When will Ho Chi Minh City Club 'light up' Thong Nhat Stadium?

Record of changing head coach

Perhaps no other team in the V-League has had 10 head coaches in less than 5 years like Ho Chi Minh City FC. Even Becamex Binh Duong is famous for changing coaches continuously in the past few years, but not as much as the team nicknamed "Red Battleship". From domestic coaches (official and temporary) such as Lu Dinh Tuan, Tran Minh Chien, Truong Viet Hoang, Nguyen Huu Thang, Vu Tien Thanh and now Phung Thanh Phuong to foreign coaches such as Miura, Chung Hae-seong, Polking, the city team is famous for changing coaches like changing clothes.

Ho Chi Minh City Club needs to invest and build a suitable roadmap to avoid the current instability.

Poor performance necessitating a change of coach is one thing, but the main thing is that those who are steering the team lack consistency and do not have a comprehensive team development strategy, so the way of doing things is still coping. Many coaches come to the team with great enthusiasm but they almost cannot stand the club's unsustainable investment and development mindset. The longest one only lasted about a year like Mr. Chung Hae-seong or Vu Tien Thanh, with a few months left they had to pack up and leave.

It is the constant change of head coach that makes the team unable to make an impression in the playing style. Each coach who comes brings his own philosophy, so the players also have to change their vision and awareness, leading to the way of playing that has just stabilized, then has to be adjusted, following different exercises. Using people like that makes the Ho Chi Minh City Club's force increasingly weak, causing the team's performance to be held back. The team only really did well under Chung Hae-seong when they won the runner-up position in 2019, then gradually declined and in recent years have struggled to compete for relegation. As for this year's V-League, although it had a good start with 4 points, saying goodbye to coach Vu Tien Thanh after 1 year of working, there is no guarantee that the team will avoid the risk of relegation.

Need a clear strategy and suitable roadmap

The story of the petition of 24 team members about unpaid salaries and bonuses is not the first time that has happened at Ho Chi Minh City Club. In April 2022, a series of players went on strike because the signing bonus issue was not thoroughly resolved. The team's leadership then sought to resolve it at a relatively reasonable level to reassure the players. This time, Ho Chi Minh City Club recently had a meeting with coaches and players and announced that the debt of 15 billion VND was due to a delay in transfer because the money from the sponsor had not been recovered. By November 24, the club had advanced 5 billion VND to pay off 25% of the signing bonus of the first phase of the V-League, the remaining amount will be resolved in December when the sponsor disburses.

The financial problem is always a "headache" for many football teams. Clubs like Binh Dinh and Khanh Hoa are also having to rely on money from the budget after sponsors no longer spend as much as before. Or before that, Than Quang Ninh had to remove its name because the province could not pay after the main sponsor withdrew. Therefore, for Ho Chi Minh City Club, socialization in the past time was right but it cannot be assigned to the current team leaders if they do not have enough long-term potential. The role of showing concern and closely following the team's developments from those in charge, specifically the Department of Culture and Sports, to have direction and solutions if the team has difficulties, in order to orient it well is very necessary.

What fans are most worried about is that the development strategy of Ho Chi Minh City Club is unclear, the investment and building of forces is still fragmented and lacks identity in the playing style. According to expert Doan Minh Xuong: "The actual situation of Ho Chi Minh City Club really needs a combination between the state management agency and the club to see what is suitable and what is not suitable in the socialization roadmap. This is the face and image of Ho Chi Minh City sports, so the Department must consider not only urgently solving the internal problems of the team but also clearly defining the upcoming roadmap to enhance the strength of Ho Chi Minh City football. Without bringing stability and identity in the playing style, it will be difficult to rebuild trust and make Thong Nhat Stadium always brightly lit every weekend".

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