European "super agent": "Quang Hai has passed the golden period for development"

In an interview with Dan Tri, Slovenian player agent Jernej Kamensek said that although his trip abroad was not smooth, Quang Hai has matured a lot compared to a year ago. However, he said that this midfielder has passed the "golden" stage for development.

"A person with real knowledge would not advise Quang Hai like that"

Quang Hai's adventure in France has ended, a year earlier than expected. Your prediction that this player would not be successful in Pau FC has come true. How do you feel when looking back at this sensational deal?

- I think this prediction is quite simple because it is easy to guess. If you have enough experience, anyone can see that this deal is unusual. The gap between European football , even if it is only second-class France, is still far from Southeast Asian football.

Not only that, Quang Hai plays in an important position that no coach dares to risk using a player from an unfamiliar football background.

However, Quang Hai failed? No, I don't think so! This bad thing is because of those who advised him to choose the wrong path. This mistake is very amateurish, people with real experience and knowledge will never advise players like that.

So if you compare yourself to yourself a year ago, when you started your journey abroad, how is Quang Hai now?

- I think this is still a valuable experience for Quang Hai's career and life. He has matured as a player and a person. A year in France has given Hai a lot of experience that I believe is very valuable not only for him but also for Vietnamese players who want to play abroad.

What Vietnamese players still lack is practical experience on foreign pitches. In the next few years, Quang Hai will continue to shine in Southeast Asia. He had a good performance in the 1-0 win over Hong Kong on the day he debuted under Coach Troussier.

However, I think Quang Hai will not be the brightest star. New stars will appear and shine brighter. This is the normal law of life when the old bamboo grows new bamboo if the development strategy is planned and organized in the right direction by the managers.

There are many rumors that Quang Hai will return to play in the V-League. Is this move really reasonable for a player who is still considered to have surpassed the V-League level and needs to play abroad to develop his career?

- Quang Hai is 26 years old. His "golden" period for development is over. Quang Hai is no longer a young talent. This player is entering the most productive age of his career, which means he is at his most optimal version.

So, in my opinion, Quang Hai should choose to join the team that values ​​his talent the most, will probably pay the highest salary, and choose the environment where he is most comfortable. I don't think there is any team outside of V-League that pays Quang Hai a higher salary.

So, in my opinion, his best choice is to join an ambitious team in the V-League.

Story about "fake" coach

Speaking of the V-League, VAR technology is about to be introduced to support referees as well as improve the quality of the tournament. There has been a lot of controversy about refereeing recently. What do you think VAR will bring to the V-League?

- I think VAR will only bring more problems to the V-League. VAR technology is not easy to use, so it will become the source of other crises with referees. I think the current technical level still meets the quality of the tournament, so other more urgent problems need to be solved.

The first step would be to improve the level of refereeing through better and more regular training programmes. I think referees need to be better trained. They also need to gain experience and advice from top professionals.

Refereeing in Vietnam is not good. The trainers do not provide enough training to improve the quality of referees. This is a common problem in the AFC (Asian Football Confederation). In my opinion, many certificates and degrees are given just because people need them to work, not to guarantee their qualifications.

For example, FIFA (Federation of International Football Association) referees in Malaysia, Indonesia or any other country in Southeast Asia cannot reach the same level as UEFA (Union of European Football Associations) referees. The reason is that Asian referees do not accumulate daily experience like European referees.

European referees are in charge of high-level matches every week, even 2-3 matches a week. In my opinion, VAR should only be applied in the V-League as a trial for a year. This will bring many new experiences, new developments and new problems . Let's wait and see. Anyway, I welcome VAR!

So, in the race for the rankings, Thanh Hoa FC is surprisingly leading. What is your impression of this Thanh Hoa team?

- When I observed the teams preparing for this year's season, I expected Thanh Hoa to be in the leading group. Thanh Hoa FC this season has many similarities with the 2017 season, when the team finished in second place behind Quang Nam.

The difference is that the replacement for Quang Nam is the Hanoi Police Club. I think Thanh Hoa's biggest success is realizing the value of foreign experts for the development of the team.

It took them 10 years to change from a "local" mindset to being open to learning from foreign experts. I think the arrival of coach Ljupko Petrovic has created a big change in the football mindset of Thanh Hoa Club. Now everyone notices the difference.

With the success achieved, current coach Popov has convinced the Board of Directors to listen to his wishes and respect his work.

What about other teams in V-League, sir?

- Some other teams in the V-League can also become better if they are led by truly professional and experienced foreign coaches. Yes, there are many "fake" coaches, but they only exist on social networks and have a negative impact on the image of coaches in general.

But it should be said frankly that these "fake" coaches were found by "fake" football experts in Vietnam and recommended to the club. In my humble opinion, the management level of most Vietnamese football teams is equivalent to the referee level. It's just that the referees interact directly and have a greater impact on public opinion.

Continuing the story of foreign coaches in V-League, Coach Bozidar Bandovic is facing some personnel problems (suspension, injury) at Hanoi FC. These losses are huge because this team lost both Van Quyet and Hung Dung. In addition, recruiting foreign players too late makes Hanoi FC unable to have quality contracts that match expectations.

Coach Kiatisak at Hoang Anh Gia Lai is in a generational transition period and ups and downs are understandable. Hoang Anh Gia Lai has changed most of its pillars, so it will take one to three years for the team to re-establish a solid foundation.

Meanwhile, some teams using domestic coaches have not achieved good results or have not developed significantly. After this season, I hope that there will be many foreign coaches with ability and experience (not found on the internet) to come and help the teams develop.

What about the problem at Ho Chi Minh City Club, the team struggling with relegation?

- Professionalism! There are many amateurs in this team. Perhaps they see Ho Chi Minh City FC as a place to realize their dream of participating in professional football. This team simply lacks management, coaching, recruitment and development. In general, it lacks everything and makes the team amateur.

To develop, Ho Chi Minh City FC needs to improve its management, enhance cooperation with the local Football Federation, develop a development plan and train all coaches in the team. Ho Chi Minh City FC has a lot of work to do because too many things have been overlooked in the past.

Because of the unstable foundation, the team has to struggle with the relegation battle every year. If everything is set up properly and professionally, HCMC FC will not have financial problems. However, everything cannot be smooth because of "cultural conflict".

Last question, in this FIFA Days in June, the Vietnam team will play a friendly match with Syria and before that we had a hard-fought 1-0 win over Hong Kong (China). Perhaps the controversy surrounding Coach Troussier will flare up again?

- I find that most fans spend too much time on specific technical issues that are left to the experts, while there are still other details that need to be improved. No two coaches are the same.

No two coaches use the same tactics or style of play. Football operates on a natural order, and training methods are widely developed, meaning that they have been proven to be the best, until a new, more effective method comes along. Of course, football is always changing.

What is needed is patience, not doubting whether this style of play is suitable or not. With only the old defensive counter-attacking style, the Vietnamese team will not be able to reach new heights. Maybe Vietnamese football will create some surprising results, but it will be based more on luck than on the quality of the squad or the level of the coach and players.

And I think Mr. Troussier is trying to develop this aspect. Any change like that takes time. However, besides the way of playing, the training of young players is more important for football.

It is necessary to develop hundreds or thousands of quality players, from which a strong national team can be selected that can meet all special requirements from the coach.

Thank you for the conversation!

Content: Khai Hung

Design: Do Diep

June 17, 2023

Dantri.com.vn