The Tactical Bubble in V-League: When High Pressing Becomes a Euphemism for the Underdog

I still vividly remember that feeling sitting in the stands of Hang Day Stadium on a Saturday afternoon in October 2026. Cong An Ha Noi had just conceded their third goal against Thanh Hoa after a textbook counter-attack. On the pitch, CAHN players were still diligently pressing high, but every time the ball was lost, Nguyen Filip's goal trembled with alarm. I turned to my colleague sitting next to me and said: "That tactical bubble has burst, and beneath the glossy paint lies the real skeleton of V-League."

He looked at me as if I had just insulted a national religion. But three months later, CAHN's head coach himself admitted in a closed press conference that the team had to abandon their high-pressing style because they lacked the fitness to maintain it for 90 minutes. That was the moment I knew I was right — and also the moment I decided to write this article.

The Truth About Pressing in V-League

Let's start with a number: according to statistics from VangBong.vn, in the 2026-2026 season, only 4 out of 14 V-League teams maintained a pressing intensity of over 15 times per match after the 70th minute. Those four teams — CAHN, Ha Noi FC, Viettel, and Thanh Hoa — all ranked among the highest payroll teams in the league. But the interesting thing is that none of them finished in the top 3 for pressing efficiency (the ratio of pressing leading to ball recovery in the final third).

Based on my experience following V-League matches for 8 years, I can confidently state: high pressing in Vietnam is not a tactical philosophy — it's a facade. Domestic coaches use it as a signal to the media and fans that they are "modern," that they "dare to play." But when you peel away that paint, what lies beneath is a loose defensive structure, a fitness system incapable of sustaining it, and a tactical naivety that is hard to believe.

Look at Thanh Hoa in the 2026 season. Under Velizar Popov, they played fiery pressing football in the first 20 minutes of each half, but afterward — like a Swiss watch — they dropped deep into their own half and surrendered the game to the opponent. The result? They finished 4th, but their goals conceded in the last 30 minutes were the highest among the top 6. Popov knew it, the players knew it, but the media didn't — they kept praising Thanh Hoa's "entertaining style."

The tactical bubble in V-League is not just about one team. It's an endemic disease of an entire football nation trying to chase values it doesn't have the conditions to possess.

The Root of the Problem: Fitness and Youth Development

I once had the chance to talk with a Brazilian assistant coach who had worked in V-League. He told me: "Vietnamese players have good individual technique, but their fitness only allows them to press for 60 minutes. After that, they run on willpower, not muscle." That sentence has haunted me ever since, because it exposes a truth no one wants to admit: young Vietnamese players who develop early are overused; their immature bodies are pushed into adult-level competition.

Our youth development system prioritizes technique and ball feel over foundational fitness. An 18-year-old can dribble past three players within 5 meters, but cannot run 12km in a match. When coaches demand high pressing, they are asking for something the training system hasn't prepared the players for. The result is ligament injuries, cramps at the 70th minute, and goals conceded from exhaustion.

Look at the U23 squad that won the 2026 Southeast Asian championship. In that tournament, our young players pressed very well — but only for the first three matches. By the semi-final and final, with a congested schedule, pressing intensity dropped by 40%. The team still won thanks to their fighting spirit and technique, but if they had faced a physically superior opponent, the story would have been different.

Iran doesn't play ugly football; they play the kind of football the rich don't want to understand. This statement I made about Iran at the 2026 World Cup applies perfectly to V-League as well. Small clubs in Vietnam — like Hong Linh Ha Tinh, SHB Da Nang, or Binh Dinh — they don't play negative football. They play pragmatic football suited to their resources. But the media and fans insist on calling it "ugly" and demand a "beautiful" game that even they don't fully understand the implications of.

When High Pressing Becomes a Trap

One of the matches I've analyzed most thoroughly in my career was Ha Noi FC's 1-3 loss to Hai Phong in Round 12 of the 2026-2026 V-League season. Ha Noi had 68% possession, executed 24 pressing actions in the final third, but lost 1-3. Why? Because their pressing lacked organization. Players pressed on impulse, not by system. When one player moved up, his partner didn't cover. The result was gaping spaces in midfield, and Hai Phong — with their lightning counter-attacks — punished them mercilessly.

I call this phenomenon "fake pressing" — it looks like pressing, but it's actually just disorganized charging. It creates the illusion of a proactive team, but in reality makes the team more vulnerable. In modern football, pressing isn't just about running a lot — it's about running to the right place, at the right time, and most importantly: it's a collective action, not an individual one.

Empty stadiums in 2026 were the most honest test of what's called the "tactical identity" of V-League teams. When there were no fans to create pressure, no electrifying atmosphere to mask deficiencies, many teams collapsed in the truest sense. Teams once praised as "beautiful players" were suddenly revealed as poorly organized groups. Teams once criticized as "ugly" showed incredible resilience and tactical discipline.

The Contrarian View: Who Actually Benefits from the Pressing Bubble?

This is the part I know will upset many people. But I have to say it: the high-pressing bubble in V-League is maintained by those who benefit from it — foreign coaches and player agents.

Think about it. A foreign coach arrives in Vietnam, brings his high-pressing philosophy, and is hailed by the media as a "revolutionary." His contract is renewed, his salary increased, and if the team fails, he always has an excuse: "the players don't understand the philosophy yet," "fitness isn't adequate," "we need more time." Meanwhile, local coaches — who understand the physical condition and football culture of Vietnam — are labeled "conservative" for daring to say that high pressing isn't always suitable.

I witnessed a local coach being sacked after six consecutive losses, even though his team's payroll was only one-fifth of their opponents'. The official reason: "playing style didn't meet expectations." But whose expectations? The board's? The fans'? Or those who promised the fans a "modern" style without understanding that to play that style, you need money, facilities, and a synchronized training system?

Every tactic is a bubble until a madman blows it into reality. But in V-League, those madmen rarely have enough time to do what they want. They get sacked after half a season, and another coach arrives, bringing another "bubble." This vicious cycle repeats itself, and Vietnamese football stays stuck in place.

Exceptions and Lessons

Of course, not every high-pressing attempt in V-League has failed. Viettel under coach Thach Bao Khanh is a rare example of organized pressing. They don't press frantically; they press selectively — only when the ball is in dangerous areas, and always with cover behind. The result? Viettel had the highest ball recovery rate in the final third and the fewest goals conceded in the top 5.

The lesson here is: pressing is not an on-off switch. It's a spectrum, and a coach needs to know when to press hard, when to press lightly, and when to drop back and defend. That flexibility — not rigidity — is the mark of a good coach.

Where could I be wrong? Maybe I'm being too harsh on foreign coaches. Maybe high pressing really is the long-term development path for Vietnamese football, and I'm just not patient enough. Maybe in 5 years, when the youth training system improves, we'll see a generation of players fit enough to press for 90 minutes. But for now, I maintain my position: high pressing in V-League is a bubble, and every bubble eventually bursts.

Takeaway: What Happens Next?

I predict that in the next 2-3 seasons, we will witness a "post-pressing" wave in V-League. Coaches will start to realize that high pressing is not a universal solution, and they will return to more pragmatic styles — counter-attacking, slow possession, and playing by space rather than time. Teams that adapt quickly will survive; those that stubbornly cling to old philosophies will die.

The question is: will we have the courage to admit we were wrong? Or will we continue to maintain the bubble, simply because it looks prettier than the truth? Look at Brasileirão — where I lived and worked for 5 years — and you'll see that the most successful teams aren't the prettiest players, but the smartest ones. They know when to press and when to defend. They know that football isn't a beauty contest — it's a survival battle.

And in that battle, the winner isn't the one who runs the most, but the one who runs to the right places.

Andrew Taylor is a football tactical analyst with 16 years of experience, currently based in São Paulo. He has served as a media consultant for FIFA and is the author of the podcast "Futebol Sem Máscara." The views expressed in this article are his own.