Coach Shin Tae Yong's Loop

After a disappointing 3-3 draw with Laos, coach Shin Tae Yong called on the media to help convince Jong Utrecht to allow Ivar Jenner to join the national team. The Korean coach's plea revealed many things.

Coach Shin Tae Yong feels unsteady when using a "100% domestic" squad. There are many gaps on the field as well as in his heart that are not easy to fill. In the past year, the Korean coach has become too familiar with operating a machine with too many "high-quality" details from Europe. And at the AFF Cup 2024, he has to face the harsh reality when taking over a machine with many loose details.

The 3-3 draw with Laos brought coach Shin back to reality. Before the tournament, he was confident that he could use the U22 Indonesia team to win the 2024 AFF Cup. But now, he misses the naturalized players more than ever. If Ivar Jenner was on the field, Indonesia would not have been so easily counterattacked and scored by Laos. Remember, in Southeast Asia, Laos' level is only higher than Timor Leste and Brunei.

Let’s go back to the time when coach Shin Tae Yong first took over Indonesia. He criticized the “native” players for their serious lack of physical strength, when they could only run for 60 minutes. After a long journey in the process of building Indonesian football, the Korean coach returned to the starting point. Physical strength and the ability to organize on the field are still too big problems for Indonesian football.

To solve this problem, Coach Shin took a “shortcut” by recruiting a series of naturalized players of European origin. That’s why Indonesia can “run like crazy” when facing Saudi Arabia, Australia or Bahrain. They even put China under pressure.

But it turns out that without the naturalized force, the revival light of Indonesian football suddenly went out. Many opinions say that this is just the U22 generation of Indonesia, but remember, many of the faces in it have been "nurtured" over the years and even have a starting position in the national team.

Just a month ago, Marselino Ferdinan was still sitting proudly on the sidelines celebrating. In front of him were dozens of cameras pointing at him. However, in the match against Laos, the Indonesian football prodigy disappointed many when he was sent off after a rough tackle.

Perhaps, Indonesia’s biggest mark in this tournament was Pratama Arhan’s throw-ins. If it weren’t for this defender’s amazing throw-in, Garuda (the Indonesian team’s nickname) would have been defeated by Laos. But fans have the right to ask: Is that all Indonesia’s “unnaturalized” playbook consists of?

Hitting Indonesia's Achilles' heel

As mentioned above, coach Shin Tae Yong has yet to solve Indonesia's two biggest problems, which are physical strength and organization on the field. Two-thirds of Laos' goals came from direct counter-attacks straight into Indonesia's center.

“Dissecting” this match, CNN Indonesia looked straight at the home team’s weaknesses: “Indonesia’s defense was too bad in the match against Laos. Not only because they let their opponents score 3 goals, but also because the counter-attacking ability of the system built by coach Shin Tae Yong was too poor.

Indonesia's transition (from attack to defense and vice versa) was extremely bad. That made it easy for Laos to counterattack and score. They could not fill the gaps left by their teammates."

The above shows that Indonesia's organization really has problems. The positions are not flexible and quite passive. This leads to them not having a plan to prepare when changing states. Basically, this is also the weakness of Indonesia in the past as well as many other teams in Southeast Asia.

It is not easy for coach Shin Tae Yong to solve this problem because the entire Indonesian team only has one day of practice before the match with the Vietnamese team at 8:00 p.m. on December 15. Therefore, coach Kim Sang Sik's army can attack this "vital point".

In the match against Laos, the Vietnamese team turned the game around thanks to the appearance of Quang Hai. After this midfielder entered the field, the “Golden Dragons” boldly attacked the opponent’s center. The two goals of Tien Linh and Van Toan both came from Quang Hai’s passes in the center.

To win against Indonesia, the Vietnamese team needs to transition better than their opponents. Therefore, Quang Hai can be the “key” factor. This player’s passes will open up counterattacks for the team.

Coach Kim Sang Sik used a long pass and cross style of play in the first half against Laos, but it seems that this method is not effective. Because we do not have the strength to respond to this style of play. The team's high ball situations are easily neutralized by the opponent.

Indonesia’s other weakness is their tired legs. Since the start of the tournament, they have had to play every three days. In addition, the team has had to travel nearly 16,000km between competition venues.

Before the match against Laos, coach Shin Tae Yong admitted that the Indonesian team was too tired after the long journey. He repeated that message after the match: “The schedule at the AFF Cup is too tight. The teams only have 3 days to prepare for the match. This greatly affects the players' physical strength.

Normally, they have at least four days off between matches. Not to mention we lose a whole day of travel. In fact, after the match against Myanmar, it took us 16 hours to travel back to Indonesia because we had to transit in Malaysia. Therefore, I have to calculate so that the players do not get injured when going through such a tight schedule."

Witnessing the image of the Indonesian team at Noi Bai airport (Hanoi) last night (December 13), fans could see how tired they were. Not having a long enough break like the Vietnamese team is a big disadvantage for coach Shin Tae Yong and his team.

Of course, in a particular match, variation is the most important thing. Depending on the situation, coach Kim Sang Sik will decide how the Vietnamese team will play. Indonesia's "weakness" can give coach Kim hints about the moves in the upcoming match.

Vietnam team is not allowed to be subjective.

It is a fact that the Laos team is not a good enough test for the Vietnam team at this time. Therefore, we should not be too complacent when defeating the opponent ranked 186th in the world. The journey at the AFF Cup has just begun for the army of coach Kim Sang Sik.

There are still some flaws in the victory of the Vietnamese team against Laos. We have not really coordinated well, and we have not been able to increase the speed of the match when the opponent is weak. In particular, mistakes like Dinh Trieu's serve to Duy Manh need to be eliminated.

Coach Kim Sang Sik will most likely replace many positions compared to the match against Laos. Among them, the “wings” Truong Tien Anh and Khuat Van Khang can be replaced by Van Vi, Xuan Manh or Van Thanh. Some other players such as Bui Hoang Viet Anh, Nguyen Filip, Quang Hai and Tuan Hai can be in the starting lineup.

In the match against Indonesia, fans can have a clearer picture of the strongest lineup of the Vietnamese team at the moment. However, the most important thing is how we will play against a stronger opponent than Laos. Improving the speed of the whole team is not easy for coach Kim Sang Sik.

The “Golden Star Warriors” cannot be complacent about Indonesia’s situation. Because the team still has too many internal problems. Moreover, Indonesia is in a corner and will show great determination to fight with the hope of winning at least one point.

Consecutive victories against the Vietnamese team in 2024 can give more confidence to coach Shin Tae Yong and his team. They no longer enter the field with the same fear as before when coach Park Hang Seo was still in charge of the Vietnamese team.

The match at Viet Tri Stadium (Phu Tho) at 8:00 p.m. on December 15 will be an opportunity for the Vietnamese team to prove their strength against "non-naturalized" Indonesia and this decisive match promises to be extremely exciting.

Dantri.com.vn

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-thao/vang-dan-sao-nhap-tich-indonesia-hien-nguyen-hinh-khi-gap-tuyen-viet-nam-20241214013435991.htm