Ho Chi Minh City FC cannot rely solely on defense to win V-League 2020

Ho Chi Minh City Club has gone through a series of 3 consecutive goaless games including the match against SHB Da Nang in the National Cup. This is extremely alarming for a team with ambition to compete for the championship like Ho Chi Minh City.

According to statistics, more than half of Ho Chi Minh wins in V-League 2019 have the minimum score. They take the lead early, play solidly and put the defensive priority first to protect the outcome.

The two victories of Ho Chi Minh City in the beginning of this season cannot avoid mentioning luck. In Quang Nam yard, the army of coach Chung Hae-seong was leading and had to use the goals of Xuan Nam and Viet Phu to come back. Two of those goals were made in the 88th minute.

In the match Thanh Hoa, Ho Chi Minh City continued to resort to the late goal of Xuan Nam in the 93rd minute to win all 3 points. Their subsititue may be excellent, but fans certainly don't expect the team to win in such a way.

Until the last 3 matches, when Xuan nam is no longer surprising, the ball moves of Cong Phuong and Phi Son were gradually caught, the difficulty of scoring goals was revealed to Ho Chi Minh City. Expert Vu Manh Hai also said that Cong Phuong's presence was the reason for Phi Son's decline.

Mr. Vu Manh Hai said: "In Ho Chi Minh City, there are two players who are most concerned about are Phi Son and Cong Phuong. When there was no Cong Phuong on the field, I saw Phi Son also promoting his ability, But since having Cong Phuong, Phi Son has almost disappeared and declined.Philip Son probably wanted to show it too, but because the ball was more concentrated for Cong Phuong, the role of midfielder was also lessen. I think HCMC should only use one of those two players ”- according to VTC.

Along with the two most expected stars in the squad, both foreign soldiers of the HCMC club are also disappointing. Amido Balde and Lima have never opened fire in the V-League, only Pape Diakite has proven his ability but he plays in the center of defense.

• Cong Phuong and Ho Chi Minh City lost to the First Division team
• Chung Hae-seong: Cong Phuong is just one in 29 players of Ho Chi Minh City FC
• What does Cong Phuong say after the failure of Ho Chi Minh City to Saigon FC?

Coach Chung Hae-seong pursues a modern football philosophy, with his top priority being certainty in the defense. Ho Chi Minh City Club is confident enough that they are one of the best defense teams in the V-League, but it is still an unsolved problem on the offensive line. V-League is a long-distance race, a team that wants to win the championship needs to know how to score in every match. To win the V-League, the HCMC club cannot rely solely on the defense.