Hai Long and the Tactical Puzzle: Imperfect Present, Promising Future

The 88th minute of the match against Thailand, Do Hai Long stood before the penalty spot. The ball rolled for 0.3 seconds before missing the post by 0.4 meters to the outside. In the stands of Thammasat Stadium, the sighs of 40,000 Vietnamese fans merged with the Bangkok night air like an echo from decades of football aspirations. But if we judge Coach Kim Hien and the style he is building solely by that heartbreaking moment, we are making a serious tactical mistake — and that is what today's article aims to discuss. "Following Vietnamese football for over four decades, I have witnessed numerous occasions when coaches were evaluated based on a single match, even a single moment. In 2026, when I first sat in the My Dinh Stadium stands writing analysis about the national team, I understood that Vietnamese football always places an unbearable burden on players' shoulders in a way few other football nations do. But football does not operate on that logic — and the recent match against Thailand is the clearest evidence. "Kim Hien is not the first person trying to build a Vietnam national team that plays from the back. But he is the first given enough time and authority to implement it systematically. In 6 official matches under his tenure, the Vietnam national team has increased average pass completion in the opponent's half by 18%. This number sounds dry, but for those who have followed Vietnamese football since the days of coaches Alfred Riedl or Nguyen Huu Thang, this change is significant. "The problem lies in this: the tactical architecture Kim Hien is building requires a squad capable of playing under high pressure throughout 90 minutes. This is precisely what Hai Long, however talented, cannot fully deliver yet. He is an excellent attacking midfielder in counter-attack situations — where space opens up and ball trajectories become predictable. But when Thailand's coach, who clearly had thoroughly studied the opponent, deliberately ceded ball control and pushed Vietnam into a position where they had to dominate the match, the real football reality was exposed. "Statistics from the match show: Hai Long had 67% pass completion when Vietnam played in the opponent's half, but this dropped to 41% in the final 30 minutes — when fitness declined and opponents intensified pressing. This is not a lack of effort. This is the physical and technical limitation that a 22-year-old player, however well-trained, must face. "But this is when I want to discuss a different perspective — one that many Vietnamese commentators often overlook due to social media pressure. The match against Thailand was not only a test of player ability; it was also a test of football philosophy. Kim Hien is trying to build a national team that not only knows how to win, but knows how to win in their own way. This sounds romantic, but it has precedents in the region: Japan failed under Javier Aguirre, but succeeded under Hajime Moriyasu by persisting with possession-based football. "A tactical blind spot I noticed in post-match comments: people focused on Hai Long as if he were the center of the universe. But the real problem lies deeper in the midfield behind him — where the absence of a quality defensive midfielder has left Vietnam without an anchor point to build their play. Hai Long was forced to drop deep to receive the ball, thereby losing his position in the opponent's box — this is the issue that needs addressing. "Returning to Hai Long's penalty miss. I reviewed that situation multiple times, and what I noticed was that he was not afraid at all. His face before the run-up showed exceptional focus. The missed penalty was the result of accumulated psychological pressure over 87 minutes prior — not a lack of technique. This is what sports psychologists call 'cognitive load' — excessive mental burden. And this is also what a good coach needs to address, not only through psychology, but by building a tactical system that reduces burden on players. "The question is: does Kim Hien have enough time to do this? The 2026 World Cup qualifiers are approaching, and with Vietnam currently third in the group, result pressure is real. But I believe that if we change coaches again because of one loss or one draw, we will be trapped in the cycle that Vietnamese football has been familiar with for 30 years. Look at South Korea under Guus Hiddink, or Japan under Moriyasu — they were both criticized, but given time to perfect their systems. "For Hai Long, the future remains bright. He is only 22, playing in J-League 2 — an environment that Vietnamese football desperately needs young players to access. If given the opportunity to develop within a stable system, no one can predict the heights he can reach. But this requires patience from all of us — fans, commentators, and most importantly, decision-makers. "Returning to the story I started with. After the match in Bangkok, I read a comment on social media: 'Hai Long doesn't deserve to be captain.' That remark made me reflect on how we treat our young players. They are not perfect machines; they are human beings, with moments of weakness and moments of brilliance. And perhaps, that is what makes football beautiful.