Vietnam team vs Indonesia: What's the point of holding the ball so much?
Báo Dân trí•19/03/2024
(Dan Tri) - The defeat against Indonesia at the 2023 Asian Cup was a painful fall for the Vietnamese team. Coach Troussier's team needs to learn a lesson to stand up in the two rematches with this opponent.
The Vietnamese team does not need to "beautify" the statistics. The statistics were on the side of the Vietnamese team in the match against Indonesia at the 2023 Asian Cup. We held the ball up to 58% (compared to Indonesia's 42%), passed the ball up to 486 times (compared to 362 times), and took 6 corner kicks (compared to 4).
The Vietnamese team had a lot of possession but was not effective in the match against Indonesia at the 2023 Asian Cup (Photo: Getty).
However, these numbers… lie. Because the reality on the field shows the opposite. Indonesia plays much more proactively and creates high-damage attacks. Meanwhile, Coach Troussier's team does not have many notable opportunities. Although they have less possession of the ball, Coach Shin Tae Yong's students have launched 16 shots, much more than the Vietnamese team (11 times). Importantly, they created enough pressure to make the Vietnamese defenders make mistakes, leading to a penalty. Right from the beginning of leading the Vietnamese team, Coach Troussier determined to build the team according to a ball-controlling style of play. However, we have only stopped at that level. The damage in our attacks is quite weak. In other words, the passes are only at the "caressing" level, but there are not many passes that are enough to create damage. This is a new style of play for many Vietnamese players because they have always been used to playing in ambush (like under coach Park Hang Seo). Therefore, it is difficult to ask players to adapt quickly. Everything needs time to program. But time does not wait for coach Troussier and his students. The more unsuccessful, the greater the pressure on the French coach. Even if he does not achieve good results in the two matches with Indonesia, coach Troussier could completely lose his job. But sadly, everything in front of him is still messy and cannot be arranged as desired. Will Hoang Duc be the "key"? In the two "commendable" defeats against Japan and Iraq at the 2023 Asian Cup, the Vietnamese team controlled the ball less. The key to modern football is not necessarily the amount of time controlling the ball (unless they are as superior as Man City), but the organization. Even the success or failure of a team is decided by how they play without the ball.
Hoang Duc can make a difference for the Vietnamese team in the two upcoming matches against Indonesia (Photo: Manh Quan).
One thing that is easy to see is that Indonesia plays very aggressively. That completely broke the Vietnamese team's attacks in the match at the 2023 Asian Cup. The lesson is that we need to escape pressing well enough to create a trap for the opponent. To defeat Indonesia, the Vietnamese team needs to escape pressing and change their state well enough. If they cannot solve these two problems, Coach Troussier's team can completely lose to an opponent consisting of many naturalized players with very good physical strength (but lacking cohesion when they have not played much together). In the context of Tuan Anh being unable to participate due to injury, Hoang Duc is considered the "key" to solving the Indonesian problem. The player of The Cong Viettel has not been used much under Coach Troussier, but it is time for this midfielder to be returned to his right position. Hoang Duc's strengths are the ability to escape pressing, hold the ball and organize attacks. Those factors are very necessary for the Vietnamese team at this time. The team needs someone to lead the midfield, launch attacks and connect the satellites around. This is the role that Hoang Duc has done very well for both the club and the national team under coach Park Hang Seo. In the 2023 Asian Cup, the Vietnamese team will not have Hoang Duc due to injury. The player born in 1998 can completely bring something new and make a difference in the two upcoming matches against Indonesia.
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