Solving the problem of scoring goals is not easy for coach Kim Sang-sik.

Eternal worry

In the 21st round of V-League 2023 - 2024, Rafaelson made history with 5 goals against Thanh Hoa Club, helping Nam Dinh win 5-2. With 26 goals, Rafaelson will extend the period of foreign strikers dominating the V-League to 7 consecutive seasons.

In the list of top scorers, behind Rafaelson are... 7 other foreign strikers. From 8th place onwards, new domestic strikers appear.

The story of domestic strikers losing their position on their home field is not new, but it is becoming more evident than ever this season. In the current V-League, there are only 3 teams whose number 1 striker is a domestic player, namely Hanoi, Quang Nam and HAGL. The remaining 11 teams, including the top team Nam Dinh, are all becoming "hostages" of foreign strikers.

Tuan Hai has scored 7 goals in V-League 2023 - 2024

In one of the teams that contributes the most national players like The Cong Viettel, Pedro Henrique only needs to score 4 goals in 6 matches to become... the number one striker.

"V-League teams are relying too much on foreign players", the exclamation of coach Daiki Iwamasa is a story "I know, it's hard, I keep talking about it" that directly affects the Vietnam national team.

When standing at the top, Coach Park Hang-seo commented: Vietnamese football only has 3 good strikers including Tien Linh, Cong Phuong and Duc Chinh. Of these, only Tien Linh remains. Cong Phuong was only called up in a few rounds, while Duc Chinh has fallen into oblivion with 1 goal at club level in the past 3 years.

However, while Mr. Park still has Tien Linh as a "talisman" with important goals, Coach Troussier cannot find any reliable striker. In only 11 goals scored after 14 matches under the French coach, the number 1 striker Tuan Hai only scored 3 goals, of which 2 goals were in friendly matches.

Waiting for Coach Kim Sang-sik's breakthrough

Mr. Kim Sang-sik called up 6 strikers in the first training session of the Vietnamese national team, including Tuan Hai, Tien Linh, Van Toan, Vi Hao, Van Tung and Ngoc Son.

Will Van Toan have a place?

The last two names are the most controversial, as Van Tung only scored 1 goal after 3 years of playing in the V-League (34 matches), while Ngoc Son scored 4 goals after 4 years. This season, Ngoc Son played 13 matches, but has not found the net once.

The most understandable reason for coach Kim Sang-sik’s decision is that he called up young strikers to invest in the future. Vi Hao, Van Tung and Ngoc Son are all under 23 years old and need to be called up to the Vietnam national team to hone their skills and gain experience. Perhaps, the Korean coach wants to see something in these rough gems.

However, Vietnamese football or football anywhere is the same. The place that builds the foundation for players is the club, while the national team is just the "tip". If in reality young strikers are just... bland at the club, then no matter how many times they are called up to the national team, it will be very difficult to make a breakthrough. The case of Van Tung, a player Mr. Troussier has favored to call up to the national team many times but has not made any progress, is an example.

Mr. Kim Sang-sik's attack will revolve around 3 old factors: Van Toan, Tien Linh and Tuan Hai. In which, Van Toan has scored 5 goals this season, while Tien Linh and Tuan Hai both have 7 goals.

Tien Linh is the "locomotive" of Binh Duong Club

All three are regular starters at their clubs, with Tien Linh playing centre forward at Binh Duong, Van Toan playing on the wing at Nam Dinh, and Tuan Hai playing wide and versatile at Hanoi.

Mr. Kim’s strikers are all at the peak of their careers, with good physical strength and ball sense due to playing regularly. In the context that most V-League teams give the stage to foreign strikers, Vietnamese strikers have to accept to find their own opportunities.

If he has a reasonable strategy (like the way Mr. Park helped Tien Linh become the top scorer of the AFF Cup 2022) and can promote his students' strengths, Coach Kim Sang-sik still has enough flour to create a "watchable" attack.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/giai-bai-toan-ghi-ban-khong-de-cho-hlv-kim-sang-sik-185240530091946039.htm