From Mistakes to Tactics: Lessons on High Pressing in Vietnamese Football During the Major Tournament Season

The major tournament season is approaching, and for me, that is the time to look back at what has happened on Vietnamese football pitches not just through results, but through how teams operate. I have been following Vietnamese football since 2026, when I was a swimming reporter for Thanh Nien Newspaper, and I learned that every match has a story hidden behind the numbers. But that story only begins when we are willing to look at mistakes. Recall the match between Hanoi FC and Thanh Hoa in Round 18 of the V-League in 2026. That was the first match I analyzed tactically on my personal blog. FIFA tracking data showed Hanoi FC had 612 passes, 58% possession, but only 3 shots on target. I looked at their high defensive line and saw that central defender Quoc Long was often 30 meters away from the goalkeeper. That distance created a vast empty zone between the lines, and the opponent only needed one through ball to break the entire structure. My 2,000-word article reached 10,000 views on Facebook in three days, three times the readership of the local print newspaper. But more importantly, I realized something: mistakes are not weaknesses, they are the gateway to tactics. The context of Vietnamese football in the current major tournament season makes this even clearer. When the national team enters tournaments like the AFF Cup or World Cup qualifiers, pressure from fans and media often leads coaches to choose a safe style of play. But safety does not mean no risk. I remember the summer of 2026, when the pandemic halted all tournaments. I stayed home and rewatched all of Liverpool FC's matches in the 2026-20 Premier League season. I focused on the 0-3 loss to Watford, where Liverpool pressed high but were exploited by long balls over the top. I measured the average distance between the defenders and the goalkeeper: 28 meters, far too much compared to 15 meters in winning matches. That taught me that high pressing is not about winning the ball, but about forcing the opponent to lie — compelling them to make decisions in tight spaces and short time. But high pressing has its cost. When a team pushes up, the distance between the defensive line and the goal becomes a target for long balls. In Vietnamese football, this is particularly dangerous because players' stamina often cannot sustain high pressing intensity for 90 minutes. I remember the match between Hanoi FC and Thanh Hoa in 2026, when the team I analyzed conceded a goal after a quick counterattack from the space left by the high defensive line. That was not the fault of one individual, but of the entire system. Numbers only tell, tactics begin from mistakes. I do not believe in intuition. I believe in how many variables that intuition has been loaded with. When I analyze a player's movement, I look at his movement map like a chess game: read the intention, predict the next move. For example, in the match between Vietnam and Thailand at the AFF Cup 2026, I noticed the left-back of the Vietnamese national team, who often drifted inside to create space for teammates. But that also left space behind, and the opponent exploited it with diagonal crosses. A player's movement map is like a chess game: read the intention, predict the next move. In the context of the major tournament season, Vietnamese teams often face opponents with superior physicality and stamina. That means high pressing needs to be adjusted flexibly. I remember a match between Hanoi FC and a Korean team in the AFC Champions League, when Hanoi FC's coach decided to press high but only for the first 20 minutes, then dropped back to a compact defensive block. That tactic not only helped the team maintain balance, but also created surprise for the opponent. A successful pressing move begins with recognizing how the opponent does not want to be broken. But I also see many Vietnamese coaches making mistakes when applying high pressing mechanically. They look at European teams and try to copy them, but forget that their players do not have the same stamina and technique. I remember once, when analyzing a match between a V-League team and a lower-tier team, I saw the V-League team pressing high but without coordination between the lines. The defenders pushed up, but the midfielders did not drop back to cover, creating a dead zone between the defense and midfield. The opponent only needed a simple pass to bring the ball into the danger zone. That is not a problem of high pressing itself, but of tactical understanding. The summer without football is when high pressing reveals its skeleton. When there is no pressure from results, I can look at data accumulated over multiple seasons to understand how teams operate. I remember the summer of 2026, when I analyzed Euro 2026 and paid special attention to Italy's left-back, Leonardo Spinazzola. In the match against Austria in the Round of 16, he had 12 crosses, 4 successful dribbles, and was always the target of long passes. I used software to map out 5 attacking sequences and realized that Spinazzola, starting from position 30, drifted left but actually played like a central midfielder. That article was shared by a young Vietnamese coach in the Facebook group "Tactical Academy", reaching 5,000 engagements. That showed me that Vietnamese readers are willing to accept deep analysis, as long as it is presented clearly. But I also learned an important lesson from my mistake at the 2026 World Cup. I wrote that Belgium pressed successfully 21 times in the quarter-final against Brazil, but the actual data was only 14. A Twitter reader pointed it out that night, and I had to correct it. My mistake in 2026 reminded me that data is a mirror, not a lamp. Since then, I never write numbers from memory. I established a checklist of two independent data sources before publishing, always noting sources at the end of the article. That made my writing style more cautious, but also more reliable. In the current major tournament season, I see many Vietnamese teams trying to apply high pressing as part of their main tactics. That is good, but it needs to be adjusted to fit the stamina and technique of the players. I remember a match between the Vietnamese national team and a strong Asian team, when the coach decided to press high but only in the first half, then dropped back to counter-attacking defense. That tactic not only helped the team maintain balance, but also created opportunities from quick counterattacks. The key is to read the moment of change. Vietnamese football is at an exciting stage. Teams are starting to pay more attention to data analysis and tactics, but there are still many gaps to exploit. The transfer market is a huge map of errors. The wise look for blind spots, not treasures. I remember once, when analyzing a transfer of a young Vietnamese player to a European club, I saw many people focusing only on the transfer fee, but ignoring how that player would adapt to the new environment. Numbers only tell, tactics begin from mistakes. So what will happen in this major tournament season? I cannot predict exactly, but I believe that teams that know how to read mistakes and adjust tactics will have the advantage. High pressing is not a fixed formula, but a tool that needs to be used at the right time and in the right way. A successful pressing move begins with recognizing how the opponent does not want to be broken. And when a team understands that, they will create memorable tactical moments, not only on the pitch, but also in the hearts of fans.