Struggling with the lineup
When accepting to lead the Hanoi Police Club, Coach Gong Oh-kyun had a great advantage when the defending V-League champion team went through the first 3 matches of the 2023 - 2024 season with 7 points (tied Quy Nhon Binh Dinh 1-1, won HAGL 3-0 and Hanoi FC 2-0).
He himself is also very much supported by the club's leadership and receives a lot of affection from fans. Because he left a great impression through his beautiful and energetic playing style when leading U.23 Vietnam to the quarter-finals of the 2022 U.23 Asian Cup. Therefore, although there are also opinions that doubt this 49-year-old Korean coach has never experienced clubs in the national championship battlefield, but only leads youth teams, the trust that many people have in him remains unshaken.
Coach Gong Oh-kyun is under a lot of pressure.
Starting with a 2-1 victory in the National Cup against HAGL, Mr. Gong has experimented by changing nearly half of the main squad with new players compared to the first 3 matches that the Hanoi Police team played. The former captain of U.23 Vietnam has tried to protect that philosophy by continuing to keep at least 2-3 of these new players in the starting lineup in turn in the matches against Hai Phong team at Lach Tray and especially the home match against Quang Nam team. Mr. Gong believes that factors such as La Nguyen Bao Trung, Ho Ngoc Thang, Ha Van Phuong or Pham Gia Hung need to play a lot to gain enough necessary experience to be ready to replace the pillars when injured or penalized. And he uses them for that purpose as a way to put pressure on the big names and create competition for the forces in hand.
In fact, V-League is a harsh battlefield, the squad needs to have depth, necessary stability or at least players capable of playing at a high level. Most of the faces mentioned above are not bad but they are not good at fighting, need more time to challenge or should only come on the field from the bench instead of being released too early.
If 1-2 positions were put in from the beginning, it was difficult to stand firm, let alone in a match, he used 3-4 people, so the limping in the starting lineup was inevitable. From then on, the remaining positions had to both try to prove their abilities and bear the burden of the new factors. The strength of the Hanoi Police team was reduced. They had degraded themselves and Mr. Gong himself was struggling to deal with... himself.
Foreign players of Hanoi Police team are stuck in front of Khanh Hoa defense
Not proven to be able to turn around
Watching the 4 matches that Mr. Gong has led, it is almost clear that he only uses 5-6 key positions regularly, including goalkeeper Nguyen Fillip, center back Bui Hoang Viet Anh, Huynh Tan Sinh, midfielder Ho Tan Tai, Nguyen Quang Hai and striker Geovane. The rest is rotated by him, even proven quality players like Vu Van Thanh, Ho Van Cuong, Bui Tien Dung or Le Pham Thanh Long, some matches he is about to play, some matches he comes on from the bench, and some matches he does not use.
Even foreign players had matches where Mr. Gong conceded at least 1 "foreigner" in 3 matches against Hai Phong, Nam Dinh and Quang Nam, playing with only one striker, Geovane, while Jefferson Elias did not start. In the match in Nha Trang on December 22, when goalkeeper Nguyen Fillip was naturalized, he used 3 "foreigners" but this change did not bring about results. Because they did not have a strong enough squad, the Hanoi Police team's playing style did not spread their strength evenly across the 3 lines. Attack and defense were sometimes unbalanced, especially the 2 wings played well one game and poorly the other, facing opponents who focused on defense like Quang Nam and Khanh Hoa, it was easy to get stuck.
What is Mr. Gong thinking?
BA DUY
More than ever, Mr. Gong needs to demonstrate his ability to change, to show his ability to read the game to bring quick adaptation to a team as ambitious as the Hanoi Police team. The loss to Khanh Hoa can be partly blamed on the pitch and bad weather, but that is not the main reason because after the first half being behind 2-1, many people did not see Mr. Gong come up with any effective countermeasures to improve the playing style of the Hanoi Police Club in the second half but just fumbled, not knowing how to break through the defensive wall that the home team had set up. The draw with Quang Nam at Hang Day Stadium was the same, completely dominating in ball control, but the opportunities all unfortunately passed by, not only because of the poor handling ability of the strikers but also because the "tricks" that Mr. Gong came up with were not creative and innovative, so it was not difficult for the opponent to block.
Coach Gong Oh-kyun needs to be more confident with the Hanoi Police team
The draw with Nam Dinh Steel Blue when leading 2-0 showed that Hanoi Police Club lacked counter-attack strategies and easily lost focus. An experienced coach would have been alert to protect the results by strengthening the defense and knowing how to stop the danger of Rafaelson. But Mr. Gong was probably too "drunk" on the match and lacked strategy in the final stages, leading to the team paying the price with 2 goals to equalize. Obviously, the Korean coach needs to be more confident and courageous to stand in a harsh arena like V-League.
The upcoming round 8 match against Becamex Binh Duong at Hang Day Stadium will be very important for Mr. Gong. If he wins, it will be considered that he has gradually overcome his mistakes, but if not, the future of the former coach of the U.23 Vietnam team will be difficult to ensure long-term with the defending champion team.
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