Vietnam national team's attack: Many shots, but off target.

The statistics of the Vietnamese national team in their last three matches provide many clues about their professional capabilities for coach Troussier.

The Vietnamese national team has seven forwards who haven't scored in the V.League. This issue was raised right from the first day of training camp. Clearly, the players aren't in top form, but there are still differences between playing for their clubs and the national team. Coach Troussier will have to solve this problem for his players using real-world data.

Many shots, many missed targets.

In their last six official friendly matches, the Vietnamese national team scored five goals. All five goals were scored in the first three matches against weaker opponents such as Hong Kong (China), Syria, and Palestine. This was also the period when coach Troussier began rotating his squad.

However, in the next three friendly matches, the Vietnamese team had an alarmingly low shot-on-target rate. Against South Korea, the forwards unleashed eight shots, but not a single one hit the target.

The Vietnamese national team's attack is not in good form.

Truong Tien Anh had two chances inside the penalty area but both times he sent the ball over the bar, much to the disappointment of the fans. Van Khang's free kick hitting the crossbar was not counted as a shot on target. Four of the eight shots were taken from outside the penalty area.

In the match against China, the forwards took 10 shots, with 3 on target. Two of those shots were from inside the penalty area, and one was a long-range shot. The remaining seven were misaimed.

Against Uzbekistan, Vietnam had six shots on goal, but none of them found the target. In these three matches, it was inevitable that coach Troussier's team failed to score a single goal.

The Vietnamese team took 24 shots in 3 matches, with only 3 on target. This only resulted in a 12.5% success rate for their shots. This percentage is not a guarantee that Tien Linh and his teammates will score a good number of goals.

Tuan Hai is not everything.

Looking at the performance of the Vietnamese national team's forwards, Coach Troussier has reason to be worried. Among the players with the most shots on goal for Vietnam in the last three matches, several midfielders such as Tuan Anh, Hung Dung, and Viet Hung were involved. But the player with the most shots was Pham Tuan Hai, unfortunately, he missed completely.

But judging by how the 1998-born striker performed in the Asian Champions League, Coach Troussier can somewhat believe that his pupil is capable of doing the most important thing for a striker: scoring goals.

The Vietnamese national team is lacking a target striker like Tuan Hai. He possesses speed, physical fitness, and his finishing skills are improving day by day – at least at the club level. The AFC Champions League is a good enough test for Tuan Hai to prove his abilities.

But the truth is, the Vietnamese team can't rely solely on Tuan Hai. Opponents have come to understand the danger this player poses. Moreover, the Vietnamese team usually only manages 2-3 shots inside the penalty area per match. The midfield, the two full-backs, and the two wing forwards need to provide more passes to the central strikers.

After several matches where he was tested as a striker, Hoang Duc may return to the midfield to address the issue of creating chances for his teammates. While the strikers haven't performed well, this group of players cannot be blamed entirely.

They also need enough possession and enough opportunities to score goals. The Vietnamese team cannot be said to have a bad defense. But if they only control the ball and pass it back and forth without creating opportunities to score, victory may elude Tien Linh and his teammates.

Mai Phuong

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