5 matches, 9 goals conceded: Why is the Vietnamese national team's defense still in disarray?

In 6 international matches since the beginning of the year, Vietnam has conceded 5 goals. The total number of goals conceded in these matches is 9, a worrying statistic for the reigning Southeast Asian champions.

Objective reasons

6 international matches of the Vietnam team from the beginning of 2025, including the first leg of the AFF Cup 2024 final (won Thailand 2-1 on January 2), the second leg of the AFF Cup 2024 final (won Thailand 3-2 on January 5), the friendly match with Cambodia on March 19 (won 2-1), the match against Laos in the Asian Cup qualifiers on March 25 (won 5-0), the match against Malaysia in the Asian Cup qualifiers on June 10 (lost 0-4) and the match against Nepal in the Asian Cup qualifiers on October 9 (won 3-1).

Vietnam team conceded 9 goals in 6 international matches since the beginning of the year

Photo: Nguyen Khang

In total, the Vietnamese team conceded 9 goals in these 6 matches. On average, coach Kim Sang-sik's team conceded 1.5 goals per match. The only match in which the Vietnamese team kept a clean sheet in international matches since the beginning of the year was the match against Laos in March.

The number of goals conceded by the Vietnamese team since the beginning of the year is not small, considering that our opponents are not too strong compared to the Vietnamese team. They are all teams in Southeast Asia (Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia) or the very weak team Nepal. That reflects the poor performance of the team under coach Kim Sang-sik.

First, regarding objective reasons, we have not had stability in terms of personnel in defense. Since the beginning of the year, in less than 10 months, the Vietnam team has used 3 different goalkeepers, from Nguyen Dinh Trieu in AFF Cup 2024, Nguyen Filip in June and most recently Dang Van Lam.

The central defenders are also constantly being changed. The best central defender of the Vietnamese team at the AFF Cup, Nguyen Thanh Chung, is injured, the one expected to replace Thanh Chung, Viet Anh, is also injured in the team's recent training sessions, while the player who was expected to be Pham Ly Duc has shown to be quite "inexperienced" when promoted to play in the national team. The defense is constantly being disrupted, leading to a great impact on the coordination between the positions.

Subjective causes

Subjectively, the Vietnamese team's defensive arrangement is not suitable. When we face teams with fast, strong attacks that play well in the air, the team's defense, consisting of small central defenders and midfielders like Xuan Manh (1.73 m) or Thanh Long (1.65 m), when they appear on the field at the same time, is not fast and strong enough to compete and compete for the air ball against the opponents. Not to mention that the captain Do Duy Manh is much slower than he was in his prime. Duy Manh needs teammates around him who are stronger and faster to support him, not the other way around.

The red team's defense's ability to counter high balls is not good yet.

Photo: Independence

That is one of the reasons why the only match that the Vietnamese team did not concede a goal since the beginning of the year was the match against the Lao team, which is also the only team that does not play with a strong force, and is very weak in aerial combat. Otherwise, against all opponents with speed, ability to sweep and play high balls like Thailand, Malaysia, and even Cambodia or Nepal, we could not keep a clean sheet.

This is what coach Kim Sang-sik needs to adjust so that the Vietnamese team can defend better in the coming time, helping the audience to be less nervous when watching the home team compete. In the hands of the Korean coach, there are still factors that can supplement the above-mentioned weaknesses of the defense. We have a very promising center-back Hieu Minh (1.84 m), at the same time, we expect center-back Viet Anh (1.84 m) to soon reach the best physical condition in the following training sessions, to contribute to the national team.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/5-tran-thung-luoi-9-ban-hang-thu-doi-tuyen-viet-nam-vi-sao-cu-mai-xoc-xech-185251012165159097.htm