Duy Manh's injury right before the Vietnam national team's training session can be considered a "bad luck" for coach Philippe Troussier. While the French strategist was still shaping the team, key players such as Van Hau and Quang Hai had problems one after another, before Duy Manh joined the absentee list.
Since coach Troussier took over the coaching position of the Vietnamese national team, Duy Manh has been one of the most used players. He played all 5 out of 6 friendly matches, "tailored" in the right center-back position.
Duy Manh's ability to pass, cover and compete aggressively has helped the 27-year-old central defender gain the French coach's trust. The remaining two positions in the central defender trio include Ngoc Hai and Tuan Tai. When Duy Manh was injured, Mr. Troussier called Tien Dung, a central defender he had never used before, to the national team to replace him.
Duy Manh (2), Ngoc Hai (3) and Tuan Tai (12) are Mr. Troussier's favorite trio of central defenders.
Under coach Troussier, the Vietnamese team still maintains 3 central defenders. When facing weaker opponents, the 3-4-3 formation with 2 wingers moving forward is used. When facing stronger opponents, the 2 wingers will drop back to play as full-backs, forming a 5-4-1 or 5-3-2 formation.
However, the operating principles of the two defenses are not the same. If under coach Park Hang-seo, the center-backs focused on defense, covering, competing, and occasionally moving up to pass to support the strikers, then under coach Troussier, the center-backs had to participate in the ball deployment phase.
The "White Wizard" pays special attention to the quality of passes in the back line. During training sessions, he asks his students to stand in groups of 5 or 6 in a circle, so that the players can pass the ball, move to receive the ball, and then pass it back in sequence within that circle.
Coach Troussier's centre-backs were asked to stand close to each other and the midfielders to form triangles of passing and passing, in order to break the pressing layer and make the opponent's formation unstable. Coach Troussier's philosophy was demonstrated in matches against Uzbekistan or South Korea, even though they lost the game, the defenders still patiently passed short passes and launched attacks at home.
Viet Anh (number 37) is not completely trusted.
Coach Troussier also prioritizes center-backs who are good at passing the ball, which is why Tuan Tai, a player who has never played center-back at club level, was pulled into the defensive trio and started continuously, replacing "hard" center-backs like Viet Anh, Thanh Binh or Tien Dung. Tuan Tai's frequency of playing on the field surpasses his seniors, and Coach Troussier's way of using people shows that the Viettel Club player is likely to have an official position in the left center-back position.
However, the core point to evaluate the defensive capacity has never been the ability to deploy the ball, but first of all, to prevent the opponent from scoring. Not to mention the effectiveness of deploying attacks, but in terms of defense, the Vietnamese team's defense has encountered many problems.
From the ability to judge situations, mark people, cover to coordination, the defenders have not met the requirements. Many mistakes were revealed when Coach Troussier's students met weaker teams like Hong Kong or Palestine, but the opponents' poor finishing caused them to lose.
When facing sharp attacking teams like Korea or Uzbekistan, every defensive mistake is punished. Among them, Tuan Tai's position is the weakest. Viettel Club's players often misread situations, made bad saves or left their man unmarked.
Tuan Tai can be sympathized with, because he is not a pure center back. The Dak Lak-born defender's physique and skills are not "mature" enough to take on this responsibility. Even in the aspect of supporting the attack that Mr. Troussier expected, Tuan Tai could not show anything.
Vietnam national team's defense conceded 10 goals in the last 3 friendly matches
However, Coach Troussier has his own perspective on using people. The French strategist still has good central defenders like Viet Anh and Thanh Binh to "rotate" if needed. This central defender duo played very bravely when helping the Vietnamese team hold Japan to a 1-1 draw at Saitama Stadium, but under Coach Troussier, they have not been used much.
The Vietnamese team once made a splash thanks to their solid defense. In the second qualifying round of the 2022 World Cup, Ngoc Hai and his teammates only conceded 5 goals in 8 matches, keeping 5 clean sheets, thus reaching the final qualifying round. As the attack is still a "headache" for Mr. Troussier with the total goals this season of 7 strikers being... 0, the defense will be the mainstay of the Vietnamese team.
But that support seems to be shaky because the team's defense is no longer as tight as before. Coach Troussier has 9 days left to patch up the defense, if he doesn't want to get bogged down in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers.
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