VietNamNet Bridge – This is the view of many coaches, who said that football clubs need at least five years to train their young players. Until then, they will still have to buy players at high prices.

Duy Lam, a young player of the SHB Da Nang Club.

 

In preparation for the future, many clubs have been building their training systems for several years. Khanh Hoa, Song Lam Nghe An and Dong Thap are the pioneers in this field. They currently have training courses for players from 13 to 21 years old. These systems allow the clubs to replace the players who are “enticed” by other clubs and leave.

Some clubs are determined to not buy star footballers from other clubs, but use young players whom they had trained themselves. At V-League 2010, Hoang Anh Gia Lai’s major team was supplemented with four players from its young teams, named Xuan Hieu, Duy Thanh, Van Thuan and Ngoc Nguyen. The club will select another eight players from its U-21 team for its main team for the next V-League. Hoang Anh Gia Lai does not take part in the current  busytransfer seasons.

SHB Da Nang, after losing some key players due to injuries, used four young faces – Hung Son, Minh Tuan, Duy Lam and Thanh Trung, at the qualifier round of the AFC Cup 2010. For his main team, coach Le Huynh Duc has chosen four players , eachless than 20 years old, from the young team.

According to SHB Da Nang manager Bui Xuan Hoa, the club has training classes for players from 11 to 21 years old, totaling 130 members. These players are selected carefully. The club signed employment contracts with them and covers all the expenditures for training. Many of them are summoned to the national U-16, U-19 and Olympic teams.

Hanoi T&T inaugurated its young football training centre in April 2010, with five classes for players at the age of 13, 17, 19 and 21.

Two other football clubs in Hanoi - Hoa Phat Hanoi and Hanoi ACB - also have two to three training classes each for young players.

Though training young football players has become a key job for many football clubs, coaches still say that the chaos on Vietnam’s football transfer market will persist for at least five years. “Training needs time and young players also need time to gain experience and be able to play at the V-League of the First Division tournament,” said coach Trieu Quang Ha.

PV