Van Khang on the training ground with the Vietnam U22 team on the afternoon of December 6 - Photo: NK
That is actually a question that even the Korean coach is struggling to find an answer to. This is because U22 Vietnam currently has too many wingers, so pushing Van Khang up front is a waste.
Mr. Kim's perseverance
Coach Kim Sang Sik has experimented a lot on the left wing in preparation for the 33rd SEA Games and the 2026 AFC U23 Championship finals. In particular, Khuat Van Khang has been continuously tested by Mr. Kim in the left-back and left midfielder positions in three official tournaments and friendly tournaments in 2025.
The closer to SEA Games 33, Coach Kim Sang Sik shows his choice for Van Khang. He was arranged to play left-back in all 3 matches of the Panda Cup 2025 Friendly Tournament in China in November. Of which, 2 were starting matches against U22 China and U22 Korea. Playing left forward in these 2 matches were Dinh Bac and Thanh Nhan.
But in the end, Mr. Kim's perseverance did not bring the desired results in the opening match of SEA Games 33. Although U22 Vietnam won U22 Laos 2-1, they played with great difficulty.
The central midfield pair Thai Son - Xuan Bac lacked creativity in organizing attacks. This made U22 Vietnam's attacks depend heavily on the wings. Meanwhile, the biggest hope to break through the "Laos concrete wall", Van Khang, had a lackluster performance in the role of left-back.
Van Khang did not have many technical moves to dribble past the U22 Laos defenders. His passes into the penalty area were not accurate enough to put his teammates in scoring positions. The image of captain Van Khang being replaced in the 71st minute partly showed his ineffectiveness and the deadlock in the playing style of U22 Vietnam.
Will there be any change?
Van Khang has never been a strong defensive player. His physical strength is not enough to attack and defend as smoothly as Phi Hoang, while Khang's physique is also limited in this position. However, coach Kim Sang Sik still wants to take advantage of Van Khang's experience for the left-back position, when there are already too many wingers above him such as Dinh Bac, Thanh Nhan, Le Van Thuan, Viktor Le or Ngoc My.
And perhaps Mr. Kim needs to boldly change, because only when playing close to the goal, Van Khang can fully develop his strengths. With excellent individual technique, he can go into the middle to support his teammates in attack or finish himself.
Playing as a left forward, Van Khang scored the opening goal in the 3-0 win over U23 Laos in the 2025 Southeast Asian U23 Championship. That will be a hint for Mr. Kim to prepare for the match against U22 Malaysia on December 11.
After a full day of rest, the U22 Vietnam team returned to the training field at noon on December 6 to watch U22 Malaysia play their opening match against U22 Laos in the afternoon. Under the hot weather in Bangkok, the training session still took place at a high intensity as required by the coaching staff.
In addition to tactical coordination exercises, U22 Vietnam spent a lot of time on the content of confrontation on the half field and practicing finishing skills. This is a limitation, causing the team to have difficulties in the match against U22 Laos despite playing on the field and creating many opportunities in front of the opponent's goal.
U22 Vietnam has not shown much in the victory over Laos on December 3 - Photo: NGUYEN KHOI
The goal is to defeat U22 Malaysia
Winning against U22 Malaysia to take the top spot in the group is the goal of coach Kim Sang Sik and his team. The opponent's strengths and weaknesses will be observed and recorded by him and his assistant team directly at Rajamangala Stadium before having a meeting to analyze the match tape in detail and come up with a strategy to respond.
The position Van Khang will play in the match against U22 Malaysia will also depend on the opponent's performance against U22 Laos. But against a strong and physically fit U22 Malaysia, letting Van Khang play left-back is not only unsafe but also difficult to create the desired attacking game.
However, choosing the lineup for the match against U22 Malaysia is not really something that needs to be resolved immediately by coach Kim Sang Sik at this time, when there is still a long time from now until the match starts. What needs to be done immediately for U22 Vietnam is to improve themselves to score goals more easily.
"In the victory over U22 Laos, we controlled the game and created many opportunities. But our finishing and final passes were still not good. This is something we must strive to improve in the upcoming training sessions," defender Minh Phuc acknowledged.
Midfielder Xuan Bac has returned to training.
After having to leave the field due to injury in the match against U22 Laos and absent from a training session, central midfielder Nguyen Xuan Bac returned to the training field with his teammates at noon on December 6. Xuan Bac's return helps coach Kim Sang Sik have more options for the midfield, which has not created peace of mind in the opening match.
Source: https://tuoitre.vn/tuyen-u22-viet-nam-vi-tri-nao-cho-khuat-van-khang-20251207092440201.htm
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