Vietnam not ready for possession football, should go back to old style: analyst

Coach Philippe Troussier in Vietnam's technical area during the friendly match with China on October 10, 2023. Photo by VnExpress/Doan Huynh

Since coach Troussier took over the team in early 2023, he made his point clear that Vietnamese teams, from youth to the national level, will all play possession football, which emphasizes ball control and many short passes.

But Hai says there are problems applying this style of play in Vietnam, analyzing a friendly with China on Tuesday.

"At first look, it seemed like Troussier's style of play was successful. The players constantly moved and made short passes, which is what Troussier wanted. Our possession rate was much higher than China, at 63%," Hai pointed out.

"However, Vietnam lost 0-2 and this reveals several problems. The possession play mainly occurred on Vietnam's side of the field and the team struggled to create chances. Our three shots on goal were not dangerous while the opponent scored two," Hai said.

Troussier gave some very young players the chance to play in the game, while others who performed well in the domestic league didn't get called up.

"Giving opportunities to young players is good, but perhaps he is focusing on too many groups of players at the same time, which led to inconsistency," Hai said.

"Changes are necessary, but that doesn't mean skipping past players who are currently in top form in the domestic league. Some players that got selected by Troussier didn't appear ready," he added.

Trieu Viet Hung (in white) takes a shot in the friendly with China on October 10, 2023. Photo by VnExpress/Doan Huynh

"The following game with South Korea (on October 17), however, will be more serious. But the result might not be different. Vietnam won't be able to keep possession against an opponent like that. We might even get pressed back."

Hai, who's also the media head of the Vietnam Football Federation, believes that the team's current playing style is not effective because it's not "suitable for Vietnam."

He said Vietnam's current strategy "doesn't bring us either a stable defense or a sharp offense. The only good thing is that we get more possession than the opponent. But I don't think it's effective. This style is more reasonable when we play against a Southeast Asian team. For opponents who are superior in every way, we have to create quick and unexpected attacks. The team needs a more suitable style of play and in my opinion it's 'counter-attack' football."

Hai continued by saying that Troussier's 'possession' football is a style for the future.

"With this generation of players, Vietnam are not ready in terms of physical strength, pace and stamina. For opponents with a similar physique, we can play like that. But when compared to opponents from East Asia, West Asia and Europe, Vietnam players are smaller, shorter, weaker and slower, and possession play is not suitable. Once the opponent presses, it's hard for us to stand our ground."

He added that all this was true even after years of Vietnamese athletes improving their physical strength.

"In the past, our average height was only 1.65 m while this generation has reached 1.75 m. That is a good sign, but their speed and strength are still not good enough. The team can control the ball, but physique is always a limitation. Vietnam players are catching up to the world on skills and mindset, but we are still quite inferior."

Ho Van Cuong (number 13) tries to dribble past the 1.92-m tall defender Wu Shaocong of China during a friendly on October 10, 2023. Photo by VnExpress/Doan Huynh

The former footballer suggested that Troussier consider rethinking the direction his team is going and consider returning to the previous style of play that helped Vietnam achieve great success in recent years.

"In the past, Vietnam mainly played counter-attack football, the clear intention of which prioritizes not losing first and then finding goals later. Coach Park Hang-seo achieved success in the past five years thanks to that style of play," Hai said.

He said Troussier wants to change that to aim for the future but he needs to reconsider and see if that playing style is suitable for Vietnamese for now.

"If Vietnam wants to earn good results, they need to return to the old style of play. If the team maintains possession play, they will continue to lose and might even lose big."