Old trend in V-League
The first leg of V-League 2024 - 2025 has ended after 2 make-up matches of round 11 took place on the evening of February 19. The Cong Viettel leads the table with 25 points, followed by Nam Dinh (24 points), Thanh Hoa (23 points), Hanoi (20 points) and Ha Tinh (19 points).
The common point of the 5 leading teams in the current V-League is that they all excel in defense more than attack. These are also the 5 teams that have conceded the fewest goals in the current V-League.
Ha Tinh FC has the best defense with 9 goals conceded since the beginning of the tournament, followed by The Cong Viettel and Nam Dinh (10 goals conceded). Hanoi FC (11 goals) and Thanh Hoa (12 goals) are also the teams in the group with the fewest goals conceded in the V-League.
The Cong Viettel (red shirt) leads after the first leg
PHOTO: MINH TU
That says something about the formula this season: good defense means good positioning. On the contrary, good attacking teams like Binh Duong or Hanoi Police Club (CAHN Club), although in the top 3 teams with the most goals in the first leg, are currently ranked 6th and 7th respectively.
Good attack does not necessarily bring victory, look at how CAHN Club scored 4 goals against Quang Nam, but only had a draw. Meanwhile, good defense is the foundation for success. Ha Tinh Club is an example. Although they only scored 13 goals (equal to the second-to-last team Hai Phong), coach Nguyen Thanh Cong and his team still reign in the top 5 with an unbeaten record, thanks to a solid defense. Ha Tinh has had 5 clean sheets since the beginning of the tournament, in which 2 of the 3 victories this season of the Central team had a score of 1-0.
Nam Dinh FC won the V-League last season despite conceding 38 goals (the fourth most in the league), because coach Vu Hong Viet's team had a very strong attack (scoring 60 goals). However, very few teams can "compensate for defense with offense" like Nam Dinh last season, except for the case of Hanoi FC during the period when they dominated the V-League (2018 - 2022).
Xuan Son scored 31 goals for Nam Dinh Club last season
PHOTO: NAM DINH CLUB
Most of the teams that have achieved high rankings in the V-League or the National Cup in recent years have done so thanks to their proactive and calculated defensive play. Of course, the attack is still important, but the foundation must be based on the defense. That has led to the V-League this season only averaging 2.2 goals scored per match, including many matches with a score of 0-0 or 1-0.
Concerns for the Vietnam team
When most teams are better at defense than attack, the consequence is clear: the Vietnamese national team lacks good strikers. Where can we find talent in the forward line, when teams invest their brainpower mainly in defense, while "outsourcing" the attack to foreign players?
A coach once told Thanh Nien Newspaper that the way of playing in the V-League has caused the Vietnamese team to lose its attacking ability.
Understanding that fact, coach Kim Sang-sik did not repeat the mistake of building a controlling style of play for the team like his predecessor. He did not have enough good players to play like that. An assistant of Mr. Kim also shared that Vietnamese players were worried when having to play controlling.
Mr. Kim chose a more pragmatic approach: defend well first, then attack cleanly and simply. That is why the Korean coach needs a "treasure" like Nguyen Xuan Son. The Brazilian striker is good at pressing, independent and effective in fighting on his own in the attack, when there are too few satellites around.
It's a style of play that is typical of... V-League, although not beautiful but effective, because the players are already familiar with this style of play at the club.
Xuan Son is suitable for the V-League style of play of the Vietnamese team.
PHOTO: NGOC LINH
The good news for coach Kim Sang-sik is that thanks to V-League teams focusing on defense, Vietnamese football still has many good center backs and defenders. However, the worrying thing is that the attack is lacking talent, leading to the need to "import" foreign strikers to solve the problem of scoring goals.
In the next 6 months, the Vietnam national team will not have Xuan Son. "Cut your coat according to your cloth" is a difficult thing for Mr. Kim. Especially when, V-League... is just that!
Thanhnien.vn
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