AFF Cup: Backup left-back solution for the Vietnamese team

The difficult problem of the Vietnamese team

With what happened in the past 3 matches of the Vietnamese team at the AFF Cup 2024, Nguyen Van Vi is now coach Kim Sang-sik’s number 1 choice in the left-back position. The player playing for Nam Dinh Football Club is fast, strong, good at crossing the ball, and plays calmly even when under great pressure from opponents.

Meanwhile, composure is an element that another left back of the Vietnamese team at this year’s tournament, Khuat Van Khang, does not have. Khuat Van Khang proved too weak every time he was assigned to play as a left-back. In addition to lacking the skills of a defender (contending, poor sense of space, often failing to catch offside), Khuat Van Khang often loses his composure when the opponent puts pressure on him.

This is a very dangerous detail for the Vietnamese team’s defense. Because, when a defender does not have composure, he cannot keep the entire defense system safe. Mistakes like passing the ball straight into the opponent’s feet, leading to a goal for the Vietnamese team in the match against the Philippines, are not the first mistakes Khuat Van Khang has made when playing as a full-back. left, from the time of coach Philippe Troussier until now.

Therefore, the Vietnamese team needs another plan, a backup plan for the left-back position, different from Khuat Van Khang. In fact, coach Kim Sang-sik still has personnel who can play as left-back when needed, including Vu Van Thanh and Pham Xuan Manh.

The two players mentioned above mainly play right back, but when needed they can still play left back. During the professional career of Vu Van Thanh and Pham Xuan Manh, there were many times when they were assigned to play left-back.

Maybe when playing on the left wing, Vu Van Thanh and Pham Xuan Manh cannot participate in the “smooth” attack like when playing as right wing backs. But at least, they still have the playing mindset of a defender, which is to limit horizontal passes and sudden back passes, causing teammates around them to “correct” and not have time to react. The safe playing mindset of a defender does not appear in Khuat Van Khang, causing many times this player simply thinks that passing the ball into the home team’s penalty area is… as gentle as passing the ball in the penalty area. of the opponent.

It is important to know that the next stage of the tournament is the stage where the Vietnamese team has almost no chance to correct mistakes, if we make more mistakes. Therefore, with defenders, they first need to play safely, avoid the home team conceding a goal, and then consider promoting their ability in attack.

Anyway, the positive point when some of the shortcomings of the Vietnamese team appeared in past matches is that we still have the opportunity to correct mistakes. Another positive point is that when we have a weak position in the squad, we still have other personnel to replace, helping the Vietnamese team move towards a better version of itself at the most important stage of the AFF Cup 2024. .