Choosing the right coach for Vietnamese football

As reported, the Vietnam Football Federation and Coach Philippe Troussier have reached an agreement to terminate the contract from March 26, 2024 after Vietnam lost 0-3 to Indonesia at My Dinh Stadium (Hanoi). This means that Mr. Philippe Troussier is no longer the Head Coach of the National Team and the National U23 Team.

Vice President of the Vietnam Football Federation Tran Anh Tu said that immediately after terminating the contract with Mr. Philippe Troussier, the Standing Committee of the Executive Committee of the Vietnam Football Federation directed the professional departments to develop personnel plans for the Coaching Board for the National Team and the National U23 Team; at the same time, it will soon consult the National Coaching Council to advise the Standing Committee of the Executive Committee to report to the Executive Committee for decision. In the immediate future, priority will be given to the personnel work of the Coaching Board for the National U23 Team to help the team have the best preparation before entering the competition in the 2024 AFC U23 Championship Finals, taking place in Qatar from April 15 to May 3.

“The Vietnam Football Federation is working on a number of options for the position of Head Coach of the National U23 Team participating in the 2024 AFC U23 Championship Finals and will announce it after reaching agreements with candidates who meet the requirements. The same is true for the National Team. In the next two months, if a suitable candidate is found, it can be done during the FIFA days in June. If not, there will also be an interim coach option, similar to 2017 when the position of Head Coach of the National Team was temporarily assigned to Coach Mai Duc Chung. The position of Head Coach of the National Team will be considered and evaluated based on criteria of prestige, professional qualifications and, importantly, must be suitable for Vietnamese football,” said Mr. Tran Anh Tu.

The Vice President of the Vietnam Football Federation added that to improve the quality of the team, the role of Head Coach is not enough. The long-term strategy is still to develop professional tournaments and promote youth training by improving the quality of the youth tournament system, supporting clubs to improve the quality of training young players. This is a mandatory task because it is the root of Vietnamese football. In addition, in the coming time, the team's strength also needs to change to become better and better and ensure a source of successors for the development stages.