Cong Phuong was on the bench for the entire year at the club, why did coach Troussier still call him up to the Vietnam national team?

The list of Vietnam national team this time has a player who has not played an official match for the club in the past year. That is Nguyen Cong Phuong. Calling up this striker from Nghe An is one of the rare exceptions made by coach Philippe Troussier compared to his usual recruitment method.

Having to go all the way to Japan to watch Cong Phuong play in the reserve team's match to consider calling him back to the Vietnam national team is the last resort of the French coach. Unlike the goalkeeper position - where both Nguyen Filip and Dang Van Lam (when recovering from injury) created a sense of security, Mr. Troussier has too few personnel options to solve the problem of goals.

Coach Troussier went to Japan to meet Cong Phuong.

The ranking of the players with the most goals in V.League 2023/24 is the clearest illustration of the worries of Coach Troussier and the Vietnam team. The only domestic player in the top 10 is Nguyen Quang Hai (5 goals after 13 rounds). Nguyen Van Toan (3 goals) has long been not the type of striker who scores goals but rather tends to break through and create more opportunities.

Nguyen Hoang Duc faded after recovering from injury, just as The Cong Viettel was declining. Pham Tuan Hai had just regained his form after a series of 4 consecutive "goalless" rounds - scoring 2 goals in the last 3 appearances - but then got injured again. Nguyen Van Tung's playing time at the club was also inconsistent.

A rare positive sign is that Tien Linh "opened fire" again. A double against Song Lam Nghe An helped this player end a streak of 6 consecutive matches without scoring or assisting. An injury at the end of 2023 interrupted Tien Linh's form.

The not-so-optimistic reality in V.League is probably part of the reason why coach Philippe Troussier had to fly to Japan to meet Cong Phuong. Even though the striker born in 1995 has not played a single time in the Yokohama FC squad in an official match, in the context of the scarcity of strikers who can create explosions in the Vietnam national team, the French strategist has no choice but to call Cong Phuong back.

The Vietnamese team has difficulty scoring goals.

During the first year under coach Troussier, the Vietnamese team was always questioned about its ability to score goals. The 68-year-old coach was stuck in finding good personnel to trust in the strikers. Seeing the way Indonesia improved their attacking power with naturalized players from the Dutch second or third division, fans had even more reason to worry when the Vietnamese team faced this opponent.

When the two teams met at the 2023 Asian Cup, the deadlocked attack in the second half was also part of the reason why the Vietnamese team could not turn the situation around. Indonesia's European-style defenders created a difficult challenge for Mr. Troussier, especially when the Vietnamese team is weak in scoring.

Han Phong

Source: https://vtcnews.vn/cong-phuong-du-bi-ca-nam-o-clb-vi-sao-hlv-troussier-van-goi-len-tuyen-viet-nam-ar858228.html