Disjointed, uncoordinated playing style
Right after the 2-1 victory over Hanoi club in the opening match, Ho Chi Minh City Police Club soon ended their excitement with a heavy 0-3 loss to The Cong Viettel. This was a defeat in which the team played disjointedly, lacking connection between the lines.
The reigning Vietnam Golden Ball winner Nguyen Tien Linh and foreign player Raphael Schorr Utzig of the Ho Chi Minh City Police Club were almost missing the entire match.
The team's midfield could not deploy the ball when midfielder Wesley Nata and his teammates in the midfield of The Cong Viettel completely overwhelmed him.
Even coach Le Huynh Duc had to replace midfielder Endrick soon when the first half had only passed 2/3 of the playing time.
However, the personnel changes to restore coach Le Huynh Duc's position in the game could not save the situation at all. The Cong Viettel proactively played close together, even pushing the formation up to the away team's field to put pressure.
This completely cut off the playing style of the Ho Chi Minh City Police Club, making it impossible to deploy the ball in a seamless manner, resulting in the team's attack "taking the ball" and not having many opportunities to put pressure on the opponent's goal.
"The strikers need to be supported to have the ball and the opportunity to attack. However, there were too many goals in our home field, coach Le Huynh Duc admitted.
hoi about the class of foreign players?
Ho Chi Minh City Police Club is one of the most heavily transferred teams this season. In addition to quality domestic players, the team also brought in a series of foreign players with high transfer value. These include Matheus Felipe, Raphael Schorr Utzig, Endrick Santos, Mbo Noel.
However, the performance of the foreign players of the Ho Chi Minh City Police Club is still not worthy of expectations and value. Center back Matheus Felipe was the one who made the mistake that led to the first goal against The Cong Viettel. The defender of Ho Chi Minh City Police Club let the ball touch his hand in the penalty area to help The Cong Viettel open the score on the 11m mark.
Not only that, Matheus Felipe is expected to be the leader in the defense, but at Hang Day Stadium, he played uncertainly, continuously making mistakes in position and not showing the value to the investment level of the team.
Up front, rookie Raphael Schorr Utzig has not yet met expectations of carrying the attack with Tien Linh. The striker born in 1996 has almost disappeared from the attack of Ho Chi Minh City Police Club.
The reason pointed out by coach Le Huynh Duc is due to having little time to practice with the team and not ensuring physical strength to compete. For foreign player Endrick Santos, the midfielder's physical strength and ability to get along with his teammates are also problems that make this striker soon replaceable.
Meanwhile, despite being a substitute, the remaining foreign player of the Ho Chi Minh City Police Club, Mbo Noel, could not show much in the overall play of the whole team.
Ho Chi Minh City Police Club revealed weaknesses in cohesion and the ability to control the game. Especially their new players have not yet met their expectations and values.
