Many foreign coaches lose their jobs and the harshness of V-League

The uniqueness of the V-League

There is no tournament in the world where clubs have only played about 3-4 matches, are forced to rest for about 1.5-2 months, then play another 3-4 matches, and then rest again for the same amount of time.

Previously, it was common for the V-League to have 2-3 breaks each season, each lasting 1-2 months. Sometimes, the tournament was suspended simply because the national U20 team was gathering, a reason that certainly could not appear in advanced football in the world.

Coach Kiatisuk is no stranger to the V-League, but still failed in this tournament (Photo: Manh Quan).

Therefore, V-League is very different from other national championships around the world. Calculating the peak performance and calculating the physical strength of players after each break as mentioned above is a very complicated task for coaches.

There is also no curriculum in the world that teaches coaches this job (because there is no reality like in V-League in the world), so coaches in V-League are forced to rely on their own experience. This experience can be summarized through the process of coaching, even the process of playing when the coaches were still players, to adapt to the V-League.

Foreign coaches do not have the above experience, so it is not easy for foreign coaches to succeed in V-League.

For example, the late coach Alfred Riedl led the Vietnamese team in three different periods (1998 - 2000, 2003 - 2004 and 2005 - 2007), but Mr. Riedl still failed miserably in the V-League.

In 2001, Mr. Alfred Riedl joined Khanh Hoa team, the coastal city team was relegated. In 2008, the Austrian coach led Hai Phong club, the port city team was in trouble.

Mr. Riedl understands Vietnamese football very well, but only at the national team level. At the club level, it is a completely different experience. At the club level, foreign coaches no longer receive the same priority from the domestic football community as when they take over the national team.

Coach Gong Oh Kyun was successful at the U23 Vietnam team level, but could not succeed at the V-League (Photo: Manh Quan).

The same thing happened to coach Gong Oh Kyun. The Korean coach was successful with the Vietnam U23 team at the U23 Asian Cup last year, but this year failed at the Hanoi Police Club (CAHN): He led the team in 4 matches without winning any (2 draws, 2 losses).

The place where the names of many foreign coaches are buried

Coach Kiatisuk can also be considered someone who understands Vietnamese football very well, thanks to the time he was a player for Hoang Anh Gia Lai Club (HAGL, 2002 - 2006), and was a coach there (2006 and 2010), but "Thai Zico" is still preparing to lose his job right at the mountain town football team.

Coming to HAGL for the third time since the 2021 season, Kiatisuk was only successful in the first season (leading the V-League but not being recognized as champion because the tournament was stopped halfway). In the next 3 seasons, including the current season, the Thai coach did not create significant achievements.

Coach Ljupko Petrovic (Serbian) won the European Cup C1 (equivalent to today's UEFA Champions League) but was still unsuccessful when leading Thanh Hoa team (from 2020 - 2022), and was dismissed for health reasons.

Coach Arjhan Somgamsak is an extremely rare foreign coach who has been successful in the V-League, with two championships in 2003 and 2004, with the HAGL Club.

Former Thailand national team coach Mano Polking also experienced failure in the V-League (Photo: FAT).

However, when Arjhan Somgamsak helped Mr. Duc's team become champions, the Vietnamese football world believed that there was a great contribution from Technical Director (GDKT) Nguyen Van Vinh of HAGL.

After Arjhan Somgamsak, HAGL was assigned to many foreign coaches in different periods, including Chatchai Paholpat, Anant Amornkiat, Dusit Chalermsan, Kiatisuk Senamuang (Thai), Graechen Guillaume (French) and all failed.

The only foreign coach who has been successful at both the national team and club level in the V-League is Mr. Henrique Calisto (Portugal). However, there is a slight difference in that Mr. Calisto was successful at the club level first (winning the V-League in 2005 and 2006 with Long An) and then moved up to the national team (winning the AFF Cup in 2008).

Moreover, Mr. Thang of Long An Football Club once revealed that Coach Calisto is more considerate towards Vietnamese players than Vietnamese people, so the players are always devoted to the Portuguese coach. This is a detail that not all foreign experts have.

That is also another reason why many foreign coaches cannot stay long in the V-League, such as coach Chung Hae Seong at Ho Chi Minh City Club (joined the team in 2019, left the team in 2020), Mano Polking (joined Ho Chi Minh City Club in 2020, left the team in 2021).

Or Park Choong Kyun (Hanoi Club, joined the team in 2021, left in 2022) and Bozidar Bandovic (Hanoi Club, empty-handed in 2023).

Even the reigning V-League champion CAHN changed coaches twice last season. Brazilian coaches Paolo Foiani and Flavio Cruz were replaced one after another, and it was only when Technical Director Tran Tien Dai took on the role of interim coach that CAHN won the 2023 V-League championship.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-thao/nhieu-huan-luyen-vien-ngoai-mat-viec-va-su-khac-nghiet-cua-v-league-20231226104641068.htm