Dream far ahead of Thailand!

Thái Lan - Ảnh 1. — The Vietnamese men's volleyball team (right) can hardly dream of creating a surprise against Thailand - Photo: AVC

At 2:00 p.m. today (July 11), the Vietnamese men's volleyball team will face the defending champion Thailand at SEA V.League 2025. At this time, although not happy, even the most optimistic fans find it difficult to think that the Vietnamese team will defeat Thailand.

New solution, old story

Recalling the story at AVC Nations nearly 2 months ago, the Vietnamese men's volleyball team brought many emotions to fans after losing 2-3 to strong teams like Qatar and Indonesia.

Despite the defeat, the team's spirit and playing style left a clear mark. From there, the team created hope that they will have better matches in the SEA V.League after losing all 6 matches last year.

But then in the opening match, the Vietnamese team lost 0-3 to the host Philippines. That match exposed problems that have existed from tournament to tournament without being fixed. The team's first step was still broken and bad. The defense was slow and the situational judgment was inaccurate.

The second pass is also not good even though Dinh Van Duy has returned. Two years ago, Duy was voted the best second pass of SEA V.League. In domestic tournaments, he still shines with his unpredictable passes. But against the Philippines, his passes were too predictable for the opponent.

And a new problem, unexpectedly revealed in this tournament is the continuous failure of the serve. Granted, these errors existed in the AVC Nations Cup, but at that time the whole team played with determination to create a surprise. But once the old problems cannot be overcome, no matter how determined, the match result cannot be saved.

Pressure weighs on coach Tran Dinh Tien

The person who suffered the most pressure after the loss to the Philippines was coach Tran Dinh Tien. The head coach was responsible for the athletes not being able to correct the above mistakes. It was even more obvious when many members of the team were soldiers from the Border Guard team led by Mr. Tien himself. They were Nguyen Ngoc Thuan, Dinh Van Duy, Tran Duy Tuyen, Truong The Khai, and Pham Van Hiep.

This has led to more criticism that Mr. Tien prioritizes his own players, even though they are truly talented athletes.

The playstyle, tactics and ability to read the game of this strategist are also quite vague. When setter Van Duy was stuck, Mr. Tien replaced him with Phan Cong Duc. But the ability to coordinate still had nothing extraordinary. Then the play in position number 3 towards the middle blockers was almost harmless, although Van Duy was very familiar with Duy Tuyen and The Khai in the club's shirt.

With such disappointing performances, the Vietnamese men's volleyball team is unlikely to surprise Thailand. The defending champions showed that they are comprehensive in every aspect in their 3-1 victory over Indonesia on the opening day.

The 3-0 victory over Cambodia yesterday afternoon (July 10) may have temporarily relieved some of the pressure on coach Tran Dinh Tien. But the two upcoming matches against Thailand and Indonesia are tough challenges and may be his last chance as head coach.

DUC KHUE

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/giac-mo-xa-truoc-thai-lan-20250711001301174.htm