There is a very vague factor for football fans in the coach’s selection of players for the national team, which is the concept of “suitable for the team’s playing style”. They often ask the question, why player A and player B play very well at the club, but are not called by the coach to the team? Let’s try to speculate and discuss the “suitability for the team’s playing style” through Coach Troussier’s way of calling players for the Vietnamese national defense team preparing for the 2024 Asian Cup.
Vietnam National Team. Photo: VFF.
Although still on the Vietnam national team’s roster, the not-so-bright information about the injuries of Que Ngoc Hai and Do Duy Manh has made Vietnamese football fans feel worried. The move to add Ho Tan Tai (CAHN Club) and especially Bui Tien Dung (The Cong – Viettel) shows that coach Troussier also feels insecure about the defense of the Vietnamese national team, when he cannot sure about the playing ability of Ngoc Hai and Duy Manh.
In case both Ngoc Hai and Duy Manh cannot play, it is clear that the Vietnam national team’s central defenders are too thin. Regularly appearing in the team, only Bui Hoang Viet Anh (1m87), Phan Tuan Tai (1m76) and Nguyen Thanh Binh (1m80) remain. The remaining players are all under 1m8 tall and rarely play in the team squad.
It seems that this trio of central defenders has all the elements to handle the task of protecting the area in front of the goal well. But in addition to the risks of injury or physical factors that prevent this trio from being fully present on the field, there is another very important factor, which is that all three players do not have the habit and Rarely practices leadership duties in defense when playing for the club. Perhaps to resolve this concern, Coach Troussier called on Bui Tien Dung, who although not in great form when with The Cong – Viettel Club had a series of disappointing matches in the V.League, but often constantly commanding the team’s defense. Unfortunately, this midfielder did not have enough physical strength to participate in training and playing for the Vietnam national team.
To understand each other and coordinate best with each other, of course, the number 1 priority will be players who have a lot of time to practice and compete with each other in the Vietnam national team, like Que Ngoc Hai standing next to Duy Manh and So is Bui Tien Dung. But if this is not possible, then the next priority will be the players playing at the club. Many people were surprised to see Coach Troussier call Le Ngoc Bao and Do Thanh Thinh of Binh Dinh Club. They are good players, but clearly these two names are not outstanding among the defenders that Vietnam has. But what Ngoc Bao and Thanh Thinh have is understanding and good coordination with each other because they are a pair of defenders playing at a high level at the club.
Player Bui Hoang Viet Anh and teammates at CAHN Club.
Or the presence of Giap Tuan Duong, a young defender who mainly plays in the National First Division, currently on the staff of CAHN Club. Surely people will choose for themselves many more prestigious names than this player. But besides the fact that coach Troussier highly appreciates Tuan Duong’s professional ability and fighting spirit, who knows, perhaps the Bui Hoang Viet Anh factor influenced his decision to be on the Vietnam national team.
Bui Hoang Viet Anh (CAHN Club), a player who played excellently for the CAHN Club. With a height of 1m87, good speed, he plays aggressively, fights the ball well, blocks, and defends effectively. Like Que Ngoc Hai, this player has the ability to launch attacks with long passes and accurately cross the line. In particular, he participated in the attack extremely well, and scored 3 goals for CAHN Club in 7 rounds in V.League 2023/2024. Along with Phan Tuan Tai, this player will probably be Coach Troussier’s priority for the central defender position, and then, to choose someone to stand next to him, understand each other’s ideas, and be familiar with each other’s playing style, Giap Tuan Duong is a reasonable choice when they are teammates at the CAHN Club.
A recent example of compatibility is the case when coach Troussier had “Golden Ball” Nguyen Hoang Duc sit on the sidelines for several matches of the Vietnam national team. Many people reacted violently to this decision. It seems that the answer to this decision, in response to the backlash, is the poor performance this player showed when returning to play for The Cong – Viettel Club.
There are many factors of a player’s suitability, from form, physical condition, strengths, technical weaknesses, playing habits, ability to integrate, understand, coordinate…etc… and just Having a coach is the person who best understands each individual in the team they assemble. That’s why we, the fans, who have the right to wonder, the right to criticize, let the coaches do their job, they may lose, but they are definitely the best.
