Expert: 'The start of Coach Troussier is more challenging than Mr. Park'
Vietnam has just experienced the first tournament under coach Troussier with a record of losing, not scoring and conceding seven times, in the U23 Doha Cup 2023. The French leader always emphasizes that results are not a priority in this tournament. a friendly tournament, but through the matches against Iraq, UAE and Kyrgyzstan, you can see the first few outlines of the playing philosophy that he applied to the Vietnamese teams.
Troussier maintains the three central defenders like his predecessor Park Hang-seo. But instead of prioritizing defense and then waiting for the counter-attack, he emphasized ball control, deploying a methodical attack from home with short passes and small group coordination. This was partly reflected in the matches against Iraq and Kyrgyzstan, when Vietnam achieved higher possession percentages of 53% and 58%, respectively. Before the UAE was too strong, the team was only slightly inferior (47%). However, Vietnam is facing a big problem in creating opportunities and finishing. In the whole tournament, the team only finished nine times.
According to coach Phan Thanh Hung, the last matches were friendly, taking place only a few weeks after Troussier took office, so it is impossible to assess the possibility of success or failure. He thinks that his French colleague is trying to apply a new philosophy and is still laying the bricks, so it is too difficult to ask for immediate results.
The coach of Da Nang club also said that Troussier's initial phase was more difficult than his predecessor Park. "Mr. Park came when Vietnam's performance was at the bottom and then rose to the top, and Troussier not only maintained but had to raise the bar," he said.
The former Vietnam coach said that the national team and U23 Vietnam need to quickly shape a new mindset to improve ball control and attack. However, the quality of the players is a prerequisite for building a game. "I think, after the last Doha Cup, Troussier has understood that the quality of the current generation is still lacking. The new philosophy will probably be more suitable for the national team's personnel than U23", Mr. Hung said.
Meanwhile, coach Vu Nhu Thanh, who led Phu Tho Club to face U23 Vietnam under Coach Troussier, said that after the successes under Coach Park, Vietnamese teams need to apply a modern way of playing to reach their goals. range. However, the past shows that the new team stopped at the first step of developing the ball from home, before taking the last step to impose and break the deadlock in attack. Mr. Thanh added: "Modern style inspires football, but it is not easy to understand every day, I think it takes at least six months to come to a conclusion of success or failure."
Expert Nguyen Thanh Vinh was pessimistic. He said that the current U23 Vietnam is not as good as the three generations coached by Park. Besides, they rarely have the opportunity to play at a club that already has many seniors who are playing stably, so Vietnam can go down in terms of achievements in SEA Games, ASIAD or Asian U23 in about one to two years. two years. "Troussier may not be successful with the current U23 generation," Vinh said. "Now, if you want a player to improve, you have to give more kicks, thereby increasing the speed of processing and decision-making, but that alone cannot be decided by Troussier."
Expert Phan Anh Tu said that the friendly tournament is a test, and when entering an official tournament like the SEA Games, Troussier will have a separate approach to each opponent. Besides, he emphasized patience because the ultimate goal is not to win the SEA Games gold medal. "We are definitely a strong team in Southeast Asia, having achievements to create trust is also a good way," Mr. Tu said. "But if the way is not achieved, it should not be too heavy. The U23 team was created also towards the end goal of building a strong national team."
