AFF Cup 2024: Nguyen Xuan Son plays, will the Vietnamese team get stronger?

HTHE CONG HAS A LOT OF CONCERNS

With 6 goals after 3 matches, the Vietnamese team is the team with the most goals in Group B. However, the strikers’ contribution in scoring is still very limited. Besides Tien Linh and Van Toan who “opened fire” against Laos, strikers like Thanh Binh and Tuan Hai have not spoken yet. The main source of scoring for the Vietnamese team comes from midfielders such as Quang Hai, Hai Long or Ngoc Tan. Of course, goals from any player have the same value. With an optimistic perspective, 6 goals divided by 6 players shows that coach Kim Sang-sik has an even and unpredictable attack.

However, the way the Vietnamese team plays shows the opposite. All 6 goals scored by Mr. Kim’s students in past matches came in the second half, most of which occurred when the opponent was exhausted and could no longer maintain concentration. The plus point of the Vietnamese team is their competitive spirit, putting pressure until the last minutes. But the minus point lies in the organization of the gameplay. The players have not been able to control the pace of the match well, whether against Laos or Indonesia’s young team. The ability to organize attacks and coordinate smoothly between lines has not been revealed. According to Mr. Kim, the constant rotation of the squad affects the players, but is not the reason why the Vietnamese team is disjointed. Tien Linh and his teammates had very few neat and effective plays, mainly relying on personal breakthroughs to find opportunities.

In the context of the AFF Cup being played with high density, teams enter a cycle of constant travel, training and competition, it is difficult to expect the Vietnamese team to have a breakthrough in playing style. Coach Kim Sang-sik and his students will “take care of the rice and fish sauce”, editing every small detail to suit the next opponent. As Mr. Kim puts it, the important thing is still winning.

CWAITING IN XUAN SON

Nguyen Xuan Son had 2 weeks of training and observing his teammates compete. This period of time is not necessarily long enough for the 27-year-old striker to find a smooth connection with the Vietnamese team. However, it can be believed that Xuan Son will bring coach Kim Sang-sik what the whole team lacks: a brave pioneer, good independent combat and “killer” instinct.

The Vietnamese team’s playing style may not be perfect, but it is very suitable for a striker like Xuan Son. Mr. Kim’s students do not coordinate much short, but focus on hitting the boundary and playing long balls, with the goal of directing the ball into the opponent’s penalty area as quickly as possible. The requirement in the way the Vietnamese team’s attack operates is to be direct, putting the ball “in the face” of the opponent’s defense so that the attacks can duel.

In past matches, a noticeable detail in the Vietnamese team is that the ball is pushed a lot into the penalty area, but the players mainly wait for the second ball, that is, situations where the ball bounces out close to the edge of the penalty area. Coach Kim Sang-sik only had Tien Linh (in the first two matches) and Thanh Binh (match against the Philippines) ready to engage in a duel with the opponent’s defender. The lack of “cutters” who know how to glide and run in the penalty area is the reason why the Vietnamese team crosses the ball a lot, but has not scored any goals from sideline attacks.

With Xuan Son, the attack problem will have a radical answer. He has enough height and muscle mass to compete in hand-to-hand combat with opponents. In the V-League or the Asian Cup, Xuan Son is very good at controlling the ball for a while and then managing to finish quickly in the penalty area, or release it for the second line to score. The Brazilian-born striker possesses goal-scoring instincts, coolness and decisiveness in the final stages of handling, which is something most of Mr. Kim’s strikers do not have. Along with his direct playing style, ready to jump into the fray, Xuan Son will become a “cannon” to help the Vietnamese team attack more effectively. With the Vietnamese team’s current playing style of minimizing the number of passes and getting the ball into the penalty area quickly (like many V-League teams), Xuan Son may not have to spend much time adapting. Running, receiving the ball and shooting are what the Vietnamese team needs from a rookie from Samba.