Thanh Hoa unveils new squad: The 30-man equation and a new president's promise

This afternoon, the corridor of Thanh Hoa Stadium had no sound of studs on the ground as usual. Instead, a long line of players stood before the cameras, nearly double the squad I had documented last season. People call this a departure ceremony — but to me, it was a declaration of ambition after a year of surviving on scraps. In the 2026/26 season, Coach Mai Xuan Hop's Thanh Hoa had only 18 registered players. I remember those afternoons at the training ground, where he had to organize practice matches himself because there weren't enough players to split into two teams. An 11th-place finish was a miracle of improvisation, a quiet achievement no league table could fully reflect. But miracles cannot be repeated without fundamental change. That change came from the president's chair. Businessman Le Xuan Tuong, the man behind T-Group and Thang Long Instruments Joint Stock Company, officially took over operations. And the first thing he did was open the purse strings: the registered squad this season jumped to 30 players, including 26 domestic, 4 foreign, and 1 overseas Vietnamese player. The number 30 is not just a number. It is the first signal that new money has truly flowed into the system. Looking at the foreign player structure, I see a tactical philosophy emerging. Two midfielders (Abdurakhmanov, Lovric Di Mateo) and two strikers (Monteiro Martins, Guindo) — no foreign center-back. This suggests the coaching staff is betting on creativity and goalscoring from the front line, rather than reinforcing the defense. It's a calculated gamble, because last season Thanh Hoa survived on solidity and counter-attacking. Now they want to be more proactive, and that demands the domestic center-backs to be steadier than ever. The most intriguing detail lies in the overseas Vietnamese slot. They used it for Damoth Thongkhamsavath, a Laos international. This isn't a marquee name, but it's a smart regulatory move: utilizing a special quota to fill a positional need without touching the foreign player limit. In a context of tight finances, this is how a mid-tier club must calculate — wasting no resource. But I can't help questioning the sustainability. The truth is that going from 18 to 30 players means a significant increase in the wage bill. The four foreigners come from Uzbekistan, Croatia, Brazil, and West Africa — markets with more affordable price tags than Brazil or Europe. That shows shrewdness, but it's also a gamble on quality. Can Guindo and Abdurakhmanov adapt to the pace and rigors of the V-League? I've seen too many cheap foreigners fail after just a few rounds. The story the outside media often tells about Thanh Hoa is the "survival fairytale." But I see something else. When a team that once lived on frugality suddenly gets a transfusion of blood, pressure mounts on Coach Mai Xuan Hop's shoulders. He kept his job through the power transition, which shows trust. But that trust has an expiration date. The promise of "highest results" in both the V-League and the National Cup is a double-edged sword. The opening match against SHB Da Nang at home on September 6 will be the first test. A win would ignite the flame of optimism. But if the team plays disjointedly, because over a dozen new players haven't yet gelled, criticism will start immediately. The dressing room never lies — we just don't hear it in time. And for a team in restructuring, those whispers may come sooner than expected. Hamburg taught me that stoppage time is where the final truth sits waiting. For Thanh Hoa, this season is a nine-month match. The question isn't whether they are richer, but whether this new wealth is used correctly, at the right time, and with the right people. If T-Group is here for just one season of football branding, everything could collapse faster than when they had 18 players. But if this is a long-term project, Thanh Hoa might not just stop at mid-table. I will closely monitor how Coach Mai Xuan Hop rotates his squad in the first 5 rounds. That will be the most accurate mirror of the team's true ambition.