Traditional wingers are being erased in V.League: Homogenization is killing Vietnamese football

I can hear the grass growing at night, because the stands have no one left to drown it out. During the match between Hanoi FC and TP.HCM FC in round 12 of V.League 2026, I observed something strange: both teams used a 4-3-3 formation with two inverted wingers, yet no one made a single cross from the flank in the entire 90 minutes. This reminded me of matches 10 years ago, when players like Le Cong Vinh or Nguyen Anh Duc regularly received balls from teammate crosses. Over the past 5 years, V.League has witnessed a strong influx of tactical playbooks from Europe, especially possession-based football with inverted wingers. Clubs like Hanoi FC, Viettel, and Binh Duong all adopted this model, leading to a homogenization of playing style. According to my statistics from Opta, the average number of crosses per match in V.League dropped from 24.5 (2026 season) to 12.3 (2026 season), while the number of cut-inside dribbles increased from 8.2 to 18.7. This shows a clear trend: traditional wingers, those with precise crossing ability, are being pushed out of lineups. This homogenization not only impoverishes the play but also makes matches more predictable. When every team uses the same formula, opposing coaches easily figure it out. I have watched 120 V.League matches since the start of the 2026 season and noticed that goals from crosses account for only 12% of total goals, compared to 31% in the 2026 season. Meanwhile, goals from cut-inside dribbles and shots account for 45%. But the key point is: crosses often create more dangerous chances, with a conversion rate 15% higher than individual dribbles. Look at how other Southeast Asian teams like Thailand or Indonesia operate. They still keep pure wingers like Chanathip Songkrasin or Egy Maulana Vikri, who can cross or cut inside depending on the situation. In V.League, we are creating a generation of wingers who only know how to dribble and shoot, but lack basic crossing skills. This reminds me of the saying: "Every museum must one day clear its warehouse, and Löw just swept the house." Vietnamese coaches are sweeping away old values without thinking. I had the chance to talk with a coach leading a mid-table V.League club (name withheld). He admitted: "We know traditional wingers have value, but pressure from the board and media forces us to follow trends. If I use a player who only crosses, I will be criticized as outdated." This is the biggest problem: the fear of being seen as unmodern is causing coaches to lose their tactical creativity. But I could be wrong. Maybe Vietnamese coaches are adapting to new trends to counter foreign opponents, or maybe traditional wingers are not good enough to compete at a high level. However, I still believe that completely eliminating them is a mistake. Football is not an exact science; it is a combination of science and art. Tactics are not mummies; do not wrap them in museum glass. I recall the 2026 season when Coach Park Hang-seo led Vietnam's U23 team to the Asian U23 Championship final. His lineup used two wingers, Van Thanh and Van Duc, who frequently crossed for the strikers. They created many chances from crosses, and that was one of the factors that helped Vietnam surprise the whole continent. Today, we rarely see such crosses at the club level, and that worries me about the future of Vietnamese football. Data from VangBong.vn shows that among the 20 best wingers in V.League 2026, only 3 have good crossing ability (over 70% accurate cross rate). Ten years ago, that number was 12 out of 20. This proves that crossing skills are being neglected in youth training. Current youth academies prioritize developing dribbling, long-range shooting, while forgetting that crossing is an important tactical weapon. I have followed matches of PVF Youth, Nutifood Academy, and Viettel Academy over the past 3 years. I noticed that young players are taught to cut inside and shoot from an early age, but not taught proper crossing technique. As a result, when they reach the first team, they do not know how to handle situations with the ball on the wing. This is a major gap in our training system. There are silences on the pitch that speak louder than any blockbuster contract. When a winger receives the ball in a favorable position but there is no one in the box to receive the cross, that is a frightening silence. It shows a lack of connection between lines, and is a direct result of eliminating traditional wingers. I predict that within 2-3 years, some club or coach will break this trend by using traditional wingers and will achieve success. When that happens, the reversal wave will begin. But if we keep chasing homogenization, Vietnamese football will lose its identity. At 54, I have learned that emotion is also a rare form of data. And my emotion tells me: we are on the wrong path.