Coach Kim Sang-sik uses his 'secret weapon' for U.23 Vietnam

U.23 Vietnam needs to have their own unique strengths to be able to go far in the 2025 U.23 Southeast Asia tournament.

AIR COMBAT WEAPONS

U.23 Vietnam is entering the sprint phase to prepare for the campaign to defend the throne at the U.23 Southeast Asian Championship 2025. Although coach Kim Sang-sik is gradually shaping his style, with a playing style that tends to control and attack from the middle to the wings, it is necessary to recognize: it is very difficult for a young team to play smoothly and harmoniously when they only have 2 to 3 weeks of training together.

U.23 Vietnam trains to prepare for the 2025 Southeast Asian U.23 tournament - Photo: DONG NGUYEN KHANG

For a long time, the youth teams of Thailand have been the rare representatives that can coordinate smoothly and cohesively, thanks to the unified philosophy built from the club level. U.23 Vietnam finds it difficult to achieve this philosophy, because the players come from different training centers, are shaped by technical and tactical foundations and have different playing personalities.

Therefore, instead of waiting for U.23 Vietnam to be able to weave together and coordinate layers to overwhelm the opponent like in club matches, Coach Kim Sang-sik needs to have "secret" moves so that his students can effectively exploit specific situations on the field. U.23 Vietnam won the U.23 Southeast Asia Championship 2022 and 2023, or SEA Games 31 (2022) not because they dominated their opponents, but because they were better at decisive moments.

The first weapon that can be relied on in U.23 Vietnam is set pieces. 9 out of 36 players that coach Kim Sang-sik has at his disposal are 1.8 m or taller. They are goalkeeper Tran Trung Kien (1.91 m), Nguyen Tan (1.8 m), Cao Van Binh (1.83 m), central defenders Le Van Ha (1.84 m), Pham Ly Duc

(1.82 m), Dinh Quang Kiet (1.96 m), Nguyen Hieu Minh (1.84 m), and midfielders Nguyen Van Truong (1.82 m), Viktor Le (1.8 m). In addition, there are also names with good physique such as striker Nguyen Dinh Bac (1.79 m), striker Bui Alex (1.78 m), fullback Nguyen Hong Phuc (1.78 m), or center-back Nguyen Nhat Minh (1.75 m).

The image of being "short and light" has become a thing of the past. The current U.23, U.20 and U.17 Vietnam teams are all tall, strong and not afraid to compete even with very strong opponents like Korea, Australia or West Asian teams.

In the past training sessions, in addition to exercises related to team distance, coordination of overlapping shots on the second line, ball deployment, etc., Mr. Kim also focused on set pieces. U.23 Vietnam was trained in coordination of moving to attract people and finding space in corner kicks, indirect free kicks and crosses. In addition to good physical strikers such as Van Truong and Dinh Bac, Mr. Kim also has Quoc Viet, who is not tall but is extremely "sharp" in heading situations, or central defender Pham Ly Duc, who has a knack for scoring with 3 goals in his first season playing for HAGL in the V-League.

WAITING FOR TEACHER KIM'S DISCOVERY

Besides the aerial ball, U.23 Vietnam may introduce unique tactical options. Proof is that in 2023, coach Hoang Anh Tuan helped the team win the championship with Dinh Xuan Tien in the role of "virtual striker" to attract people, opening up space for Nguyen Quoc Viet and Nguyen Minh Quang to fully exploit.

With a squad of young, strong, eager players who can play in many positions, Coach Kim Sang-sik can create many creative attacking ideas. In the friendly tournament in Yancheng (Jiangsu, China) in March, the duo Viktor Le and Nguyen Phi Hoang created a "whirlwind" on the right wing, thanks to which U.23 Vietnam played extremely well against U.23 Korea or U.23 China.

In the last two friendly matches, coach Kim Sang-sik tested the 3-5-2 formation (different from the familiar 3-4-3 formation), with two strikers moving wide, acting as "decoys" for the midfield to advance.

The interesting thing about youth football is that players can improve every day and play unpredictable football, instead of being forced into a pre-existing playing style like in the national team. The boundless energy and desire to show off also helps U.23 Vietnam to press more fiercely, deploy lightning-fast attacks and counter-attack faster... which are suitable tactics to face strong teams.

In the Vietnam national team, coach Kim Sang-sik has effectively exploited "mid-level" players such as Chau Ngoc Quang, Doan Ngoc Tan, Bui Vi Hao, Nguyen Hai Long to create a strong team. The Korean coach always focuses on observing and listening to awaken the potential of his students. This is necessary for U.23 Vietnam, where achievements are only secondary, but more importantly, coach Kim needs to find good players to promote to the national team later.

According to the plan, U.23 Vietnam will continue to practice at Ba Ria Stadium (Ba Ria Ward, New Ho Chi Minh City) until July 13, before moving to Indonesia on the morning of July 14 to participate in the 2025 Southeast Asian U.23 Championship - a tournament that U.23 Vietnam won twice in 2022 and 2023.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/hlv-kim-sang-sik-dung-bai-tu-cho-u23-viet-nam-185250706211738957.htm