One of the disadvantages pointed out to coach Philippe Troussier during the national team gathering in June was the situation of "grinding rice while carrying a baby". The French coach is in charge of the Vietnamese national team to prepare for the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, and at the same time has to lead the U.23 Vietnam team towards the 2024 U.23 Asian qualifiers.
Being in charge of both the national team and the U.23 team is not a new problem for coaches before Mr. Troussier. However, working with two teams at the same time, with different personnel, tasks, and goals at the same time is still a big challenge.
Coach Troussier works with the players
At this point, Coach Troussier's choice was to mix the two teams into one. The "White Wizard" affirmed that the boundary between the Vietnam national team and U.23 Vietnam only existed on paper. He decided to unify both teams in all aspects, from the training ground, playing style, coaching staff to technical and tactical exercises. The Vietnam national team trained together with U.23 Vietnam, without any professional distinction between the two teams.
Coach Troussier's ambition is very clear. By arranging the two teams to practice together on the same "plane", the 68-year-old strategist also flattens the gap between the goals set for the two teams. The Vietnamese team is practicing towards the 2026 World Cup, and the U.23 Vietnam team is actually the same, but in the role of a bridge, which is to become a reserve force, ready to replace the seniors at any time. All are at the same starting line. The player who is more determined and meets the requirements better will be given priority.
The fact that the two teams share the same coaching staff, living quarters, and professional training shows that Mr. Troussier wants to give the U.23 Vietnam team the feeling that the players are strong enough and qualified enough to compete fairly with the national team players.
Vietnamese players need to be wary of competition from their juniors in the U.23 team.
This is an arrow aimed at two targets. For the Vietnamese team, the players will feel the most clearly the competitive pressure and the daily progress of the juniors, thus having more motivation to fight to keep their positions. As for the U.23 Vietnam, practicing and learning every day from the seniors is a valuable lesson, because Mr. Troussier's young players do not often play in the V-League, and do not always have direct contact with more experienced seniors.
Coach Troussier also screened players in a unique way, mixing the 58 players from both teams for evaluation, then selecting two groups. Group 1 will participate in the match with the Hong Kong team, while Group 2 will play friendly matches with the Hanoi Police Club and Hai Phong Club. Then, based on the players' performances, Mr. Troussier will shuffle the players between the two groups, then select the optimal group of players for the match against the Syrian team.
Compared to the original plan of the Vietnam national team playing friendly matches with Hong Kong and Syria, while the U.23 Vietnam team playing friendly matches with 2 V-League teams, the French coach dividing the team into groups 1 and 2 based on all the players will create a more intense and competitive atmosphere. There, the talented U.23 Vietnam players who perform well can be promoted to group 1 to play alongside their seniors, on the contrary, the players who wear the Vietnam national team jersey, but if they do not make an effort, can be "changed groups".
The rookies are trying to "score points"
Instead of separating the Vietnam national team and the Vietnam U.23 team with different training plans, serving different tournaments, Coach Troussier is molding the most suitable players in a common machine. Thanks to that, the "White Witch" can create an elite, competitive and philosophically imbued player force at different ages, from which to select the best team to aim for short-term and long-term goals.
In theory, training for the common good before the individual is the right move. However, how far it can be implemented depends on the quality and effort of each individual player, as well as Coach Troussier's consistency in his playing philosophy. Because with the pressure to perform at each tournament at a high level, any deviation can threaten the overall plan of the teams.
Therefore, being careful and thorough right from the preparation stage is a good stepping stone for Coach Troussier to continue calculating, at least for the next 6 months.
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