Will Filip Nguyen cover the ‘Achilles heel’ at the Hanoi Police Club?

The most expensive ‘Galaxy’ in Vietnam

According to the player valuation site TransfermarktHanoi Police Club (CAHN) has the third highest squad value in the V-League 2023 with a figure of 4.07 million euros, less than Hanoi club (4.08 million euros) and Nam Dinh (4.09 million euros) euro.

On June 29, the Hanoi Police team officially announced the successful recruitment of goalkeeper Filip Nguyen. This team officially rose to become the club with the highest value in the V-League 2023. Because the overseas Vietnamese guardian is worth 700,000 euros.

With the presence of Filip Nguyen and some other new factors, in the second phase of V-League 2023, CAHN Club will play with a much more complete squad. In attack, Jhon Cley is catching up very well, possessing high performance with 9 goals, only one goal behind the leader of the bomb list, Rafaelson Fernandes.

The other foreign soldier, Gustavo Henrique, also entered his name on the electronic board 3 times. Not stopping, they also continued to add a foreign striker, Raphael Success, who scored in the victory over Ha Tinh club in the 12th round of the V-League 2023.

The satellite players also play better day by day. Vietnam U.23 player Le Van Do, who often shines when given the opportunity, has 3 goals and 1 assist. Vu Van Thanh seemed to “revive” when he was playing freely in the attack, becoming the trigger with 3 goals and 3 assists in the last 5 matches.

With Quang Hai’s presence, the public goods of CAHN Club will become much more virtual. Because, the trio of Van Do – Van Thanh – Quang Hai all tend to operate widely, playing in both the border and the middle. If playing together on the field, they can swap positions continuously to surprise.

In addition, the remaining players such as Nguyen Xuan Nam, Tran Van Trung … are also relatively quality. In the midfield, Nguyen Trong Long and Hoang Van Toan are showing stability.

While Trong Long has long won the trust of coach Flavio Cruz, Van Toan has made progress when he gradually started and scored. The clearest evidence for that improvement is that he was promoted by coach Philippe Troussier from the U.23 team to the Vietnam team during the FIFA Days in June.

CAHN’s defense will become more solid with Filip Nguyen, an experienced European goalkeeper who has received the best goalkeeper award in the Czech league. On the two sides, the wings of the Vietnamese team, Doan Van Hau and Ho Tan Tai, are still stable.

Achilles’ heel

With an almost perfect force, CAHN club is considered the number one candidate for the V-League 2023 championship. They are at the top of the rankings with 24 points, possessing the strongest attack in the tournament (29 goals). ). The chasing teams like Thanh Hoa and Hanoi are far behind with 20 and 18 goals, respectively.

However, the Hanoi Police Club is strong in most positions but not all. Like Achilles in Greek mythology, this team also has weaknesses. That’s the midfield position.

Since the beginning of the season, two players who have been used regularly in the midfield position are Bui Tien Dung (11 matches) and Huynh Tan Sinh (7 matches). If compared with the central defenders of the championship (or leading) teams of the V-League in the recent seasons, the two players of the Hanoi Police Club are clearly inferior.

In the 2020 season, Viettel club with Que Ngoc Hai and Bui Tien Dung received an average of 0.8 goals conceded/match. In the 2021 season, HAGL sublimated thanks to the trio of central defenders Kim Dong-su, Nguyen Huu Tuan and Damir Memovic receiving an average of 0.75 goals conceded/match. The Hanoi club that owns Do Duy Manh, Nguyen Thanh Chung, Bui Hoang Viet Anh received 0.87 goals per game.

Meanwhile, the Hanoi Police Club is receiving an average of 1.17 goals per game. Of course, it is not possible to blame the two central defenders entirely. But also admit the fact that they often make mistakes.

In the loss to Hanoi club, Bui Tien Dung “forgotten” Nguyen Van Quyet, letting the striker run across the face and head to open the match. When the Hanoi Police team met Viettel Club, the former Hai Phong player made the same mistake for Bui Tien Dung to score from an air-fight.

When it came to the HAGL confrontation, Huynh Tan Sinh and Bui Tien Dung were unreasonable, creating conditions for Paullo Oliveira to comfortably finish in an unaccompanied position.

The mistakes of this pair of central defenders are more evident when meeting big, strong and agile strikers. In the match against Ho Chi Minh City Club, the team at the bottom of the table, they let Hoang Vu Samson and Victor Mansaray coordinate comfortably, scoring up to 3 goals.

The remaining center-back of CAHN club, foreign soldier Almada Monteiro Elton, also failed to meet the requirements and was liquidated. However, they saved this foreign army position for a player on the attack, Success, not recruiting another central defender.

This makes Hanoi Police Club forced to be more careful for the rest of the season because in phase 2 will only meet opponents in the top 8. This has potential risks, but also opportunities for Filip Nguyen shines, proving that he is worthy of the host team that has made efforts to bring him back to Vietnam.