The Vietnamese team is undergoing the most radical rejuvenation in many years, when coach Philippe Troussier has reserved nearly half of the call-up slots (14 out of 33 players) in the October training session for U.23 talents, including many players who are called up for the national team for the first time despite never having played in the V-League, such as Dinh Bac, Thanh Nhan, Minh Trong, Van Cuong...
Vietnam team will change its appearance by mixing young players with veterans.
In fact, the Vietnamese team has been rejuvenated many times. When coach Park Hang-seo was in charge, a series of young stars from the Vietnam U.23 team (in 2018) were promoted to the national team. However, Mr. Park's advantage before was that he had a "talented beyond age" squad that was extremely combative, having played in many large and small tournaments at a very young age. The current generation of Vietnam U.23 that coach Troussier owns is difficult to compare with their seniors in terms of experience, because this group of players had their opportunities to play in youth tournaments interrupted in the 2020-2021 period due to the impact of the epidemic.
However, Mr. Troussier still has reason to believe. The French strategist has worked at PVF for nearly 3 years, training many players in the U.19 group. In addition to 3 matches in charge of the Vietnam U.19 team in the 2020 U.19 Asian qualifiers, Coach Troussier has had many training sessions calling up to 50, 60 players to ensure the list of 100 players is continuously trained for Vietnamese football towards the World Cup dream.
In previous training sessions, Coach Troussier also asked the senior players in the Vietnam national team to monitor how the U.23 Vietnam team performed their exercises. For Coach Troussier, there is no boundary between young players and stars. Whoever meets the standards will have a starting position, as was the case with Van Tung, Thai Son, Tuan Tai... in previous friendly matches.
However, to polish the "rough gems", the captain of the Vietnamese team needs to have a clear player development roadmap, instead of a simple call-up decision. When Coach Park was in charge, he interwoven and interspersed the young generation with the senior generation in a carefully selected ratio. The number of young players usually only accounts for 30 - 40% of the team, to both experiment and give opportunities to the next generation, but still ensure that this young generation is led by veteran seniors. Each coach has his own philosophy of using people, depending on the quality of the young players as well as the transfer requirements of the Vietnamese team. Therefore, hopefully Coach Troussier will be successful with his philosophy.
NARROW DOOR
Mr. Troussier has applied the "tooth comb" method, but when working with young players, coaches need to be patient, even risky. With little chance to compete, young players need to make the most of their chances to play. Under Mr. Park, many young players were given places in the national team, but very few stayed, including Viet Anh, Thanh Binh, Hoang Duc, Tuan Hai...
The difference lies in the players' outstanding efforts, not only in terms of expertise, but also in their adaptation. The Vietnamese team is expected to have an open playing style, based on the abundant energy that Mr. Troussier is developing, opportunities will come to young players who have shaped their playing skills and special qualities in some positions, such as Thai Son (central midfielder), Tuan Tai (left-winger) or Van Cuong (right winger). In fierce competition, players need to learn to improve themselves to mature.
Commentator Ngo Quang Tung commented: "The intention to experiment has always been in Mr. Troussier's calculations. The U.23 players also have a lot of time to work with the French coach, if among them there are about 5-7 players who can play, it is a success". Expert Doan Minh Xuong has the opinion that although the priority is to experiment with players, in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, the Vietnamese team is likely to play with the familiar framework from the time of coach Park. The adjustment will come from the playing style and the way the team is organized. However, with the door for young players never closed, the Vietnamese team will set a dual goal: both "panning for gold" and still ensuring achievements in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers.
Source link
Comment (0)