Expert: "Vietnam team plays better than when they won the AFF Cup"

A significant change of the Vietnamese team compared to ourselves in the AFF Cup 2024 is that coach Kim Sang Sik's team scores faster in each match.

In the matches against Cambodia on March 19 and Laos on March 25, Vietnam opened the scoring in the first half. This is a rare occurrence at the 2024 AFF Cup (except for the second leg of the semi-final against Singapore and the second leg of the final against Thailand).

Therefore, the fact that the Vietnamese team scored early was carefully analyzed by the domestic football community. After the Vietnamese team's training session in March, former coach of the Vietnamese team, Phan Thanh Hung, spoke with Dan Tri reporter.

The Vietnamese team has changed significantly compared to the AFF Cup 2024 (Photo: Khoa Nguyen).

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How do you evaluate the playing style of the Vietnamese team in the matches against Laos and Cambodia?

- The Vietnamese team is playing better and better. In the recent match against Laos, the whole team continued to play very diversely, with many different attacking directions, putting pressure on the opponent's field.

The coordination was coherent. This proves that the players understand each other better, they also understand the playing style that coach Kim Sang Sik built for them, built for the Vietnamese team.

These things also appeared in the match with Cambodia right before, proving that the team had gone through a thorough preparation process. The fact that the Vietnamese team put strong pressure on their opponents in the last two matches was not a coincidence.

Also in the matches against Cambodia and Laos, the Vietnamese team scored very early. What do you think was the reason?

- As I mentioned, the team is getting better and better, the team plays more smoothly than in the AFF Cup. Coach Kim Sang Sik has found a suitable strategy for the Vietnamese players. This strategy helps our players maximize their individual abilities.

Chau Ngoc Quang played as a withdrawn striker in the match against the Laos team (Photo: Nam Anh).

The smooth coordination, combined with good ball control, helps the players easily find the penalty area and easily find the opponent's goal. It must also be said that the AFF Cup championship has helped the mentality and attitude of the Vietnamese team to be completely different. The players are more confident, and their playing style is better than before.

All the goals scored by the Vietnamese team against Laos came from well-coordinated situations, there was no luck. That reflects that we have found the right strategy to confront each different opponent.

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The most obvious change is probably in the attack line, sir?

- The whole system has changed, and the attack line is where these changes are made, so we feel that the attack line is where the most changes have been made. Coach Kim Sang Sik's attacking formula in the two matches against Cambodia and Laos was to push the attacking midfielders very high up, supporting the strikers. As a result, the Vietnamese team in the past two matches almost played with 3 strikers.

Midfielder Vo Hoang Minh Khoa brings a new solution to the midfield (Photo: Nam Anh).

In the match against Cambodia, Hai Long and Quang Hai were the ones who played the role of "false" strikers, playing very close to the center forward. In the match against Laos, Hai Long and Chau Ngoc Quang performed this task.

In fact, all of the players mentioned above can perform their assigned tasks well, allowing coach Kim Sang Sik to freely rotate the squad. The important thing is that when rotating, Mr. Kim still ensures that there are enough people to take on the positions, while ensuring the quality of the team.

And in midfield, the appearance of young player Vo Hoang Minh Khoa brings a new solution to the midfield?

- The story in the midfield is similar to the forward line, which means that coach Kim Sang Sik is rotating, he has enough personnel to rotate. Besides Minh Khoa, there are still a few others who can play the role of central midfielder, capable of maintaining the quality of the midfield of the Vietnamese team.

Those who did not play in the match against the Laos team on the evening of March 25 are not necessarily incompetent.

They are fully capable of taking on similar roles. It's just that against different opponents, at different times, Coach Kim Sang Sik will use different personnel, suitable for the opponent and the situation on the field.

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What about the full-backs? Left-back Nguyen Van Vi continuously scores goals. Is that the new attacking pressure of the Vietnamese team?

- Basically, the full-backs still stick to the left and right flanks. The full-backs will go up and back along the flanks they are responsible for. More specifically, against a weaker opponent than us, the Laos team, it is not surprising that the defenders will move higher than usual. They will join the attack to put pressure on the opponent with the whole team.

Van Vi is a sharp striker on the left wing (Photo: Khoa Nguyen).

Here I want to talk about the attacking support ability of the full-backs. In this regard, the full-backs of the Vietnamese team have performed very well. Especially in the case of Van Vi, he has bold penetration and straight into the opponent's penalty area. Van Vi's finishing ability is very good, helping him score many goals in the past matches.

The fact that Van Vi has shone in the last two matches of the Vietnamese team first comes from the professional ability of this individual player. After that, it must be seen that the general strategy proposed by coach Kim Sang Sik is very suitable, allowing Van Vi to maximize his strengths.

One more thing, it seems that coach Kim Sang Sik is not only focusing on the match with the Laos team on the evening of March 25, but he is also calculating the next steps, our next opponents in the Asian Cup qualifiers?

- In theory, Malaysia is the main opponent of the Vietnamese team in Group F of the 3rd qualifying round of the 2027 Asian Cup. The remaining teams including Laos and Nepal cannot be compared to Malaysia. Therefore, Mr. Kim Sang Sik has started to calculate the match against Malaysia for the next round.

Mr. Kim tested some new positions and attacking options to prepare for the match against Malaysia in June. This preparation is aimed at ensuring that the Vietnamese team does not fall into a passive position even when facing many different situations.

The Vietnamese team's attempt to score many goals against Laos is also to guard against risks, in case we have the same number of points as Malaysia and need to compare the additional index with this team in the next stage of the Asian Cup qualifiers.

Thank you for the conversation!