Coach Kim Sang-sik has a headache with the Vietnamese team's strikers.

Perhaps since leading the Vietnamese team until now, coach Kim Sang-sik has never encountered such difficulties as now. First, the performance of the players in the Vietnamese team's forward line is having problems. In addition to the best striker at the AFF Cup 2024, Nguyen Xuan Son, who is injured for a long time and cannot return to play, Nguyen Tien Linh, the striker considered the best replacement at the moment, has also not been able to maintain his high performance. In the last 4 matches in the V-League, Tien Linh has not scored any goals although he is still leading the list of top scorers of the tournament with 11 goals, above foreign strikers such as Alan (Hanoi Police), Lucao (Hai Phong) or Pedro Henrique (The Cong Viettel ) ... However, it can be seen that Tien Linh's goals are mainly from 11m free kicks, fans have not seen him score from his specialty tricky headers or "cannon shots" in recent times. Tien Linh's decline in form is clearly a concern for Mr. Kim Sang-sik.

Tien Linh (middle) is having problems with his form, making coach Kim Sang-sik worried.

Photo: Kha HOA

Another striker, Tuan Hai, is also not in the best shape. Tuan Hai scored 2 goals in the matches against Quang Nam FC in round 20 and Binh Duong in round 19, but then failed to score in the last 3 matches. However, Tuan Hai's efforts are commendable in the increasingly fierce V-League situation in the final rounds.

Meanwhile, striker Van Toan has not yet fully regained his form after recovering from injury. He often has to sit on the bench and only comes on in the second half but has not scored any goals despite Nam Dinh winning consecutive matches recently.

In addition to the three main strikers above, two young strikers Bui Vi Hao and Nguyen Dinh Bac are injured and have to take a long-term leave, making the Vietnamese team's attack thinner than ever. Perhaps Mr. Kim Sang-sik must consider calling back Nguyen Cong Phuong, even though this striker is playing in the first division and has passed his peak.

Not only is there a deadlock in terms of attacking personnel, Mr. Kim Sang-sik also faces difficulties when "stuck" in the match between the ASEAN All-Stars team and MU Club in Malaysia, because the time of this match (May 28) is quite close to the time of the match between Vietnam and Malaysia in the 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers (June 10). In addition to personally leading the above team, Mr. Kim also has to bring 4 students from the Vietnam team, Hoang Duc, Van Vi, Duy Manh and Hai Long, to Malaysia to attend this match. Meanwhile, the Malaysian side has asked to withdraw key players such as Dominic Tan, Sergio Aguero and add less-than-best players. In that situation, the Korean newspaper Best Eleven expressed concern when the Vietnam team had to "carry" the Southeast Asian All-Stars team. This greatly affects the team's preparation for the "final" match of Group F with Malaysia.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/hlv-kim-sang-sik-dau-dau-voi-hang-tien-dao-doi-tuyen-viet-nam-185250514230039516.htm