Player Profile:
-Nationality: Danish-Vietnamese
-Age: 19
-Date of birth: 07/11/2000
-Current club: Aarhus Fremad
-Career: Aarhus GF, Aarhus Fremad
-Position: Right-back
-Secondary positions: Right-winger, Left-back
-Preferred foot: Right
The desire of Vietnamese descent players to return to the country and playing for the national team is higher than ever. The likes of Filip Nguyen (first-choice goalkeeper of Slovan Liberec) and Jason Pendant (New York Red Bulls’ latest signing) have continuously expressed their interest in challenging for a spot among Park Hang-seo’s 23-man squad in their World Cup qualifying journey. In Denmark, another player who also has a Vietnamese descent that might be eligible to call up to the national team is Quoc Minh Truong (“Vuk”, as he is called in Denmark), Aarhus Fremad’s right-back.
To be honest, I have not known him before yesterday but he caught my attention in my FM2020 save when I accidentally clicked on the Vietnamese national team and noticed an unfamiliar name in the first-team squad. His attributes are decent enough for me to exit the game and dive into his clips on Wyscout and his own upload (below).
Overview
Coincidentally, Aarhus Fremad this season also set up in a 5–2–3 that can change into a 5–4–1 when the team sit back into a mid-block, a similar tactic to Park’s tactic in the last two years with the Vietnam national team. Furthermore, with the lack of decent backup for the starting right-back, Nguyen Trong Hoang (Vu Van Thanh is the only player who can challenge the right-back spot), this will put a heavier responsibility on the veteran right-back, who is still recovering from his injury on the second-last day of May.
His addition to the national team will allow Park to have more options to choose from on the right-hand side and Quoc Minh’s versatility also provides a bit more depth on the opposite flank and in attack. His style of play fits the tactic that Park wants to build for the national team as he is very determined both on- and off-the-ball and can be active in joining the team’s press.
Style of play
When his team control possession, he tends to overlap up the pitch with pace and aims to get to a comfortable position where he could receive the ball to make a cross. With decent pace, good stamina and an energetic attitude, it is possible for Quoc Minh to maintain his work rate and joining both the team’s attack and defence throughout the match.
The same can be said when he dribbles with the ball as he is able to use his pace to outrun the opponent and enters the final third after receiving the ball from one of the three centre-backs. He also has good techniques to use when he dribbles, but he does not overuse it and rather, only uses it when it is suitable. A weakness that he could look to improve in the future is his strength since he quite struggles when involving in a 1v1 situation with defenders who have a decent build.
Statistically, he registers 1.78 dribbles per match and completes 1.11 of them, an impressive rate considering he is used as a right wing-back for the majority of this season. When comparing the same set of stats to his stats last season, it is clear that he refrains from dribbling more this season as his average dribbles attempted per match last season was 4.31 dribbles per match, which, therefore, increases the efficiency of his dribbles.
Crossing is one of his clear strengths as he can deliver crosses into the box for the strikers. With a teammate of his, Christian Nissen, has a good height for a target man (1.96m), he tends to be the target for Quoc Minh’s crosses whenever he receives the ball inside the final third. He has the tendency of sending whipped crosses into the box and aims towards the central of the box or the far post. An average of 4.56 crosses per match indicates his preference to cross whenever he has the ball but the accuracy rate is not too high as he only completes 1.56 of them.
Not only can he use his right foot to send crosses, he is able to use his left foot although that is not his strongest foot. Furthermore, given that he was also used as a left-back last season, it allowed him to familiarise himself with playing on the left-hand side. This playing aspect of his will be a significant advantage that allows him to adapt to a flexible style of play that Park applies for the national team.
On the opposite side of the pitch, Quoc Minh is very active and aggressive in joining the team’s defence. The Danish right-back usually moves forward to support the press along with the three attackers while also attempting to win the ball high up the pitch. In scenarios where that plan is not successful, he would use his pace to track back and mark the overlapping wing-back in the meantime. With strength is not one of his advantages, his style of play relies more on his intelligence and anticipation to regain possession for the team, which works out well for him in the last two seasons.
On average, he only registers 0.67 sliding tackles per match this season but has 2.22 interceptions and 3.67 recoveries per match. While he still has rooms to improve in his defensive ability, those numbers are quite decent for a 19-year-old right-back. But along the positive stats, 8.67 losses per match is a very concerned number.
Knowing that he does not have an advantage in height to involve in aerial duels, he chooses to approach set pieces in a clever way. When defending free-kicks, near post is the position he usually stands with the intention of intercepting crosses that come towards the box. It is possible for him to pick up the ball and create a quick counter-attack with his pacey dribbles while encouraging teammates to join him.
In corners, he lurks outside of the box and offers a short corner option for the taker. He has the option of receiving the ball and send early crosses into the box for teammates inside the penalty area.
In the buildup phase, Quoc Minh has the tendency to make one-two passes and makes progressive touches to bring the ball forward for the team. He would scan the field to identify unoccupied space to run into after laying the ball to one of his teammates nearby. This allows him to link up with his teammates from out wide and also progressing the ball to keep the team’s attack from being interrupted.
Conclusion
Quoc Minh can be the next player to receive the call-up from Park and VFF as they aim to build a team that can support their dream to qualify for the World Cup. He can become a decent choice at right-back, becoming a long-term replacement for Trong Hoang and offer versatility to the squad. Still, there are aspects that he needs to improve and spending time with the Under-23 team will allow him to have time to adapt to Vietnamese football and how Park wants his side to play. Undoubtedly, Quoc Minh is a prospect that needs to be tracked a bit more but he can definitely offer something different to the national team.
