How did Mr. Park mold Ngoc Hai into a link in the brand new variant?

The first 20 minutes of the second half, the audience witnessed a rare new Vietnamese team under Coach Park Hang-seo. Instead of the figure of the 3 central defenders with 2 familiar full-backs, the Vietnamese team switched to a 4-3-3 formation, with 2 central defenders and 2 full-backs.

The last time that Mr. Park used a four-back formation, it was the first match he took on the task of leading the Vietnamese team five years ago (October 2017). It was coincidental that the opponent of the Vietnamese team at that time was also the Afghan team. Just came to Vietnam with wet feet and received the team from the interim coach Mai Duc Chungthe Korean military leader has not had enough time to get used to Vietnamese football. Mr. Park has not yet been able to risk applying a new philosophy and still uses the familiar 4-2-3-1 diagram (which was built during the time of Coach Huu Thang). The Vietnamese team drew a lucky draw against Afghanistan to meet the conditions of being present in the 2019 Asian Cup finals.

Ngoc Hai can play as a defensive midfielder, in addition to the position of the head, is a central defender INDEPENDENCE

From that point until the end of the first half of a friendly match with the same opponent Afghanistan on June 1, 2022, a 3-center defender with two variations 3-5-2 and 3-4-3 was used by Mr. Park, respectively. These are the formation structures that Mr. Park has applied to the whole Vietnam team to U.23 Vietnam, U.22, Olympic team. It was this tactical system that helped football Vietnam has gone from success in the region to the continent over the past half-decade.

Ngoc Hai and Tuan Hai INDEPENDENCE

But Coach Park Hang-seo He understood that he could not keep a framework forever in the context of Vietnam’s opponents constantly changing to find ways to bring down Vietnamese football from the leading position in Southeast Asia. In an interview after the victory over Afghanistan, Mr. Park frankly shared, in addition to the familiar diagram, the Vietnamese team plans to play with a 4-3-3 diagram, in order to have timely improvisations to the context. Currently, when Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand are ready to “ripe” to prevent Vietnam from returning to the throne of Southeast Asia.

Duy Manh INDEPENDENCE

Dinh Trong will have to practice the 4-3-3 . diagram INDEPENDENCE

To concretize that intention, he let Vietnam team played with a true 4-3-3 in 20 minutes of the second half. The appearance of Que Ngoc Hai is the “switch” to recruit Vietnam to switch to a 4-3-3 diagram. Mr. Park decided to push Ngoc Hai higher than 2 Midfielder Do Duy Manh (deviated to the right) and Tran Dinh Trong (to the left), thereby playing the role of a holding midfielder instead of a central defender as before. Que Ngoc Hai’s mission also changed, as he became a supporter with Nguyen Hoang Duc in the task of disputing and recovering the ball in the middle of the field instead of combining with Dinh Trong and Duy Manh in the role of a judge in front of the penalty area.

As a simple calculation, from having 2 full-backs and 3 central defenders, pulling Ngoc Hai up as a defensive midfielder turns Vietnam into a system with 2 full-backs (Tan Tai, Van Thanh), 2 central defenders (Duy Manh, Dinh Trong) with midfielder Ngoc Hai behind Hoang Duc.

In fact, before that at World Cup 2022 3rd Qualifier, when the Vietnamese team played against the Saudi team, this idea was implemented in a number of specific situations. Que Ngoc Hai is encouraged to leave the penalty area to boldly rush up the middle of the field to create a dispute with the opponent, thereby getting ready for a quick counter-attack for Vietnam.

In the 4-3-3 diagram that Mr. Park is trying to make that diagram become the second weapon of the Vietnamese team at the tournament. AFF Cup 2022 By the end of this year, Ngoc Hai is expected to become an effective player in a four-man defense. However, this diagram needs to be honed and challenged more when the team focuses again. Because actually tested in the first 20 minutes of the second half against Afghanistan, the 4-3-3 diagram had more or less errors. When Ngoc Hai left the penalty area, the other two central defenders, Dinh Trong and Duy Manh, lacked a link to be ready to fill the void left by his teammates.

Of course, from now until the AFF Cup 2022 kicks off, there are still 6 months left. Coach Park Hang-seo hopefully there will be 1-2 gatherings for the tactical transition to be practiced smooth and more flexible, if he really considers Ngoc Hai as the link for that process.