INTERNAL OVERCOMING EXTERNAL
In the 2023 season, coach Velizar Popov impressed when he helped Thanh Hoa FC win the National Cup, National Super Cup and finish in the top 4 of the V-League. A year earlier, coach Chun Jae-ho and Hanoi FC won both the V-League and the National Cup. However, these are rare successes for foreign coaches, after many years of being overwhelmed by domestic strategists.
Coach Gong Oh-kyun will lead the promising generation of players of Hanoi Police Club.
According to statistics from 2013 - 2023, only 3 foreign coaches have won titles with Vietnamese teams. In particular, besides Coach Popov and Coach Chun Jae-ho as mentioned, only Coach Dylan Kerr won the 2014 National Cup with Hai Phong Club. It is worth noting that this is the season when Mr. Dylan Kerr was only in the interim position. Not long after that, this strategist left the port city team. Similarly, Coach Chun Jae-ho was also promoted as a "firefighting" option for Coach Park Chung-kyun who was fired earlier. Although he helped Hanoi Club win 2 important tournaments, Mr. Chun Jae-ho's mark is not clear.
Overall, V-League has welcomed many foreign coaches such as: Alexandre Polking, Chung Hae-seong, Toshiya Miura, Alain Fiard (HCMC Club), Ljupko Petrovic, Marian Mihail (Thanh Hoa Club), Park Chung-kyun, Bozidar Bandovic (Hanoi Club), Paulo Foiani, Flavio Cruz (Hanoi Police Club), Lee Heung-sil (Viettel Club), Lee Tae-hoon (HAGL)... but if we talk about really proving their talent, we can probably count them on the fingers. Coach Petrovic helped Thanh Hoa Club finish second in V-League 2017, Mr. Chung Hae-seong helped Ho Chi Minh City Club win second place in 2019, Coach Kiatisak helped HAGL top the V-League 2021 table until the tournament was canceled. Or recently, Mr. Popov helped Thanh Hoa Club quench its thirst for championship with 2 titles.
While the Vietnamese national team has only had luck with foreign coaches, the fact that V-League teams are more successful with domestic coaches than foreign coaches is like compensation. Understanding Vietnamese football culture, building good relationships with players, being skillful and gentle in communication are factors that give domestic coaches an advantage. With football still affected by things off the field, sometimes being as good at the profession as foreign coaches is not enough.
CHANGE HISTORY
However, the progress of Coach Popov or before that, Coach Kiatisak shows that "foreign teachers" are increasingly mastering the formula for success. That is understanding, closely connecting with the club as well as the local people like Mr. Kiatisak did. Or simply strict discipline, passion and authority to convince students to believe in the training method like Mr. Popov. Before coming to Thanh Hoa Club, Coach Popov sent a plan of more than 100 pages to the team leaders, in which he presented the strategy and direction he wanted to build. His dedication, thorough understanding and clear thinking helped the Bulgarian teacher rewrite the history of Thanh Hoa football.
Coach Kiatisak
This season, teams have been more cautious when recruiting foreign strategists. Besides coaches Popov and Kiatisak who were retained because they did their jobs well, up to now, the V-League coaching community has only welcomed one new foreign name. That is the case of coach Gong Oh-kyun. The Korean coach signed a contract to lead the Hanoi Police Club after many days of intense negotiations. It is understandable for the caution, even hesitation of the current V-League champion, when although this team won the championship last season, their playing style was not convincing, and the coaching bench kept changing hands. However, Mr. Gong Oh-kyun's advantage is that he had 3 months working at U.23 Vietnam to understand somewhat the football culture and characteristics of the players. Mr. Gong is also a "progressive" strategist, open to new things, preparing to coach one of the most talented and comprehensive teams in the current V-League.
However, knowing the formula is one thing. The historical support that is not open to foreign coaches requires Mr. Gong, or other foreign coaches this season, to make great efforts to keep their seats.
The match between Hanoi Police Club and HAGL in the 2023 National Cup qualifying round on the evening of November 25 witnessed an exciting score chase. Despite controlling the game well, the home team Hanoi Police surprisingly let HAGL take the lead in the 14th minute after Ngoc Quang's close-range shot. However, the quality of the players helped coach Gong Oh-kyun's students turn the game around. Goals from Ngoc Thang and Jefferson Elias helped Hanoi Police Club beat HAGL 2-1 to advance to the next round.
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