Luís Viegas Football

The Thai FA Grow Together project is delivering an Analysis seminar next Sunday.

Saturday.

It was a pleasure to participate in the workshop organized by Longomatch and Mahidol University. Glad to see the ASEAN and Thai people's growing interest in football analysis

Short King’s Cup friendly tournament summary: 1 draw, 1 win, + 5.30 points in the FIFA ranking, 3 more players debuted in the main NT. These are the most visible conclusions, but of course there are others, most of it related to the improvement of our game model. We may have bad results or performances, but our idea and our pattern of play are clear.

But let’s go back to the heavily discussed game against Malaysia.

If the reaction of some fans was somehow normal and happens anywhere in the world - I am from a country where football is basically a way of life -, the reaction of some Thai football stakeholders was not only surprising but totally unreasonable.

Facts first - because stats don’t lie:

They had more chances. No
They had better chances. No
They had more possession. No
They had more shots. No
They had a better pressing. No
They ran more (high speed and sprints). No
They won more duels. Also no

Stats don’t lie. We took the game as part of our development, but of course to win. We knew well the opponent, had a clear match plan and actually started as expected, but overall the 1st half performance wasn’t good - let’s not ignore the emotional impact of losing Jay before 15’. The 2nd half should have been, however, more than enough to get the result we all wanted - even if the playing time was only less than 22'.

Then, the game against Trinidad and Tobago, a team with many players in USA and Europe, higher ranked than us. Staying true to our ideas, we dominated once again all the parameters and got a deserved win.

Finally, it’s an honour to work for Thai NT and Thai football is lucky to have a generation of talented players who are great professionals and always give their 100% for the country, with leaders (Jay, Aum, Mui…) who lead by example. They love to play for Thailand.

And, since this month marks our 1st year in charge, it’s a proper time for a quick balance:

17 games
12 wins
3 draws
2 losses

31 goals scored
9 goals conceded

1 AFF Cup
1 Asian Cup qualification
14 players debuted (among which are Kritsada, Weerathep, Chaowat, Channarong, Chatmongkol, Worachit or Teerasak)

We will keep reflecting, analysing our mistakes and doing our best to improve the NT. Hopefully everyone will do the same.

And for the ones telling us to don’t use social media and to save the time to work, I can just tell them that maybe there will be those who work as hard and dedicate themselves as we do; but there will never be anyone who does it more than us. In my country we say that “who doesn’t feel is not son of good people”; but, in this case, I prefer a different quote: “don’t play dead with a vulture, that’s exactly what they want.”

O FC Porto impôs-se estrategicamente ao Sporting, num clássico que se pode dizer que começou a ser ganho no jogo da Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira, contra o Tondela, em Aveiro. O homem-chave foi o mesmo: Mateus Uribe. A capacidade que o médio internacional colombiano tem para perceber os timings de pressão foi particularmente trabalhada desde a parte final da pré-época e permitiu ao FC Porto controlar a largura dos leões, precisamente como tinha sucedido no encontro com o Tondela - também numa estrutura em 3-4-3 -, enquanto garantiu igualdade ou superioridade numérica na linha defensiva.
Apresentando uma primeira linha com Pepê - contra o Tondela esse papel tinha sido de Danny Namaso - a juntar-se a Taremi e Evanilson e orientando os leões para um corredor lateral, o FC Porto aplicou então uma pressão extremamente agressiva, com o lateral - João Mário ou Zaidu - a saltarem em Porro ou Matheus Reis - e o central - Pepe ou Marcano - a perseguirem o respectivo adversário directo, com Bruno Costa e Otávio a bascularem. Nesse momento, Uribe baixava para a linha defensiva. Este comportamento permitiu ao FC Porto recuperar várias bolas, algumas em zonas altas do campo, visando então de imediato a baliza de Adán.

#คำไหนคำนั้น #มาดามแป้ง

My top 3 of the 18 goals we scored in the Suzuki Cup, starting with my favourite one. Hard work has paid off. And seeing the joy of Thai people is just priceless ❤️🇹🇭

AFF Suzuki Cup champions. Just happy to have had my small contribution and to have been part of this achievement ❤️🇹🇭

Representing the country is an honour. We will do our best to make Thai people proud 🇹🇭❤️

This is a fascinating story, revealed by SC Braga's coach, Carlos Carvalhal. Due to the injury of Galeno, a main player normally used as a wingback, Carvalhal asked Hugo Vieira, the academy director, for an option to join the pre-season. Hugo suggested Roger, a 15-year-old.

“Roger started training and I liked him from the first touch! I liked it so much that he played as a starter in the first friendly. That day, at night, as always, I watched the game at home! One of my concerns was Roger's defensive and offensive positioning to correct him! Minutes pass and not a single note! I finished the first 45 minutes and the sheet was blank... I was intrigued! How is it possible for this kid to be so identified with our game?!!

So today I called him:

- Roger, where did you learn to position yourself like that?
- Mister, was watching videos!
- Videos of who?
- Braga! And as the coach put me in Galeno's position, I paid attention to how he positioned himself! I saw how he moves and tried to do the same!

Fantastic! He didn't go to see Barcelona or Liverpool! He studied the team where he wants to play! The fundamental ideas and then went to look in the video for the positioning of the player who plays in his position to study it! I had never experienced a situation like this, but I believe this should be shared as a positive example, for those who one day want to play in their clubs' first team. I have no idea if Roger is going to be a real deal! But that he is on the right path, he is without a doubt.”

O Tondela obteve a melhor classificação da sua história e ainda projectou o avançado espanhol Mario González, quarto goleador da prova. Ricardo Alves, analista do clube beirão, é o convidado do terceiro episódio do podcast "Em jogo".

Em jogo, com Ricardo Alves by Em jogo, por Luís Viegas • A podcast on Anchor Ricardo Alves é analista do Tondela, equipa que tem vindo a consolidar-se na primeira divisão portuguesa e que na época 2020/21 registou mesmo a melhor classificação da sua história, alicerçada numa impressionante campanha como local (26 pontos nessa condição). Entre outros tópicos, Ricard...

Um privilégio ter sido mais uma vez prelector de um curso do Futebol Interativo. É realmente assinalável o trabalho que esta plataforma desenvolve para formar profissionais cada vez mais capacitados.