Hải Phòng have extended their contract with coach Chu Đình Nghiêm until the end of the 2027 season. — Photo vov.vn

Football

HÀ NỘI — In preparation for the V.League 1 2024/25, some clubs have made changes in their coaching line ups. Of the 14 teams in the league, 12 teams use domestic coaches.

After the successes of last season, coaches Bùi Đoàn Quang Huy of Bình Định and Phùng Thanh Phương of HCM City continue to be trusted with new contracts. The reigning champions Nam Định, Sông Lam Nghệ An, Quảng Nam and Thể Công Viettel also continue to put their belief in their domestic coaches. Having helped the club stay in the league after the play-off match last season, coach Nguyễn Thành Công continues to be trusted to lead Hà Tĩnh.

Hải Phòng have also extended their contract with coach Chu Đình Nghiêm until the end of the 2027 season.

Nghiêm led Hải Phòng from V.League 1 2022 and helped the team have their own identity and gradually gain the trust of fans. Immediately after arriving, Nghiêm helped Hải Phòng become the runners-up of V.League 1 2022 and also received the title of best coach of the season. In the 2023 season, Hải Phòng suffered a great loss when many key players left and they fell to fifth place. This year's season will test the talent of coach Nghiêm when the team do not have quality contracts.

The problem of domestic coaches outnumbering foreign coaches in the national premiere league next season certainly does not come from expertise, but perhaps mainly from financial issues. The monthly salary for foreign coaches will be at least double that of domestic coaches.

However, when Vietnamese clubs hire foreign coaches, they also show great ambitions. After the end of last season, Hà Nội Club were full of regret when they could not convince coach Daiki Iwamasa from Japan to continue working with them. Both the leaders and the players of this team expressed their desire to continue working with coach Daiki, but due to personal reasons, the Japanese coach decided to end the contract.

Among the two foreign coaches in the V.League 1 2024/25, coach Velizar Popov is the name that has created his own brand with a club and with a less abundant operating budget such as Thanh Hoá enjoyed.

Popov has done more than the team expected, including winning the Super Cup championship last season and three titles in two years.

Football teams want a lot from foreign coaches, such as transparency, professionalism, a modern football mindset and of course success in their fortunes. However, not every team is as successful as Thanh Hóa with coach Popov and some have to pay a high price in terms of expertise and money when they sign contracts with foreign coaches.

The V.League 1 playground in recent years has become a 'grinder' of coaches and many foreigners have left in bitter circumstances. The most typical examples are Hà Nội FC and Hà Nội Police in the last two seasons, which have had to continuously change coaches because the foreign hires did not live up to the expectations of the clubs' leadership.

This season, coach Mano Polking is expected to lead Hà Nội Police to be the most successful team in the upcoming league. After the 2023/24 season ended, 14 names left the team, including star Hồ Tấn Tài. However, they recruited star Trần Đình Trọng and overseas Vietnamese defender Jason Pendant Quang Vinh from France.

Vinh has played for France's U16 and U18 teams and made 33 appearances for Quevilly Royen in Ligue 2 in the 2023/24 season. During his career, Vinh was valued at US$981,000 when playing for New York Red Bulls (Major League Soccer) in the 2019/20 season and $654,000 when playing for Quevilly Rouen (French second division, 2022-2024). — VNS