HAGL relegated early?
Before the match against Hanoi FC in round 11 of V-League 2024 - 2025, HAGL went through a series of 9 matches with only 1 win. If they lose again, the risk of coach Le Quang Trai and his team getting stuck in the relegation battle is not small.
However, the 1-0 victory over Hanoi FC at Hang Day Stadium helped HAGL untie a very important knot. 3 points in the land where the mountain town team had not won for 12 years before the host Hanoi brought HAGL up to sixth place.
With 17 points after 11 matches (average 1.54 points/match), HAGL is having one of the best points-earning seasons in the past 10 years, second only to the 2021 season when coach Kiatisak Senamuang and his team won 29 points, topping the table before the tournament was canceled.
HAGL (yellow shirt) can stay in the league early
At the beginning of the season, technical director Vu Tien Thanh shared that HAGL's goal was to stay in the league early, then calculate based on performance and actual situation. With 17 points, the Pleiku team is not far from the relegation mark.
In the last 5 seasons, only counting the seasons with 26 rounds, the 13th position (equivalent to the play-off spot with the first-class team) respectively belonged to Saigon FC (2022) with 22 points, Thanh Hoa FC (2019) with 26 points, Nam Dinh FC (2018) with 24 points, Can Tho FC (2017) with 22 points and Long An FC (2016) with 19 points. Going back to the 2015 or 2014 season, the second-to-last teams only had 24 and 21 points respectively. Thus, the relegation threshold in the V-League is usually 25 to 27 points.
Thus, HAGL only needs 8 to 10 more points, equivalent to 3 wins, to reach the safety mark. This goal is not difficult to achieve, when Mr. Le Quang Trai's students still have 15 matches in hand. The strength of the mountain town team this season is playing quite stably at home in Pleiku, when winning 9 points after the first 5 matches of the season (2 wins, 3 draws).
The "nest" in the mountain town with its thin air and narrow pitch has become the perfect springboard for the defensive counter-attacking style of play with a narrow formation that Mr. Vu Tien Thanh built. Strong teams in the V-League such as Hanoi Police Club (CAHN Club), Nam Dinh, Thanh Hoa or Hanoi have been helpless against the Pleiku problem in the past 2 years.
Technical Director Vu Tien Thanh is very "weird"
Not to mention away form, just playing reasonably and tightly like now to get 1 to 3 points regularly at home, HAGL will soon stay in the league to calculate the goal of standing in the middle of the table as a team member revealed.
The race is fierce
The season has not passed the halfway mark, but it is already possible to narrow down the teams that will compete for relegation this season.
They are Da Nang FC (ranked 14th) with 4 points, Hai Phong FC (ranked 13th) with 8 points, SLNA FC (ranked 12th) with 9 points and Quang Nam FC (ranked 11th) with 11 points. Except for Hai Phong, the remaining three teams were all listed as candidates for relegation from the beginning of the tournament. While Da Nang FC is a rookie, Quang Nam and SLNA both have young squads and limited potential, having to struggle to stay in the league until the last round of last season.
Two of the four teams mentioned above have changed their head coaches in hopes of changing their fortunes. After appointing Mr. Phan Nhu Thuat to the "hot seat" to replace Pham Anh Tuan (strangely, last season, Mr. Tuan was appointed to replace Mr. Nhu Thuat), SLNA has improved with 5 points in the last 4 matches.
Also changing the "general", but Da Nang FC fell into the opposite situation. The overlap in the task hierarchy between Mr. Phan Thanh Hung and Cristiano Roland pushed the Han River team deeper into crisis, with the last 3 losses. Recently, Da Nang FC appointed coach Le Duc Tuan as "captain" in the hope of reorienting the ship.
Da Nang Club (white shirt) uses 4 coaches even though V-League is not even halfway through
The two remaining candidates for relegation are Hai Phong Club and Quang Nam Club, both of whom have the advantage of an experienced and stable coaching staff. Coach Chu Dinh Nghiem has 9 years of coaching experience in the V-League, including 3 years coaching Hai Phong.
Mr. Nghiem has managed very skillfully with limited forces throughout the past seasons to bring Hai Phong to even the top position. This season, the port city team has a weak force in both domestic and foreign players, but with the talent of Coach Chu Dinh Nghiem, the hope of staying in the league is still clear.
Similarly, Quang Nam FC has a familiar coaching team that used to work at Hanoi FC, led by Mr. Van Sy Son. The Central team is still highly regarded for its tough playing style and stable performance at home. Quang Nam FC may still have to compete for relegation, but it will be difficult for them to "fall" from the V-League.
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Source: https://thanhnien.vn/hagl-can-bao-nhieu-diem-de-tru-hang-doi-nao-lam-nguy-ov-league-185250201185010395.htm
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