Just A Few Things: Vietnam Vs. Malaysia

Credit- Football Association of Malaysia (FAM)

Same Tactics, Different Quality

You know how good Vietnam is that they didn’t even need to start their main man and captain, Nguyen Van Quyet. It was clear that they are going unusually conservative in their style against us. Head coach Park Hang-Seo did the same thing as what V. Sundramoorthy did when Laos visited Bukit Jalil. Vietnam set up with a back five, only with a 5-3-2 system. This is where Vietnam’s quality is shown.

They were defensively disciplined throughout the whole match and they were very threatening on the counter where their famous attacking prowess comes to light. They were more technically sharp than our last two opponents. All they needed was that final killer pass. Granted, their first goal came from lucky circumstances when a fluffed shot fell to Nguyen Cong Phuong who finishes with the outside of his foot.

It got better for the hosts when Phan Van Duc provided a defence-splitting through pass to set-up Nguyen Ahn Duc for Vietnam’s second goal on the hour mark. Those were the only two meaningful chances Vietnam has and they took both of them superbly. Everything about them tonight was neat and lethal compared to what Laos tried to do a few days to go to us as they showed they are the ones to beat in this year’s competition.

Missing: A No. 10

Malaysia continued using their passing game to get around the pitch and going forward. But with Vietnam closing the streets on the flanks, it was very tough for Mohamdou Sumareh & Akhyar Rashid to deliver the balls into the box. If the wings can’t provide, the obvious next approach is through the centre. After what happened in Hanoi, head coach Tan Cheng Hoe would regret not bringing a central playmaker.

If you’re going to play that passing game, you need a ‘Creator’ type of midfielder to break through that tough defense or at least a ‘Carrier’ that can do both defensive and offensive duties. Dropping Nor Azam Azih has bite back Cheng Hoe when the Pahang midfielder insisted his injury was only a small one and fans were reminiscing how Safiq Rahim has been influential all those years ago. As a result, a debate has started on who will fill in those big boots of Safiq to provide that creativity.

Akram Mahinan & Syamer Kutty Abba are fine doing their defensive duties, but this team is crying out for a playmaker to utilize the talent that we have. And a lack of that player could well be our downfall in this tournament.

Full-Backs Frustration

It really didn’t help that our full-backs had such a bad off day. Syazwan Andik & Syahmi Safari didn’t look too assuring. The plot twist was when their bad moments were when Malaysia was on the attack. It was worrisome when neither couldn’t add more attacking threat on the flanks. Perhaps bafflingly, they somehow had passes gone beyond them when not one Vietnam player was on them. Syazwan looked like he was at fault for the first goal but he had no idea the shot was going to be skewed to Cong Phuong’s direction. At nights like this, this was when Matt Davies, Rizal Ghazali or La’vere Corbin-Ong would’ve been far more effective.

Now Or Never

Still, it was encouraging that Malaysia did their best to get through despite their limitations tonight. But with this defeat, the stakes against Myanmar has elevated to a higher level. We know Vietnam would be a tough task, but it was for reasons that that were beyond our imaginations and it left a bitter taste in our mouth. Myanmar has a better goal difference than us, but have yet to face Vietnam.

With a five-team group, one team will be given a bye week on one matchday. And it’s us next to be on break while Myanmar & Vietnam go head-to-head at Yangon. The narrative here will be on what happened when we did battle two years ago that saw our chances to qualify for the semi-finals brutally ended by an 89th minute strike by David Htan. This time the match is on our home turf, and we need the fans to fill in the stadium more than ever.