Japan - Brazil duo 'show off their martial arts', U.17 Vietnam will be extremely different!

U.17 Vietnam looking for good coach

Two months before the AFC U17 Championship finals, the Vietnam U17 coaching staff was reorganized. VFF invited Cristiano Roland back to the head coach position and signed a contract with expert Yukata Ikeuchi as technical advisor.

Initially, Mr. Ikeuchi was targeted for the head coach position, as Mr. Roland was appointed as the technical director (GĐKT) of Da Nang Club. However, Mr. Roland left the Han River team after 3 matches in charge to return to Hanoi .

Expert Ikeuchi (left) plays the role of technical advisor for U.17 Vietnam

Compared to the Japanese expert, Coach Roland has an advantage because he has understood the students of U.17 Vietnam after 3 months in charge. The Brazilian coach's tactics also help his students change. The proof is that in 6 matches under Mr. Roland's leadership (against U.17 teams in friendly and official tournaments), U.17 Vietnam won 3, drew 2, lost 1, including resounding victories against U.17 Japan and U.17 Uzbekistan.

Therefore, Mr. Roland is a reasonable option. Coaching in the Asian finals is also a reward for the Brazilian coach's dedication, when he accepted the challenge of the team that had just lost heavily to U.16 Australia and U.16 Indonesia in the U.16 Southeast Asia tournament.

However, VFF decided to still use expert Ikeuchi as an advisor to coach Roland for two purposes. First, Mr. Ikeuchi directly coached Japan U.15 and U.17 (as head coach) and Japan U.20 (as assistant).

The Japanese strategist has a wealth of coaching experience far surpassing that of Vietnamese coaches, and Mr. Roland himself has just started his coaching career.

If coach Roland is good at "inspiring" and motivating his students, expert Ikeuchi has strategic vision, methods of training young players and knowledge of the opponents in the same group, especially U.17 Japan, of which he himself was the head coach. Therefore, Mr. Ikeuchi brings what coach Roland's coaching team lacks.

Coach Roland is good at inspiring

The Japanese technical advisor will be used as a "double general", that is, together with Mr. Roland, he will train, analyze opponents and design tactical plans. During the match, Coach Roland will directly instruct, while Mr. Ikeuchi will act as an assistant consultant.

Prepare carefully

The establishment of an independent coaching staff for the U.17 Vietnam team is a new move by the VFF. Previously, the best coaches and assistants were always reserved for the national team and the U.22 Vietnam team.

Over the past 10 years, U.17 Vietnam has been mainly led by domestic coaches such as Hoang Anh Tuan, Tran Minh Chien, Nguyen Quoc Tuan, Dinh The Nam. Up to now, U.17 Vietnam has had a foreign coach and an expert in the role of technical advisor.

That shows that U.17 Vietnam is serious about its ambition to participate in the U.17 World Cup 2025. In the U.17 Asian Finals taking place in April, 8 out of 16 participating teams will have tickets to the world stage. The only condition is to pass the group stage. Therefore, even though they are in a difficult group (with U.17 Japan, U.17 Australia and U.17 UAE), the opportunity to participate in the World Cup is clear.

Coach Roland shared with Thanh Nien Newspaper: "Young Vietnamese players currently have very few matches. For example, U.17 Hanoi were lucky to play 16 matches last season, when we won the championship. However, teams that do not qualify only play 8 official matches each year, which is too little."

Coach Roland answered Thanh Nien Newspaper about the ambition of U.17 Vietnam

This reality is difficult to change in the short term, as the Vietnamese football system currently does not have many playgrounds for young players (despite efforts to reform). Therefore, finding the best teachers for U.17 players is the appropriate solution in the short term.

The victory over U.17 Japan and U.17 Uzbekistan brought great encouragement to U.17 Vietnam. Although it was just a friendly tournament, it showed that in youth football, there is always room for surprises. 9 years ago, U.17 Vietnam won U.17 Australia in the Asian group stage as an example.

In the long term, Vietnamese youth football needs to invest more systematically in the young generation. Not only finding good teachers, but also investing in more thorough foreign training, upgrading the domestic youth league system and calling up talents of foreign origin (like Thailand and Indonesia are doing). For now, let's "cut our coat according to our cloth" for the World Cup dream.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/voi-song-tuong-nhat-ban-brazil-u17-viet-nam-se-rat-khac-185250213185532222.htm