U22 Vietnam lacks attacking ideas

If Dinh Bac's goal had not been recognized by the referee, the U22 Vietnam team might have had to start the 33rd SEA Games with a draw.

Coach Kim Sang Sik (middle) observes U22 Vietnam players practicing on the afternoon of December 4 - Photo: NK

Although U22 Vietnam defeated Laos 2-1, they still could not bring peace of mind to fans.

The attack is not sharp

Not being complacent against U22 Laos, coach Kim Sang Sik sent out three strikers, Dinh Bac, Quoc Viet and Thanh Nhan, to the field at the same time. Apart from Dinh Bac who made his mark with a double goal, the other two strikers played poorly despite having many opportunities. Even Le Van Thuan (replacing Thanh Nhan in the 71st minute) did not leave any mark.

"I want to congratulate Dinh Bac. He played very well and scored two important goals. However, the U22 Vietnam attack still has some points that need to be improved. We will continue to make adjustments to best prepare for the match against U22 Malaysia on December 11," coach Kim Sang Sik admitted.

If the strikers had more accurate shots, U22 Vietnam would have scored more than 2 goals. Despite scoring twice, Dinh Bac also missed many scoring opportunities. Among them were 2 unbelievable misses at the end of the second half. Quoc Viet handled the ball skillfully, but his shots were not dangerous.

But Thanh Nhan was the most disappointing striker with many inaccurate shots. The highlight was the situation where he kicked the ball into the sky from 5m away in front of an empty goal, after a cross from Dinh Bac at the end of the first half.

Mr. Kim's strikers were hasty and lacked ideas in the final passes. This led to inaccurate finishes and could not create many breakthroughs. Therefore, in addition to the players who started the match against U22 Laos and had light recovery training on the afternoon of December 4, Mr. Kim focused on training the other attacking players through coordination and finishing exercises.

Concerns about the midfield

Facing a U22 Laos team that defended in large numbers, U22 Vietnam easily controlled the game, dominating in terms of ball possession time, number of attacks and number of shots. However, scoring only 2 goals showed many limitations in the way U22 Vietnam organized attacks.

In addition to the strikers' limited finishing ability, the biggest problem of U22 Vietnam is in the midfield. The central midfielder pair Thai Son - Xuan Bac did not create any breakthroughs in the attacking phases. The passes mainly pushed the ball out to the wingers to pass inside for the strikers to finish. It lacked direct attacks that surprised the opponent.

Saying goodbye to Van Truong due to injury, Thai Son was chosen to replace him and play alongside Xuan Bac. But against U22 Laos playing defensively, a defensive midfielder like Thai Son was not effective in the context of needing to penetrate the opponent's multi-layered defense.

Things got even more difficult for Mr. Kim Sang Sik when Xuan Bac injured and left the field in the 39th minute, giving way to Quoc Cuong. Xuan Bac had to stay at the hotel yesterday to rest and recover from his injury. This shows that finding a suitable midfielder pair is currently giving Mr. Kim a headache.

U22 Malaysia is much better than U22 Laos. They press better, keep their formation tighter and counterattack more dangerously. Therefore, if they continue to attack monotonously like the match against U22 Laos, U22 Vietnam will not easily defeat U22 Malaysia to take the top spot in Group B.

Coach Kim Sang Sik will have 6 days to adjust the squad for U22 Vietnam before facing U22 Malaysia in the decisive match on December 11. During this time, he will have the opportunity to observe U22 Malaysia playing U22 Laos (December 6) to analyze the opponent's strength.

Review the defense

Conceding a goal in the 33rd minute after a moment of lack of concentration is something that the U22 Vietnam coaching staff cannot take lightly.

Midfielder Khampane was repeatedly "provoked" by striker Thanh Nhan while marking him during a corner kick. But then Thanh Nhan let Khampane run in and score a goal from close range, after the ball hit the crossbar and bounced off a header from a U22 Laos player.

If these mistakes are repeated against a strong opponent like U22 Malaysia, U22 Vietnam will have more difficulty in their journey to win a ticket to the next round as well as conquer the championship.

NGUYEN KHOI

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/u22-viet-nam-thieu-y-tuong-tan-cong-20251205090823911.htm