Coach Troussier warns, Cong Phuong and Van Toan must save themselves from being on the bench

Cong Phuong and Van Toan must find a way to escape their current "reserve seat" situation. That is the message that coach Philippe Troussier sent to the duo of former Hoang Anh Gia Lai players who are playing for clubs abroad.

"I gave Cong Phuong and Van Toan a chance in this match, but both of them must understand that they need to find opportunities to compete fairly at the club level," the head coach of the Vietnamese team said after the victory over Palestine.

Cong Phuong scored after nearly 2 years of "silence" in the Vietnam national team.

Both Cong Phuong and Van Toan had their marks in the home team's goals in the match at Thien Truong Stadium ( Nam Dinh ) on the evening of September 11. Cong Phuong opened the score and Van Toan assisted Pham Tuan Hai to score the second goal. However, those were only "acceptable" marks.

The French coach evaluated the performance of Cong Phuong and Van Toan in two aspects. First of all, "acceptable" means that they met Coach Troussier's requirements in this training session. Of course, Mr. Troussier clearly understands the current situation of the two players who have barely played for their clubs in the past half year. The appearance of Cong Phuong and Van Toan in the Vietnam national team is clearly not related to the issue of performance.

The 68-year-old coach shared at the June training session that the player's form may not be important in his first period leading the Vietnamese team. That is not difficult to understand.

Coach Troussier's priority during the friendlies is to learn as much as possible about the players. The most important thing to gain from the friendly matches - according to the French coach - is "information".

Therefore, for players who have proven their level like Cong Phuong and Van Toan, what Mr. Troussier needs to evaluate is their playing style, whether their skills are suitable for the team's tactical style or not, or what is the best way to exploit them. In this regard, Cong Phuong and Van Toan show a positive answer.

Van Toan contributed to the victory of the Vietnamese team with an assist.

The second aspect that Coach Troussier talked about the duo playing abroad is their performance. Having a place in the personnel plan is one thing, how effective they are is another. This is a matter of form. At the moment, that is not important, but in November, when the Vietnamese team officially begins competing in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers and beyond, the story will be very different.

"Cong Phuong's lack of experience in recent matches has made it difficult for him to work at high intensity and put pressure on regularly," said coach Troussier.

The longer you sit on the bench, the harder it is to regain your competitive spirit. Since the V-League 2022 ended in November last year, Cong Phuong has only played one match for Yokohama FC. Van Toan's statistics are better, with 10 appearances in Korea for Seoul E-Land, but the last time was 3 months ago.

In the current Vietnamese team, perhaps Nguyen Quang Hai is the one who understands the feelings of his two teammates the most. The 2018 Vietnamese Golden Ball freed himself by returning to Vietnam to compete.

He has not yet reached his best form in the Hanoi Police Club shirt. However, his performance when returning to the Vietnam team this time is clearly better than the two matches against Hong Kong (China) and Syria in June. Quang Hai's ball sense and coordination with teammates have returned.

Cong Phuong and Van Toan must also find a way to free themselves from their current situation. Coach Troussier's reminder gives these two players a very specific goal. They need to play for their clubs to maintain their status and position in the Vietnamese national team.

Van Toan will likely return to V-League before October. Meanwhile, Cong Phuong is still waiting for a "way out".

Phuong Mai

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