maij
12-18-2007, 07:23 AM
With the FIFA World Cup 2010 preliminary matches only two months away, IFF has not yet announced any candidates for the vacant Term Melli coach that was last occupied by Amir Ghalenoei during last summer’s Asian Cup in the Far East. Regardless to whomever is finally appointed, difficulties are in abundance and for a foreign coach those difficulties are multiplied.
Despite the relative easiness of the oppositions in Group 5 of the second round consisting of Kuwait, UAE and Syria, all too familiar opponents, the coach nevertheless, need to form a team that can challenge for the more difficult tasks ahead and with time rapidly clicking away, it is essential that the coach builds a clear vision and plans well for the eventual qualification to South Africa.
Perhaps the most difficult task will be player’s selection. Lack of in-depth knowledge of the players and the qualities of players available to him, will force the coach to rely on other sources of information and data. He will certainly be given a long list of potential players, current members of the team, young prospects and some old favorites and he has the mighty task of deciding the final list based on other peoples knowledge and information. Certainly not the ideal situation for a coach, all the same, it remains the only logical option until such time, the coach himself decides on what he requires in order to form a formidable team that can represent Iran at the highest level of football.
The coach needs to understand the culture, mentality and the work ethics of the players, all in a short span of time, before forming a clear idea of the qualities at his disposal. With the longish mid-season Iranian league break, the task could even be more difficult for assessment of the list of players and recommendations.
Language barrier should not be undermined as breakdown in communication will have an eventual affect.
Perhaps the coach needs to look back at recent history and view the last matches of Team Melli in official competitions and friendlies, which will certainly give him an idea where the current crop of players stand and whether he wishes them to be part of his plan or look elsewhere. One thing that Iran does not lack is talented players, but on the other side harnessing and developing those talents has been quite a difficult process.
From previous Team Melli matches, it is not difficult to assume that some star players did not perform while some have consistently lacked the drive and aspirations. Crucial decisions have to be made at some stage to enforce the mentality of a team rather than a team depending on stars. It is interesting to note Marcello Lippi’s advice to Capello , who was recently appointed as England team coach.
Lippi , World Cup winner with Italy said :
‘That will be the most difficult challenge. He (Capello) will need to construct a team, the national team is not the selection of the best players of the country, but in order to make a team you may also need to have to drop an important player that perhaps is not in the same wavelength as the others.'
Interestingly enough, what Lippi quotes, is exactly the situation with Team Melli of Iran, where star players have failed to perform and hence the failures in both the World Cup 2006 and subsequently Asian Cup 2007. It remains to be seen if the next coach of Team Melli is a believer in the outstanding Marcello Lippi’s ideas or not. In any case, that sort of difficult decisions will always exist in any match for the coach.
Last but not least, the Achilles heal of all coaches in Iran , the media’s consistent criticism of coaches. Not only he has to deal with the team, he must deal with the type of journalism that is wild and over zealous and uses all sort of tactics to bring down a coach in case of unsatisfactory results. A sensible coach needs to handle the media wisely without succumbing to pressure or public demands. A shrewd public relation skill will aid the coach tremendously in handling the media in Iran.
On the positive side, availability of a crop of players who play in Europe and other foreign leagues will ease some of the burdens of the future coach in tactical terms.
These are someof the challenges ahead for the future Team Melli coach. Not impossible by any means, but time factor has made it difficult and demanding. A coach that understand his priorities and demands the best out of his players, instilling discipline and work ethics will go a long way in ensuring the eventual qualification and further success. While a coach who is driven by others, a situation which is quite probable in Iran, will face a mountain to climb and results could reflect negatively on the team.
Despite the relative easiness of the oppositions in Group 5 of the second round consisting of Kuwait, UAE and Syria, all too familiar opponents, the coach nevertheless, need to form a team that can challenge for the more difficult tasks ahead and with time rapidly clicking away, it is essential that the coach builds a clear vision and plans well for the eventual qualification to South Africa.
Perhaps the most difficult task will be player’s selection. Lack of in-depth knowledge of the players and the qualities of players available to him, will force the coach to rely on other sources of information and data. He will certainly be given a long list of potential players, current members of the team, young prospects and some old favorites and he has the mighty task of deciding the final list based on other peoples knowledge and information. Certainly not the ideal situation for a coach, all the same, it remains the only logical option until such time, the coach himself decides on what he requires in order to form a formidable team that can represent Iran at the highest level of football.
The coach needs to understand the culture, mentality and the work ethics of the players, all in a short span of time, before forming a clear idea of the qualities at his disposal. With the longish mid-season Iranian league break, the task could even be more difficult for assessment of the list of players and recommendations.
Language barrier should not be undermined as breakdown in communication will have an eventual affect.
Perhaps the coach needs to look back at recent history and view the last matches of Team Melli in official competitions and friendlies, which will certainly give him an idea where the current crop of players stand and whether he wishes them to be part of his plan or look elsewhere. One thing that Iran does not lack is talented players, but on the other side harnessing and developing those talents has been quite a difficult process.
From previous Team Melli matches, it is not difficult to assume that some star players did not perform while some have consistently lacked the drive and aspirations. Crucial decisions have to be made at some stage to enforce the mentality of a team rather than a team depending on stars. It is interesting to note Marcello Lippi’s advice to Capello , who was recently appointed as England team coach.
Lippi , World Cup winner with Italy said :
‘That will be the most difficult challenge. He (Capello) will need to construct a team, the national team is not the selection of the best players of the country, but in order to make a team you may also need to have to drop an important player that perhaps is not in the same wavelength as the others.'
Interestingly enough, what Lippi quotes, is exactly the situation with Team Melli of Iran, where star players have failed to perform and hence the failures in both the World Cup 2006 and subsequently Asian Cup 2007. It remains to be seen if the next coach of Team Melli is a believer in the outstanding Marcello Lippi’s ideas or not. In any case, that sort of difficult decisions will always exist in any match for the coach.
Last but not least, the Achilles heal of all coaches in Iran , the media’s consistent criticism of coaches. Not only he has to deal with the team, he must deal with the type of journalism that is wild and over zealous and uses all sort of tactics to bring down a coach in case of unsatisfactory results. A sensible coach needs to handle the media wisely without succumbing to pressure or public demands. A shrewd public relation skill will aid the coach tremendously in handling the media in Iran.
On the positive side, availability of a crop of players who play in Europe and other foreign leagues will ease some of the burdens of the future coach in tactical terms.
These are someof the challenges ahead for the future Team Melli coach. Not impossible by any means, but time factor has made it difficult and demanding. A coach that understand his priorities and demands the best out of his players, instilling discipline and work ethics will go a long way in ensuring the eventual qualification and further success. While a coach who is driven by others, a situation which is quite probable in Iran, will face a mountain to climb and results could reflect negatively on the team.