Vietnam team: How to combine Xuan Son and Tien Linh effectively?

Xuan Son helps Tien Linh “breathe easily”

Before Myanmar, all three opponents in Group B clearly understood how dangerous Tien Linh was. This striker is the reigning AFF Cup top scorer, has impressive performance in the V-League and is also the top scorer for the Vietnamese team under coach Kim Sang-sik. For that reason, Tien Linh does not have too much space to play football.

Both Laos, Indonesia and the Philippines take special care of Tien Linh every time he is on the field. They even did not hesitate to use tricks and fouls to prevent the striker of Binh Duong Club from shining. Before the final match, Tien Linh only had one goal against the Lao team, stemming from a situation where the opponent made a mistake. In addition, he rarely had a chance to finish comfortably.

But in the match against the Myanmar team, everything changed. Tien Linh entered the field in the second half, along with Vi Hao and Xuan Son, forming the “trident” in the Vietnamese team’s attack. It’s still the 3-4-3 tactical diagram like previous matches, but this time, there’s more space for Tien Linh. Because Xuan Son also has the ability to operate very widely, attracting a lot of attention from Myanmar defenders.

In the situation where Xuan Son assisted Tien Linh to score, the three Myanmar defenders turned their eyes to the striker of Nam Dinh Club. By the time Tien Linh made a smart run to catch Xuan Son’s favorable pass, it was too late.

How to use Xuan Son – Tien Linh?

The trio of Vi Hao – Xuan Son – Van Toan is almost the best plan to fully exploit Xuan Son’s strengths. Van Toan and Vi Hao are both speedy players, good at penetrating, can create situations to escape to the bottom of the boundary and then pass the ball to Xuan Son to finish. This plan proved to be quite effective. In the first half of the match against Myanmar, this trio created 13 shots, including 3 good opportunities. However, Xuan Son and his teammates still lacked a bit of luck to score a goal. In the second half, Vi Hao and Xuan Son created for each other according to this scenario.

But at this time, Van Toan officially said goodbye to the 2024 AFF Cup because of a knee ligament injury. Vi Hao – Xuan Son – Tien Linh became the optimal choice of coach Kim Sang-sik.

Commentator Ngo Quang Tung analyzed: “If Tien Linh plays with Xuan Son, the Vietnamese team will no longer have 3 horizontal attacks, the tactical diagram can change to 3-5-2 At this time, Tien Linh has to play low. In fact, Tien Linh is relatively perfect in this role because he also often has to play backward for Binh Duong Club. I think Tien Linh is like Anh Duc today before, becoming more and more experienced and mischievous. Tien Linh may not have outstanding technical qualities, but he is playing better and handling them very reasonably and intelligently.”

Commentator Quang Tung added: “It is also possible that Xuan Son will play back and move wide. He has shown this in the colors of Binh Dinh and Nam Dinh clubs. Xuan Son is also a smart, integrated player. “Good with new teammates in the Vietnamese team. Overall, the combination of Tien Linh – Xuan Son is not the biggest problem.”

In the match against the Myanmar team, Tien Linh and Xuan Son, the two players leading the V-League top scorer list, both assisted each other’s goals. Now, fans are waiting for this duo to continue to shine together to help the Vietnamese team overcome Singapore to advance to the AFF Cup 2024 final.