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The playing time of Vietnamese players and the scoring efficiency of domestic players in V-League 2023 are falling into a worrying situation.
Of the six strikers called up to the Vietnam national team in the most recent campaign, their average scoring efficiency was 0.31 goals per match at club level in the 2022 season. This season, their efficiency has dropped by more than half, to only 0.14 goals per match.
Pham Tuan Hai (middle) scored to help Hanoi FC beat Nam Dinh 1-0 in round 11 of V-League on the evening of June 4, 2023.
Vietnam just had a successful series of friendly matches in June 2023, with two 1-0 wins against Hong Kong and Syria, to return to the Top 15 of Asia. The team's most important goal this year is the first matches of the second qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup in Asia, starting in November. Before returning the players to their clubs, coach Philippe Troussier said: "Hopefully the players will be able to play regularly in the V-League".
Coach Troussier’s wish is nothing new, because foreign coaches in the Vietnam national team often call on V-League teams to give opportunities to domestic players. However, this season, the playing time and efficiency of domestic players in the V-League has decreased significantly.
The six Vietnamese strikers called up for the recent match against Syria were Nguyen Van Tung, Nguyen Van Toan, Nguyen Cong Phuong, Pham Tuan Hai, Nham Manh Dung and Dinh Thanh Binh. They played an average of 70% of possible matches at club level last season, but that figure has dropped to 57% this season. Thanh Binh and Tuan Hai's playing time has increased, but Cong Phuong and Van Toan's playing time has decreased.
The performance of the strikers has also dropped significantly. Last season, they scored a total of 31 goals in 101 matches, a rate of 0.31 goals per match. This season, they have only scored 7 goals in 51 matches. Except for Tuan Hai, the remaining strikers have not scored more than one goal. Nguyen Tien Linh's scoring efficiency last season was 0.45 goals per match, this season it has dropped more than five times to 0.08 goals per match, causing him to lose his place in the national team.
Not only the national players, the scoring efficiency of all domestic players has decreased significantly in V-League 2023. Since the 2019 season, the league has increased the maximum number of foreign players from two to three, in addition to naturalized players. The scoring rate of domestic players since then has often been above 50%. In the 2020 season, this rate dropped to 46.5%, but in the first phase of that season alone, the parameter was still maintained at 49.1%.
However, through the first phase of this season's V-League, domestic players have only scored 92 out of 224 goals in the tournament, accounting for 41.1%. This statistic counts players of Vietnamese origin such as Adriano Schmidt or Mac Hong Quan, and ignores naturalized players such as Hoang Vu Samson or Tran Trung Hieu Kizito.
This statistic shows that V-League teams are increasingly dependent on foreign players in scoring goals. Some teams even have 100% of their goals scored by foreign players, such as Ho Chi Minh City. The scoring rate of U23 players has also decreased, from 7.1% last season to 5.8% this season.
The effectiveness of domestic players in the V-League is worrying, compared to other leagues in the region. The Indonesian championship has a foreign player limit like the V-League, but last season their domestic players scored 45.2%. The domestic players scored only 36.5% in the Thai League, but they are allowed to use five foreign players, one Asian foreign player and unlimited Southeast Asian players.
If the above situation in V-League is only temporary, Coach Troussier may not have any more headaches. But if it continues, the quality and performance of the players may be affected, as Vietnam aims to participate in the 2026 World Cup.
According to VnExpress
