The responsibility of foreign strikers
The title of Top Scorer of V.League 2024-2025 belongs to 2 foreign strikers, Lucao (Hai Phong) and Alan Grafite (Hanoi Police).
In the top 10 strikers of this year's season, 7 foreign players occupy positions from high to low. Only Xuan Son, Tien Linh and Van Quyet are the 3 domestic players on the above list.
This shows the influence of foreign strikers in the V.League. On the contrary, the majority of Vietnamese teams still maintain the formula that determines success or failure throughout the season, which is to find a "Western" striker with good scoring efficiency.
Nam Dinh Club had a short period of crisis when key striker Nguyen Xuan Son was seriously injured in the 2024 ASEAN Cup.
Coach Vu Hong Viet had to experiment with Mpande and Hendrio for the center forward position but did not meet expectations. It was not until Brenner appeared in the mid-season transfer window that Nam Dinh overcame the attack problem.
After only 9 appearances in the V.League, the Brazilian striker has scored 5 goals and 6 assists. He is one of the important factors that brought Nam Dinh the second consecutive V.League championship.
Another club, Hanoi Police, also changed their skin thanks to high-quality foreign strikers. After an unimpressive 2023-2024 season, the Police team immediately recruited the couple Alan and Leo Artur from Binh Dinh. The influence of this duo was so great that Binh Dinh struggled and fell to the First Division.
Meanwhile, thanks to the impressive goalscoring performance of Alan and Leo Artur, Hanoi Police successfully conquered the National Cup championship, won the Southeast Asian runner-up position and 3rd place in V.League.
Hai Phong, The Cong Viettel and Thanh Hoa also achieved the expected goals in this year's season thanks to unskilled foreign strikers.
Lucao scored 14 goals to help the Hai Phong team stand in the top half of the rankings, even though coach Chu Dinh Nghiem does not have enough depth.
Ribamar also scored 12 goals for Thanh Hoa, helping the team solve difficulties in the attack when Rimario was injured at the beginning of the season.
Meanwhile, The Cong Viettel benefits from striker Pedro Henrique and midfielder Wesley Nata. Thanks to that, they ended the season in the top 4 overall.
Struggling because of the poor "West"
Not every team in the V.League has good foreign players. Some clubs are miserable because the quality of the "Western" players is not much better than the level of domestic players.
Da Nang - the team that stayed in the league after the play-off match is a typical example. Cassio, Thiago Henrique, Emerson, Werick, Yuri Mamute and Marlon Rangel are the contracts of this team throughout the season.
Their common point is that they lack highlights, even becoming a burden for the team. In many matches, Da Nang accepted not to use foreign players and played more explosively.
A similar story occurred in Binh Dinh. After parting ways with Alan and Leo Artur, coach Bui Doan Quang Huy could not find quality names to replace them.
Ze Paulo, Rodrigo Rivas, Luis Salazar, Gabriel Morbeck, Alisson Farias are failed deals. If the team from the land of Vo still had Alan or Leo Artur, it probably would not have fallen into a tragic situation.
Hoang Anh Gia Lai, Quang Nam, Ho Chi Minh City or Song Lam Nghe An also do not have a quality foreign player squad.
The 2024-2025 season has ended. The contrast in the form and performance of foreign players is also clearly seen. Many teams have started the transfer market early to seek better quality contracts for the new tournament.
