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31 January 2010

A reserves league ?

A reserves league table in England

Reserves league is nothing new in the world of football. A reserves league is an ideal chance for back-up players and youngsters to play competitive football. We can see this type of competition in many countries, from football giants like England or France to our regional neighbor Thailand. A reserves league for U22 players from Thai Premier League clubs has just been launched recently. It really shows professionalism and long-term view of Thai clubs.

What about Vietnam? Many football pundits are worried about lack of competitive football for young Vietnamese footballers as V-League is a very high-demanding league and always full of foreigners. Young players except some outstanding ones stand no chance to play. A reserves league will solve the problem.

Nevertheless, the remaining problem is if Vietnamese clubs are interested. Reserves league was indeed launched in Vietnam about 7 or 8 years ago. It, however, was ended just a year later because too few clubs entered. Some Vietnamese clubs are always looking for short-term benefit. For instance, Hai Phong spent a lot of money to bring Denilson and a lot of V-League stars to their team but they don't even have a young squad. Thanh Hoa is the same, having spent $2 mil to take over The Cong and disbanded Thanh Hoa B with a lot of young players due to 'financial difficulty'. However, some better clubs like Binh Duong, Da Nang and HAGL are worth praises for investing a lot in young players. Binh Duong even has a B team playing in the first division.

It seems Vietnam needs more professional clubs first, let alone a reserves league.

3 comments:

  1. Hi Erick, you are right. Development in youth is the key to a successful league and national team. Hope Vietnam will have a youth league plan coming. - BT

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  2. who is this Nigerian player of Binh Duong Club rumored to be pirated by one team in Thailand because his contract with his team is expiring in August and he is no longer happy with the management?

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  3. i don't know man. Rumors are everywhere in Vietnam.

    ReplyDelete