MAS VS VIE: AN ANALYSIS

MAS vs VIE: A Match Analysis 

Malaysia needed to secure all three points in order to keep their hopes of automatic qualification to the 2023 Asian Cup alive. Vietnam only needed a draw to secure their place in the Asian Cup. The Malayan Tigers would be hungry for revenge after the disappointing 4-0 trouncing at the hands of the UAE, while the Golden Star Warriors were feeling good after routing Indonesia by the same score line. 

Second game: Malaysia 1-2 Vietnam

Scorers:

MAS: Guillherme de Paula (72’ PEN) 

VIE : Nguyen Tien Linh (27’), Que Ngoc Hai (82’ PEN)

Formation : 

MAS : 4-1-2-3

VIE : 5-3-2

Here we see the first kick-off with MAS (white lines) starting in possession, and VIE (black lines) lining up as a 5-3-2 with 3 CBs. This could be to deal with Guilherme De Paula’s presence in the penalty box, with an emphasis to always have greater number in the box than their opponents. With having 3 CBs and 3 CMs VIE are also compacting the midfield as to crowd MAS players when they get possession in the middle third. 

For the first VIE goal, it is a case of defensive awareness. As the ball is headed across the 6 yard box from the corner, all 3 players are caught ball watching as the VIE player is allowed to move in between all of them. Although a case can be made for the lack of communication when Farizal Marlias came out for the ball, the three players shown above need to be more defensively aware when dealing with set pieces. 

Here, MAS are on a counterattack, but is slowed down due to indecision by the player in possession. As opposed to playing a quick one touch pass to keep the attack moving (shown by the straight arrow), De Paula opts instead to hold the ball and try to wriggle past the two defenders in front of him (shown by the curved arrow). This slows down the play enough to go from a 3v4 situation to a 6v8 in and around the penalty box. This is the same problem as in the UAE game and suggests that it is a tactical issue due to the regular occurrence of the situation i.e. they are instructed to hold the ball until further reinforcements come. 

This is the defensive discipline of VIE. As Syamer Kutty picks the ball up from the defenders, the VIE forwards and midfielders create a ‘box’ in the middle to trap a player in the middle. Syamer needs the other CMs, the LCB and LB to stretch this box in order to penetrate the middle. After this picture, Syamer passes to Syafiq Ahmad (bottom). However, the ball should have been played to either Dion Cools or Corbin Ong (both out of frame) to further stretch this box.

Possession without penetration is meaningless. At this point, MAS is holding onto a lion share of possession, with VIE patiently waiting to pounce on a mistake and break on a counter. Syamer has the ability here to play the pass quickly to Matt Davies (white arrow), forcing the nearest defender to close him down (red arrow) and stretch the ‘box’ in front of him to allow space for Syafiq (circled) to receive the ball. However, in one of many instances here Syamer elects instead to play to the Aidil Zafuan, the CB, playing the safe pass (black arrow) and ultimately slowing down the tempo of the game. This plays to VIE’s advantage as their defensive shape is resolute and can easily shift to accommodate the slow passing. 

Here is a side-by-side comparison of our wingers during the game. As they have been set from the first half, both sides are playing as inverted wingers. In both instances the wingers are trapped by the opposition midfield and defence as they try to cut in on their more favoured leg. As the second half came around, Coach Tan Cheng Hoe switches them around on the other side, but the changes should have been made sooner in order to expose the WBs marauding offensively. This would have helped to stretch the defence as one of the 3 CBs would have been forced to cover, offering De Paula more room to manoeuvre within the box. 

This was the game plan for MAS executed well. Here, both Syafiq and Brendan Gan run into the opposition penalty box to contest for a cross. As De Paula, grabs the attention of the two CBs and the RWB is occupied with Sumareh, this gives space and time for Syafiq to attack the pass from Matt Davies. This needed to be done more often to give the VIE defence a headache.

Here Dion Cools disrupts the shape of VIE well. As he brings the ball out of defence and into midfield, the VIE defenders are not sure who should pick him up and who should leave him. This decision helps his teammates as they suddenly have more space to receive the ball. Although Sumareh has a player tight with him, Corbin has space to turn and bring the ball forward while Syafiq can also the receive possession in a dangerous pocket. It takes courage to do it in a big game, but that’s what we needed more of! 

Akhiyar Rashid, the replacement for Safawi plays a beautiful one touch pass on the half turn (black arrow) to Brendan who follows in kind to release Corbin on the wing (white arrow). It’s a rare sight for MAS to do so in the opponent’s half and it worked wonders. Often, MAS’ attacks looked laboured as they struggled to break down VIE’s shape. This was the same for the UAE game as well, as MAS looked lethargic when in possession. However, if they could maintain this they would be in more dangerous positions and would more often find themselves in scoring positions. 

De Paula here is doing exactly what MAS need him to do. During any crosses or set pieces, He is expected to attract the attention of more than one defender due to the height difference, allowing the rest of his team to ghost into the box for opportunities. Although De Paula did better in this game when coming short to receive the ball on several occasions when compared to the UAE game, there are still lingering questions about his ability as a target man with his back to goal against a defender.

The moment that broke Malaysian hearts. Still a little blurry here, but the video shows it was a good call. Whether you believe it was a penalty or not, this was a last-ditch tackle by a player who gave it his all and was caught at a vulnerable moment. Shortly after making conceding the penalty he went down with cramp and was substituted. Although he gave it his all, one mistake in international football is all it takes to define a performance and game. 

Overall: MAS had a much better performance against VIE than their previous game facing UAE. The energy provided by Syafiq and Brendan in the midfield helped to hurry their opponents more and they both got into good positions in the box. VIE for their part, looked to let MAS hold possession and counter in numbers, often having 3-4 players in the box. For all the possession that MAS held, they did not seem to trouble the VIE defence as often as they’d like due to slow transitions, a lack of ball progression when playing out from the back, as well as a lack of off the ball movement from players. Unfortunately, in these first two games, the wingers have looked toothless and unable to provide the service the De Paula needs to thrive in the box. However, when coming on, Nazmi Faiz, Akhiyar and Arif Aiman all looked like bright sparks and hopefully will start against THA on the final matchday (no spoilers please!). Although they did not secure automatic qualification to the 2023 Asian Cup, they still have to at least draw against THA to secure a favourable draw for the next round of qualification. Did you agree or disagree to anything I’ve written? Please let me know your thoughts! 

Special Shoutout: 

Whether you were supporting either team, Park Hang Seo was definitely a highlight of this game. His animated expressions made for good viewing (who knows, maybe a meme or two?). Here he is, unshakeably standing his ground in front of a Kosovan-Malaysian man-mountain. What a man!

This Analysis Article Is Written by Zuhdi Rabin