Steve Darby: Without Tien Linh, Vietnam team can still be second in the group at Asian Cup

The 2023 Asian Cup is taking place. For various reasons, only 4 players who joined coach Park Hang Seo in reaching the quarter-finals of the 2019 Asian Cup are still participating this year. Another notable piece of data is that at the 2019 Asian Cup, the Vietnamese team was one of the teams with the youngest average age in the tournament (23.1 years old). Four years later, the Vietnamese team still has one of the youngest squads, with an average age of 23.3. Do you think there is something unreasonable?

- That is an unusual statistic. The players who participated in the 2019 Asian Cup should actually be the core of the national team in 2023. This fact shows that many members of the Vietnamese team in 2019 did not develop their careers as expected.

What is the problem? It could be that the selection policy is ineffective or the national championship is lacking in quality, which prevents players from maintaining the level of continuous competition needed to maintain their place in the national team.

Which position do you feel is the most worrying for the Vietnamese team after a series of key players could not attend the Asian Cup due to injury? The Vietnamese team will be without striker Tien Linh, midfielder Hoang Duc, defender Que Ngoc Hai, goalkeeper Dang Van Lam and many other important players.

- Injuries are a serious problem for every team. For some teams, there are key players who are so important that they cannot be replaced, such as Harry Kane for England, Son Heung Min for South Korea or Cristiano Ronaldo previously for Portugal.

Every team always has players who are more important than others. Weaker teams have to pay more attention to the problem of player injuries. This means that teams have to build a team with enough depth, not just a squad of 11 excellent starting players.

Vietnam will need an excellent goalkeeper if they want to get through the group stage. Fortunately, Dang Van Lam is injured and Filip Nguyen has replaced him. I personally rate Hoang Duc very highly because I think he is a player with outstanding skills and can perform many difficult tasks.

The Vietnamese team will have to defend a lot, so Que Ngoc Hai's injury is a big problem, but I think Tien Linh is the most serious absence. He not only plays as a lone striker but is also one of the few Vietnamese players with natural goalscoring ability.

The reason is easy to point out, because most of the teams in V-League use foreign strikers, making it almost impossible for domestic players to compete.

Another issue is to find the source of the player injuries. What is the source? High impact injuries that inevitably lead to injuries such as broken legs.

However, muscle injuries are often caused by unscientific training methods or poor quality of the pitch. In addition, the treatment and rehabilitation plan for players at V-League clubs to help them recover quickly from injuries is also something that needs to be analyzed.

Defender Phan Tuan Tai is often referred to as a gamble by coach Troussier. This player's forte is left-back but is preferred by coach Troussier to play as a left-sided centre-back in a three-centre-back formation. Tuan Tai has a rather skillful left foot, effective in coordinating the development of the ball from the home field, but is thin, has poor tackling skills and does not have the "mindset" of a real centre-back. What do you think about this point of view?

- As always, my view is that every manager picks the team he thinks will win. The manager is judged on results and he will be sacked or kept depending on the performance of his players.

So the only opinion that matters is Mr. Troussier's. If he believes the players selected are the best defenders, then back them. Defenders need to be strong, but intelligence is often more important than strength.

The match against Japan will not be the decisive match for Vietnam's chances of advancing to the next round. The matches against Iraq and Indonesia are more important. In these matches, we must limit the loss of goals to the minimum possible, especially when Vietnam's attack is quite weak and may not have many chances to score.

What do you think about Vietnam's chances of advancing to the knockout round? Japan seems too strong. Iraq also showed their superiority when the two teams met at My Dinh Stadium, in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers. What about Indonesia? This team has a lot of history and often brings bitter memories to the Vietnam team.

- If we compare the strength of the teams, Japan will probably win all 9 points. This team has many excellent players, including stars playing in the Premier League such as Wataru Endo of Liverpool or Kaoru Mitoma of Brighton.

Iraq are a very unpredictable opponent. There is no denying that they have talented players, but the instability in the country could affect their preparation. Preparation is of the utmost importance.

As we can see, Thailand is currently very poorly prepared for the Asian Cup, with a change of coach and heavy defeats in friendly matches.

As for Indonesia, history is meaningless in football. What happens on match day is what matters. Indonesia has many talented players and some good coaches in the national championship.

In addition, this country has a large population and is extremely passionate about football. However, Indonesia has become a victim of too much political interference in football management. If the management and coaching apparatus are well supported, this is an extremely formidable opponent.

I think the race for second place in this group will be fierce, maybe even depending on goal difference, so limiting the number of goals conceded against Japan is very necessary.

In a recent statement to the press, Coach Troussier frankly admitted that there are fans who are turning their backs on the national team because of him. But Mr. Troussier affirmed that this makes the Vietnamese team stronger. Could you share more about your assessment of Coach Troussier's personality and ability?

- I have never met Mr. Troussier, but I have seen how he coaches the Japanese team. I think he has done an excellent job. The players have responded positively to his discipline and organization.

I was quite surprised when Mr. Troussier took on the role of youth football development in Vietnam, but in some ways it was a stroke of luck that he had experience of the football culture in Vietnam, which is unique and often difficult for foreigners to understand.

The powerful media in Vietnam can influence public opinion. In addition, there is now a "monster" called social media, where people who know nothing about football can sway the opinions of millions.

I think Mr. Troussier is strong and experienced enough to ignore ignorant criticism. He will be judged on results and he knows it. Opinions on social media should not be taken seriously.

Besides Vietnam and Indonesia, Southeast Asian football has two other representatives, Thailand and Malaysia. How do you rate the chances of these two teams passing the group stage of the 2023 Asian Cup?

- Malaysia has been well prepared, with a strong squad trained at Johor Darul Tazim FC, where most of the players are currently playing. They have also made good use of the legacy factor and have some good players like defender Dion Cools or midfielder Brendan Gan. I think Malaysia will play well and cause a surprise.

However, sadly, Thailand, where I used to work, is going through a period of turmoil. They fired a good coach who was respected by the players and appointed a Japanese coach who most of the players did not want.

There is now a lot of political interference in the management of the Thai team, causing many players to withdraw or give reasons for injury. I don't think Thailand can get past the group stage. They will miss Teerasil Dangda a lot, plus the outstanding players who refused to play.

The most common question before a major tournament is which team will win? However, I would like to ask your opinion on the development of East Asian and West Asian football. While Japan and South Korea play with many players playing in Europe, Saudi Arabia only uses players from their domestic league, as does Qatar, the current Asian Cup champions. Which way of developing football do you support?

- I have great support for the development of football in both Japan and Korea. They have long-term plans, strong and sustainable financial investment, and a very high-quality coach training program.

These countries have strong domestic systems where players are developed in high standard environments and then the best players go abroad to play.

Names like Son Heung Min, Endo, Minamoto, Kim Min Jae and Hwang Hee Chan make the tournament prestigious and demonstrate the ever-improving quality of Asian players.

The Saudi Arabian Premier League is making great strides, but the main factor is money. With the money, they attract good players and coaches. However, I think it will take a few years for the results to show.

Sadly, China and India, which should have strong national teams, have not developed. Cheating, corruption and match-fixing are the cancer that is hindering the development of football in these two countries.

Last question, what do you think about the Australian team? I personally see that this team has been on the decline since joining the Asian Football Confederation, in contrast to the development of the top teams of Asian origin.

- It seems that Australia is in a period of decline. This is often attributed to the poor quality of the national championship and the lack of good players going to Europe to play. Another important reason is the youth sports development program.

The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) had previously done a great job of producing players such as Viduka, Neill, Emerton and Zelic. This was replaced by a Dutch youth system that simply failed and the resources were depleted.

Still, I expect Australia to make it to the semi-finals along with Iran, Japan and South Korea. The winner may depend on which team can "keep their troops" until the end!

Thank you for the conversation!

Design: Duc Binh

Content: Ngoc Trung

01/14/2024 - 01:46

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-thao/steve-darby-mat-tien-linh-tuyen-viet-nam-van-co-the-nhi-bang-o-asian-cup-20240110173120975.htm