFA rankings. The Vietnamese team's ability to coordinate, cover, mark, and protect the goal... was unstable, especially when Nepal pushed high to put pressure.

"When having the advantage of leading, it is clear that the Vietnamese team must defend more focusedly. The players must not repeat this mistake in the next match," coach Kim Sang-sik assessed.

Hàng thủ đội tuyển Việt Nam lung lay: Còn nhân tố U.23, thầy Kim đừng lãng quên- Ảnh 2. — Bui Tien Dung was substituted after the first half.

In the last 9 matches in all competitions, Mr. Kim's students have conceded 17 goals, only keeping a clean sheet in one match (winning 5-0 against Laos). Over the past year, Coach Kim Sang-sik has experimented with many central defender trios, but the names that have played most often in the starting lineup are still Duy Manh and Tien Dung.

Both, along with Xuan Manh, are the rare remaining faces from the golden generation that rose from Changzhou in 2018, with the runner-up position of U.23 Asia. Duy Manh, Tien Dung, Xuan Manh have extensive experience, having gone through the World Cup qualifiers, Asian Cup, AFF Cup, ASIAD...

Building a defense with a rich playing background is Mr. Kim's priority. Experienced, brave players always know what to do in difficult times. For a long time, the Korean coach has been diligent in "interweaving" young players in many lines, but the defense is different. Only Pham Ly Duc (played in the second half of the 0-4 loss to Malaysia) is the only U.23 center back that Mr. Kim has ever let play.

However, not just in the match against Nepal, perhaps the mindset of "experience is number one" is no longer true for coach Kim Sang-sik's defense at this time.

Bold change

Coach Kim Sang-sik saw the problem. In the September training session, he and acting head coach Dinh Hong Vinh agreed to call up central defenders Tran Hoang Phuc, Dinh Quang Kiet, Dang Van Toi, and fullback Phan Du Hoc, for testing.

As a result, the Vietnamese team conceded 7 goals against Hanoi Police Club and Nam Dinh Club. All four players above were absent from this training session.

Hàng thủ đội tuyển Việt Nam lung lay: Còn nhân tố U.23, thầy Kim đừng lãng quên- Ảnh 3. — Hieu Minh was given a chance?

However, the "steel" defenders of the Vietnamese team also had to struggle to get up from mistakes to get to where they are today. To gain experience, players must be on the field. And to get players to play, coaches must be truly brave. Dare to look at shortcomings and find solutions, instead of using the same old way over and over again and hoping for change.

Of course, Coach Kim Sang-sik does not need to change the entire defensive system, but should still interweave the old generation with the new generation so that the seniors can guide the juniors. For example, using a U.23 central defender (like Nguyen Nhat Minh, Nguyen Hieu Minh) to play with 2 seniors, so that the players can gradually feel the match, accumulate and learn step by step. Duy Manh and Tien Dung were also guided by seniors like Que Ngoc Hai, and the inheritance should continue with the next generation.

The Vietnam national team needs to be more open to young people. Every option has two sides, but coach Kim Sang-sik can calculate to keep the risk at the lowest possible level.

The U.23 midfielders deserve to show themselves at least once. The "fire" is there, but where the "gold" is, the next match will show.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/hang-thu-doi-tuyen-viet-nam-lung-lay-con-nhan-to-u23-thay-kim-dung-lang-quen-185251010181417652.htm