Talented young footballers of Hoang Anh Gia Lai (HAGL) FC, who graduated from an Arsenal-supported academy in Vietnam, are battling relegation from the top-flight league of the country.

After 19 out of a total of 26 rounds in the top-tier 2015 V-League 1, HAGL have pocketed only 13 points from three wins and four draws.

That means they have suffered 12 losses so far.

With the league to wrap up in seven rounds, HAGL are currently at risk of being relegrated to the lower league next season, together with Dong Nai, who have accumulated a mere 14 points and stand at the 13^th place in the table.

Despite so many losses, the HAGL players have received enthusiastic support from fans for their dynamic football.

These footballers were trained for seven years at the Hoang Anh Gia Lai – Arsenal JMG Academy which Doan Nguyen Duc, one of Vietnam’s richest men, spent US$4 million founding in 2007.

Their fans have asked themselves a question that why the side with such talented and well-trained players have delivered such a disappointing performance.

The HAGL players have displayed beautiful football but it is not smooth and superior enough to create diversification in their performance.

French coach Guillaume Graechen leads his players to consistently play fast football with one touch, short passes, strong team coordination, and pressing attacks initiated from midfield.

That ‘monotone’ has failed to create surprise, however.

Many rival teams have known how to neutralize their style of play by deploying strong players in midfield to stage tough competition there and thus cut the link between the HAGL players in the defensive and offensive lines.

HAGL have also failed to find qualified foreign players, who contribute a lot to the success of any V-League 1 club.

The Vietnamese players of HAGL are the youngest in this year’s league with the average age of 21.7 years.

They are ‘fresh graduates’ and therefore lack experience but they have not received necessary assistance from their foreign teammates.

Their popularity, which results from their graduation from the Arsenal academy, is to blame for their defeats as well.

Such players as Cong Phuong, Van Toan, Thanh Tung, Xuan Truong, Tuan Anh, and Van Son have become the idols of many young fans since they displayed fantastic football in international tournaments in the past.

So much expectation from supporters has created a lot of pressure on the young and inexperienced players, thus rendering them unable to showcase their full capacity.

Doan Nguyen Duc, who is also chairman of HAGL, once expected that players who graduate from his academy will be capable of playing in European leagues.

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