Thailand’s strengths are revealed: Vietnam team needs to be careful!

Border fighting – a unique piece of Thailand

The moment Suphanat Muenta jumped high and headed a beautiful diagonal header to give the Thai team a 3-1 victory over the Philippines, the essence of the Golden Temple team was revealed.

Despite being physically exhausted against the Philippines’ young stars, pressured and bound by a heavy psychological burden, Thailand still found a way to win. In the Southeast Asian playground, “War Elephant” is still extremely brave. Being pushed into a corner can only make things difficult, but cannot defeat coach Masatada Ishii and his team.

The bravery of the Thai people comes not only from extensive experience, but is also built on the foundation of tactical class. The Thai team controlled the ball well, weaved the ball smoothly, coordinated shots and releases smoothly, and had the ability to pass the ball and move to find space, all surpassing the level of Southeast Asia. The uniform tactical and technical thinking of generations of players helps Thailand maintain long-term dominance at the AFF Cup, with 4 championships in the last 5 tournaments.

Under the coaching hands of coach Ishii, Thailand is even more dangerous than before. Because instead of simply hitting and releasing the ball short like the time when fans called it Thai-tik-tok to describe the precise passing rhythm like the rhythm of a clock, Thailand now plays long balls, hitting the boundary which is also worth watching. Two of the three goals that helped Thailand defeat the Philippines, or the many goals scored against Timor Leste, Singapore, and Cambodia that Mr. Ishii’s students scored, all came from pieces that had never been Thailand’s forte before.

Coach Ishii has many elements to create a unique line-attack array. They are the full-back duo Suphanan Bureerat and Nicholas Mickelson, in which Bureerat is Thailand’s “crossing machine” with highly accurate passes.

In the penalty area, Thailand owns Patrick Gustavsson – a Thai striker with an ideal body shape (1.84 m) and impressive aerial ability, alongside Suphanat Muenta, who, although not tall, has positional skills. sensitive hearing. In addition, good headers like Jonathan Khemdee, Pansa Hemviboon or Chalermsak Aukkee also help “War Elephants” have more ideas. Thanks to the high ball, Thailand has more weapons to decode tough defenses.

However, Thailand did not cross the wing to head the ball honestly. Coach Ishii’s students have many options for hitting the border such as returning to the second line, stretching, low-crossing the ball… thanks to their extremely “monster” spearheads and being good at managing in narrow spaces. To stand firm against Thailand, the Vietnamese team must seal both sides.

How does the Vietnamese team cope?

Mr. Kim used many defensive frameworks to “lock in” the 3 optimal central defenders: Duy Manh, Thanh Chung and Tien Dung. Compared to the crisis period under coach Philippe Troussier, the Vietnamese team has defended better. However, looking at the two semi-finals against Singapore, there is still confusion in choosing the right spot, reading the situation or providing support for the defenders.

The young army of Singapore or Indonesia is not sharp enough to take advantage of the mistakes of Vietnam’s defense. However, Thailand is a different story. Most likely, the Vietnamese team will have to stretch their defense and endure pressure even when playing at Viet Tri’s home field.

To stop Thailand’s sharp and layered cross-line coordination, the Vietnamese team needs to keep a reasonable team distance, coordinate closely and closely mark people. Need to be steady in aerial battles with strikers like Gustavsson or Suphanat. Every mistake can be punished, when the opponent is at a high level like Thailand.

In addition, the role of the two edge players is very important. But, this is the position that leaves the biggest question mark when coach Kim Sang-sik has rotated the full-back continuously in the past 6 matches. With Tien Anh, Van Thanh and Xuan Manh on the right side and Van Vi and Van Khang on the left side, which wings will the Vietnamese team play with and how will the defensive formation cover the two sides? Hopefully in 3 short days of preparation, Mr. Kim will find a solution.