Worry about coach Kim Sang-sik's 'broken shield'

Fragile defense

The Vietnamese team defeated Nam Dinh Club 3-2 in a practice match on October 9, temporarily ending a streak of 3 consecutive losses under coach Kim Sang-sik.

The good performance of young stars like Nguyen Thai Son and Bui Vi Hao with 3 goals helped the Korean coach have more options. However, in contrast to the good signal from the attack, there is an alarming fragility in the defense.

Vietnam team struggled to win against Nam Dinh club

The Vietnamese team conceded two goals against Nam Dinh, thereby extending the streak of conceding goals since coach Kim Sang-sik took charge to 5 matches. If counting the period when coach Philippe Troussier was in charge, the last time the Vietnamese team kept a clean sheet was... 1 year ago, in a 2-0 win over the Philippines in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers in November 2023.

Since last year’s win over the Philippines, goalkeepers Nguyen Filip and Dang Van Lam have taken turns picking the ball out of the net 27 times in the last 10 matches. Under coach Kim Sang-sik alone, the number of goals conceded is 12 after 5 matches. In which, the Vietnamese team has not conceded less than 2 goals in any match.

Vietnam’s defense is not only weak in terms of statistics. The players’ performance is also alarming, with goals conceded from many different scenarios: long shots, central coordination, high balls, counter-attacks and individual mistakes. Of these, high ball goals appear the most. 5 out of 12 goals conceded by Vietnam under coach Kim Sang-sik came from cross-wing headers.

Coach Kim Sang-sik's defenders are not good at one-on-one battles.

In the match against Nam Dinh on October 9, Mr. Kim's defense was completely disoriented when the opponent deployed 7 foreign players and 1 naturalized player to continuously "attack" the goals of Van Lam and Nguyen Filip. Facing these muscular and impressive foreign players, the Vietnamese defenders had a lot of difficulty in covering and marking.

The two goals Vietnam conceded in this match both came from high balls. The solid shield under coach Park Hang-seo has collapsed, forcing Mr. Kim to play the role of "welder" to repair it.

Need to patch the hole soon

What happened to the defense that set many impressive milestones and statistics when coach Park Hang-seo was still in charge?

First, the defenders have lost their form. Coach Kim Sang-sik has young, potential defenders like Nguyen Thanh Binh and Bui Hoang Viet Anh, but they need time to gain experience and "coolness" to reach the level of their seniors. Meanwhile, Giap Tuan Duong is still too young. He has skills, strength and speed, but coach Alexandre Polking said that he plays "relying on his strength" and is sometimes too aggressive.

Captain Que Ngoc Hai has just returned from injury, and Nguyen Thanh Chung, although of good quality, has not played many times for the national team in the past year. Both have proven their abilities, but need time to re-integrate into the top competition, especially in international matches with much greater intensity and pressure than the V-League.

On both flanks, coach Kim Sang-sik also lacks reliable options. Phan Tuan Tai, Nguyen Phong Hong Duy (left) or Vu Van Thanh, Pham Xuan Manh (right) have not provided stable defensive support.

Coach Kim Sang-sik needs Bui Hoang Viet Anh to recover soon.

The second reason is that the Vietnamese team's defensive structure changes constantly with each match. Players take turns playing as starters, sitting on the bench, and having to rotate many positions, leading to instability. In most of the goals conceded, the Vietnamese defenders did not communicate and cover well, leaving a huge gap for the opponent to exploit.

Finally, the Vietnamese team played more proactively. The defenders had to control the ball, making many high-risk passes to develop the play. The defense was also pushed higher, meaning there was a lot of space behind the defenders.

It seems that Vietnamese defenders have not adapted to this style of play. The habit of playing deep defensively and "covering" the penalty area still exists in many players. When forced to push up the formation, the defense loses control and makes mistakes more often.

When the new playing style has not brought specific advantages, but the disadvantages keep appearing more and more, coach Kim Sang-sik needs to calculate carefully. In the AFF Cup 2024, there must be no room for mistakes if the Vietnamese team wants to at least reach the final.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/doi-tuyen-viet-nam-lo-cho-khien-thung-cua-hlv-kim-sang-sik-185241010145017066.htm