The Thai press thoroughly dissected the home team’s weaknesses but remained… optimistic

The Thai team was severely criticized

SiamSport There is an article “10 highlights after the Thai team’s loss”. Of these, more than half are details that expose the “war elephant’s” weaknesses and mistakes. First, this newspaper assessed that the home team’s left wing was almost completely “paralyzed”. Coach Ishii used Mickelson, a right back, to play left fullback. After that, he put Thitathorn on the field but there was no difference. Mickelson should have played on the right wing to fully exploit his strengths of climbing the edge and crossing the ball, but in this position, the person chosen was Suphanan.

Another personnel decision by Coach Ishii that was also criticized was the central defender duo. SiamSport Analyzing the Chalermsak – Pansa duo, although they have a lot of experience, good physique, and are good at countering the ball, they have the weakness of being slow. Therefore, the Vietnamese team has exploited this weakness well to score goals.

Interspersed with the weak details of the Thai team, SiamSport also praised coach Kim Sang-sik: “Xuan Son scored 2 goals, but Kim Sang-sik deserves credit. The strategy he came up with was too clever in letting the players play with patience and discipline.” to help the Vietnamese team gain an advantage. He also let Quang Hai rest in the first half, let the other players destroy the Thai defense, and then he brought in the former Pau FC player to deliver the finishing blow.”

Xuan Son is also a character who has received many compliments from Thai media. SiamSportWe rate striker number 12 of the Vietnamese team as excellent. Meanwhile, Thairath station estimates that Xuan Son can equal the record of top scorer scoring the most goals in an AFF Cup.

SiamSport pointed out many weaknesses of the Thai team but believes that the “war elephant” can still lift the trophy at home in Rajamangala: “In the 2016 AFF Cup final, we lost 1-2 to Indonesia in the first leg but won 2- 0 in the second leg and won the championship. Or in the semi-finals of this tournament, we also successfully came back against the Philippines. Thai players are still a bit more qualified than Vietnam.”

One more point, too SiamSport Both Thairath and Thairath believe that Thailand will play brilliantly at the familiar Rajamangala turf, under the cheers of more than 50,000 home spectators, to defeat the Vietnamese team.