Coach Kim Sang-sik has to find a way.

A warning for coach Kim Sang-sik

On the evening of January 19th, Nam Dinh FC suffered a crushing 0-1 defeat against The Cong Viettel at their home stadium, Thien Truong, in Round 10 of the V-League. Although they haven't lost their second place position, a warning sign has emerged for Coach Vu Hong Viet's team now that Xuan Son is absent. This is also a detail that Coach Kim Sang-sik and the Vietnamese national team need to take note of. The absence of a key striker is never easy for any team.

When Xuan Son was on the field, Nam Dinh FC won four consecutive V-League matches, scoring 14 goals. However, without the striker born in 1997, the team from Nam Dinh only scored two goals in their last three matches, failing to secure a single victory.

Nam Dinh Club will miss Xuan Son very much.

Nam Dinh FC can thrive without Van Toan or Hendrio Araujo, but Xuan Son is a different story. The Brazilian striker's influence on the team's play isn't just about scoring goals (of course, he's very good at it), but also about the path leading to those goals. A complete center forward, skilled in all attacking techniques, playing with passion and cunning like Xuan Son, has elevated Nam Dinh FC's entire attack. What people saw Xuan Son do at the 2024 AFF Cup, he had actually been doing... every week in the V-League.

Naturally, the more influential a player is, the more difficult it is to replace them. To date, Nam Dinh FC has yet to find anyone who can fill the void left by Xuan Son (as evidenced by their poor results and lackluster performance). The same could happen to the Vietnamese national team. Xuan Son's eight-month absence means he will miss the matches against Laos (March), Malaysia (June), and Nepal (September), equivalent to the first half of the 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers. Upon his return, it's uncertain whether the 28-year-old striker will be back in top form.

Coach Kim Sang-sik asserted that despite Xuan Son's class, the Vietnamese national team does not depend on any single individual. However, let's observe the second leg of the final. After Xuan Son left the field, the Vietnamese team scored two goals, but one came from an own goal by Pansa Hemviboon (resulting from Tuan Hai's poor finishing), while the other came from a counter-attack when the opponent had left their goal unguarded.

Who is Teacher Kim looking for to replace Xuan Son?

The Vietnamese team can still attack even without Xuan Son, but it's clear that getting to the goal is much more difficult. Without a skilled striker on the field, it means Vietnam's opponents can push their formation higher, putting pressure on the defense.

Tien Linh and... who else?

Coach Kim Sang-sik used Tien Linh in the first three matches of the tournament, when Xuan Son was not yet eligible to play. When Xuan Son played, Tien Linh was on the bench. This means that a one-striker formation remains Coach Kim's top priority.

Speaking to the media, midfielder Doan Ngoc Tan affirmed that coach Kim Sang-sik's preferred playing style is to push the ball forward as quickly as possible. This tactic demands a lot from a striker: they need to be strong enough to shield the ball, skillful enough to control it cleanly, and agile enough to operate independently when teammates are unable to provide support. Xuan Son has brightened up the Vietnamese national team's attacking picture because he fits this philosophy.

Without him, coach Kim Sang-sik has only two options: find a good center forward with qualities nearly equivalent to Xuan Son, which is... unrealistic given the quality of domestic strikers; or find a playing style that suits the current players.

The South Korean coach still has Tien Linh at his disposal. Although his playing style still has shortcomings, the 28-year-old striker remains the top scorer under Coach Kim (7 goals). He has playing experience, goal-scoring ability, and the ability to find space. However, to maximize Tien Linh's potential, the Vietnamese national team must play differently. They cannot simply feed the ball to the striker with the motto "as quickly as possible" like in the AFF Cup, but need more systematic and well-organized coordination, diverse attacking solutions, and more utilization of the attacking midfielders' abilities, instead of relying solely on the striker to do everything.

We need more from Tien Linh (in the red shirt).

In addition, Coach Kim also needs more backup strikers. Relying on a few center forwards is a risky gamble.

Fortunately for coach Kim Sang-sik, in two of the first three matches without Xuan Son, the Vietnamese team faced weaker opponents (Laos and Nepal). The match against Malaysia at Bukit Jalil in June will be difficult, but unlike the AFF Cup, the Vietnamese team will play at a very low frequency, with only three matches in the next six months.

The Vietnamese team will have more time to strategize and plan their tactics. This difficulty presents an opportunity for Coach Kim to prove his capabilities, demonstrating that the Vietnamese team will not depend on any single individual.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/ngay-thang-vang-xuan-son-se-kho-khan-hlv-kim-sang-sik-phai-tim-cach-185250120174307494.htm