Concerns about high-level battles in the defense of the Vietnamese team

T HUA FROM FIXED SITUATIONS

Coach Philippe Troussier officially debuted at the 32nd SEA Games, helping U.22 Vietnam play on par with Thailand and defeat Malaysia, Singapore and Myanmar. However, the limitations were also revealed in the semi-final match when Indonesia continuously took the lead from high balls. At the national team level, the Vietnamese team's defense stood firm against 3 opponents of equal strength: Hong Kong, Syria and Palestine. However, against heavyweight "tests" with high levels such as China, Uzbekistan, South Korea... the Vietnamese team lost every match from high balls, struggling to defend against the opponent's set pieces.

Lo lắng cuộc chiến tầm cao ở hàng thủ đội tuyển Việt Nam - Ảnh 1. — Vietnam team's defense was loose and conceded an early goal against their opponent, South Korea.

It seems that compared to the time of Mr. Park Hang-seo, the ability to organize to prevent high balls, especially from set-piece situations, is no longer as good. We can clearly see this through the fact that in all 3 friendly matches in October, against opponents with good attack organization skills, the goals of goalkeepers Van Lam and Dinh Trieu were constantly threatened, leading to goals conceded. Coach Phan Thanh Hung expressed: "It is a fact that from the U.22 Vietnam team at SEA Games 32 to the recent friendly matches of the Vietnam team, we often lost goals from free kick situations. The ability to organize defense continuously faced challenges. That could be because during that period, Mr. Troussier was focusing on building a style of play that deployed the ball from the bottom up, proactively raising high pressing. Adjusting the way of playing after a long 5-year cycle is not easy at all, so maybe the Vietnamese teams are forced to accept taking each step, each stage, solving each problem one by one."

Waiting for Mr. T. Roussier's answer

In terms of personnel, the Vietnamese team is taking a step back when it lacks defensive specialists with good physiques, 1.8 m or taller such as Van Hau, Tan Tai, Thanh Chung, Duy Manh... The young players added by Mr. Troussier to the Vietnamese team such as Tuan Tai, Van Cuong, Thai Son, Van Toan, Van Luan, Viet Hung, Van Do, Tuan Duong, Minh Trong... are all much shorter than the 1.8 m standard. This directly affects the Vietnamese team's ability to defend against high balls. Not only that, these small players also have certain difficulties in competing one-on-one with opponents with strong midfield.

Coach Phan Thanh Hung commented: "I think any tactic must wait for the players to adapt to be effective. Building a new playing style for any team is the same and the Vietnam team is no exception. Coach Troussier knows the physical differences between the two groups of players, but he has faith in the young blood. Before us is the second qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup, with opponents in Group F all having good physical shape and playing long balls such as Iraq, Philippines, Indonesia. Everyone knows that the ability to defend and exploit high balls can be the key to breaking the deadlock, aiming to reach the final goal of 1 of the top 2 positions to enter the third qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup, and at the same time win a ticket to the 2027 Asian Cup. After more than 8 months of leading the Vietnam team and U.23 Vietnam, Mr. Troussier has enough data on the players' abilities. It is important that the Vietnam team needs to find a balance in participating in defense and launching attack the way he is aiming".

Tuan Hai shines

On the evening of November 8, Hanoi FC hosted Wuhan Three Towns FC in the 4th match of the AFC Champions League 2023 - 2024 group stage. Despite conceding the first goal in the first half, the current V-League runner-up played resiliently in the second half to turn the game around. Vietnam national team striker Tuan Hai shone with a double, including a tricky header and a technical turn and decisive left-footed shot to bring the capital team a 2-1 victory.

Hong Nam

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