Just win, no need to 'give me back my name'

HAGL does not need to... return the name

"HAGL Club is no longer the same as before, perhaps we should give this team a different name," Coach Nguyen Duc Thang of The Cong Viettel shared after the second leg match last season, when HAGL defeated his team at Hang Day Stadium with a score of 1-0.

Mr. Duc Thang's statement comes from HAGL's pragmatic playing style. After scoring the opening goal, the mountain town team defended solidly to protect their results. Coach Duc Thang also hinted that HAGL's tactics were "very good", when the mountain town team deliberately eliminated Pedro Hendrique, the most important player of The Cong Viettel, to gain an advantage.

HAGL: Chỉ cần thắng, không cần — HAGL is increasingly stubborn

In response, Coach Vu Tien Thanh (now the technical director of HAGL Club) affirmed that his team was forced to play like that to earn points to stay in the league. HAGL had no other choice. The departure of a series of pillars of the first and second courses of HAGL Academy such as Cong Phuong, Xuan Truong, Tuan Anh, Van Thanh, Van Toan, Hong Duy... has "thinned out" the force of the Pleiku home team.

With a "homegrown" squad consisting mainly of inexperienced players (Trung Kien, Ly Duc, Quoc Viet, Duc Viet) or only average players (Quang Nho, Bao Toan, Minh Vuong, Ngoc Quang), HAGL has chosen a new path. Training more intensively, running and competing more vigorously to increase fighting power. Playing tightly with a narrow defensive formation, ready to surround and commit tactical fouls, abandoning the dedicated and naive attacking style to gain maximum points... are the visible changes in HAGL when Mr. Vu Tien Thanh and his assistant took over the team.

From being one of the teams that conceded the most goals in V-League, HAGL of Technical Director Vu Tien Thanh has now become the team with the most clean sheets in the league (5 matches since the beginning of the season). In difficult matches, HAGL has won against Hanoi FC (2-0, 1-0), Hanoi Police FC (1-0), The Cong Viettel (1-0), Thanh Hoa (2-1), and tied with Nam Dinh (0-0) in just 1 year.

That is the clear message of HAGL. This team does not need to regain its old appearance. Becoming a different team, with a different identity as coach Duc Thang said is fine. What HAGL needs right now is results. The team's goal is to accumulate points to stay in the league early and aim to be in the top half of the rankings. With the youngest force in V-League (just added 4 U.20 players), daring to set a goal of top 6 is not a simple matter.

Viettel's The Cong must change

Coach Duc Thang and The Cong Viettel probably understand that HAGL will not change their playing style. The team from the mountain town will defend and defend to leave My Dinh Stadium in the match tomorrow night (February 8) with at least 1 point. HAGL will also play tightly, not afraid of collision. And if the away team scores first, The Cong Viettel should remember the lesson of the Hanoi Police Club: HAGL will not let the opponent play football properly.

However, The Cong Viettel cannot wait for their opponents to change, but can only change themselves. Last season, the army team won when playing with one less player, but lost when playing with one more player. The Cong Viettel can play very well against strong teams like Hanoi FC, Hanoi Police FC or Nam Dinh FC, but are stuck when facing weaker opponents.

A member of The Cong Viettel shared that it seemed like the players played more comfortably when playing defensive counter-attacks. When Thanh Nien Newspaper raised the issue of The Cong Viettel being better at defense than attack, Coach Duc Thang said that "attacking in V-League has never been simple, and most teams are stronger at defense than attack".

That is also the long-standing problem of The Cong Viettel. The army team cannot expect the opponent to attack every match to deploy their strong counter-attacking style. Especially when facing the HAGL team which is... different from the past, The Cong Viettel must learn how to "drill concrete". Otherwise, there is no excuse for the army team.

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Source: https://thanhnien.vn/hagl-chi-can-thang-khong-can-tra-lai-ten-cho-em-185250207181003809.htm