Surpassing many strong opponents to become the first leg champion, Song Lam Nghe An (SLNA) now has many opportunities to hold the championships of V-League Tournament this year after lost in 10 years. Although giving his trainees many compliments on their achievements, young coach Nguyen Huu Thang is still quite cautious when talking about their race to the first place.
Sai Gon Giai Phong: What can you conclude about the quality of this year’s season from the twelve matches?
Nguyen Huu Thang: We can look back at all the matches and see that the quality of this year’s teams is considerably improved. All teams are now well-prepared for their matches. So, the gap between the teams with financial support as Becamex Binh Duong, Hoang Anh Gia Lai, Ha Noi T&T and the others is not so big. The average score frequency in each round is kept stable. That’s why 50% of all teams have confidence in the possibility to win. With all the achievements, it is easy to understand why the number of spectators to the stadium gradually increases.
SLNA has just won the championships in the first leg. Do you and all the footballers feel surprised at the achievement?
I am very happy to know about that. But it is not fair to say that our team’s winning is just by chance because we have been well-prepared for this season. Our achievement is corresponding to our competing spirits and individual efforts. SLNA achieved an initial success because we knew how to take advantage of the “spiritual weapon” and find out the most suitable strategy for us.
With your high score and confident manner, do you think SLNA will be able to fulfill your ambition of accomplishing V.League championships that fans have expected for 10 years?
Now SLNA is standing at a potential position, but 4 scores more than the second team are not enough to confirm anything. We still have 14 matches ahead, and there are still lots of chances for the other teams. In my opinion, this is not the right time to think about competing for achievements.
To maintain deep concentration on the matches, we should contemporarily forget our present position and play the match with more than 100% of our own power. After recovery time, the power of the big teams such as Ha Noi T&T, SHB Da Nang, Vissai Ninh Binh will be considerably improved. So, the competition for the first place will hopefully bring us many surprises.
You and the footballers have just gone through a busy match schedules, do you think this will have bad effects on the match in Pleiku this afternoon?
Competing and moving all the time are difficult for every big football team and SLNA is not an exception, especially when playing in visiting field with many risks. Yet, I do believe that our footballers will know how to perform and win.
Now the list of candidates for coach position of national team only includes three names: Stoichkov, Gende and Goezt. In your opinion, who is the best choice?
In the view of reputation, no one can compare with the former attacker Stoichkov. However, in reality, there have been many samples showing that good footballers are not always successful in their new positions. Vietnamese footballers are not only weak in their build but also in physical condition. We should choose a coach who has diversified ideas in his strategy to help us win.
