Uzbekistan - IRAN (WCQ June 2012)

[Doctor DOOM]

FIRST HALF -

Thanks to one of the most horrendous arrangements I’ve ever seen since … for-freaking-ever, we surrendered the half to the half-arsed uzbeks and gave them so many chances … ONLY BECOZ WE SHOWED SO INCAPABLE OF DOING THE MOST RUDIMENTARY THINGS IN FOOTBALL!!!

A team with NO STRIKER? No wonder the uzbek defenders freely came forward and added to their numbers in midfield and applied pressure on our midfield which from the beginning was handicapped (jabbari? Really? In the form he is in these days? My neighbors’ grandmother would have had more touches on the ball than this chap) Jabbari, who was supposed to take care of the right side was invisible and that meant more pressure piled on Mahini, who was faltering as he was facing TWO uzbek attackers at all times and he just came short almost in majority of occasions!
Why CQ persisted with jabbari for more than the first 20 minutes is a freaking WONDER. Neither Ebrahimi was helping anyone on the right side. And rightfully he was subbed … albeit late.

Surrendering our strong side (right) to the uzbeks meant they will come forward in numbers and pile on the box. Nekounam’s invisibility to track his midfield marks also meant they would get plenty of help from center for headers and … !

Putting 2 lefties on the left really tilted the weight of the team to our left side with Nouri and Hajsafi all going up and down and doing their job.
Basically, at best, we had a 9 man team facing an 11 man uzbek team. No striker, a weak midfield (poor selection) obviously helped the uzbeks to attack us. Imagine here we were saying we shd thrash the uzbeks! Not knowing how shit scared CQ was that he actually didn’t dare put a single forward in his team and instead of going for form, he went ahead with “names” and put an out of form jabbari in. a player that even ss fans accept is out of form and doesn’t deserve to start a game!!!

And thanks to a couple of great saves from Rahmati (shades of his old self) we go in to dressing room as equals. But his reflexes were not under doubt as much as his exits and reactions to crosses. And there were a couple of crosses he didn’t do well and merely punched the ball which fell INSIDE our box !!!! But his saves more than make up for all this

==============

SECOND HALF -

It took our “brave” coach 65 minutes to bring our first forward! And still that idiot Jabbari is strolling about the park (most probably tokhmeh mishkast!) the bloody f**k had absolutely no impact on the game or even the ball! Why was he kept in for more than 72 minutes? Our midfield was our biggest weakness becoz of him mainly as our left side was so vulnerable. And then Nekounam also barely had any impact on the game except his shot and maybe a couple of other moments.

This weak uzbek team was there to be owned. But instead, we got tossed around like a rag doll !!! becoz we allowed it to happen!

UZBEK GOAL : That uzbek ball also did cross the line and by all fairness this shd have been a draw. But hey, I’m not complaining here. However this will not dissuade me from expressing my disappointment in CQ’s horrible, terrible starting line up and how he stood by and watched our midfield (traditionally our strongest line) get owned due to non-show by the likes of Jabbari and even Karimi.

Our team resembled a team only after Ansarifard was brought in to at least put some pressure on the uzbeki defense. Which is only for 15 minutes.

IRAN’S GOAL: Our goal was a magnificent piece of passing between Ansarifard and Khalatbari’s presence in the right place. But lets not forget Ando’s great contribution in winning the ball for us. Ando was the ONLY midfielder who actually played for us. The others like Jabbari, Nekounam, Karimi were big disappointments.


Bottomline: I know we scared a fantastic goal near the end. But the way we approached and then played this game shows we didn’t deserve the 3 points. With a more sensible starting line up (with at least one if not two proper forwards) we could have won this game far more easily and without controversy.

The Uzbek team WAS weak (shown in their loose passing, weak marking and very amateurish style) and this was exposed in the first 10-15 minutes of the game. But becoz we didn’t have the means to catch the game by its scruff and kill it off, they got encouraged and became bolder. And the more we screwed up by our WEAK MIDFIELD & NON-EXISTENT FORWARD LINE, the more bold and adventurous they got. It’s but natural.

I sincerely am scared. If CQ approaches such a weak opponent with such overtly cautious line up and until the last 15 minutes of the game persists with very shoddy midfield and work rate by players, then I shudder to think how he will act against a top form south Korean team! Or the very same uzbek team WITH all their main players back!
CQ has a lot to think about and change.

[Doctor DOOM]

After some 15-20 minutes (no thanks to pfdc servers being busy):

(REVISED SCORES after being reminded how euphorically generous I was yesterday with scores)

RAHMATI – 7.5
He did have a couple of fantastic saves. But he also conceded a goal (that shd have been given) and he showed he hasn’t remedied his weakness on crosses

MAHINI – 5.5
He was left alone on the right side, no thanks to our prima-donna jabbari refusing to do ANY DAMN THING. But he also did have a horrible back pass that almost led to a goal. and a few other mistakes that reduce his score. I expected more from him.

MONTAZERI - 6
He proved trusting him to pair up with Hosseini may not be a bad idea. I’d say lets maintain this duo in the central defense. A few mistakes here and there. But nothing out of ordinary given Iranian football and its low productivity in defense

HOSSEINI – 6.5
Same as Montazeri. I like this duo. Seems more intelligent than the aghili-hosseini one.

PEJMAN NOURI – 5.5
Seemed to be everywhere. A total work horse. But with CQ putting 2 lefties on the left side, they all covered each other well (unlike the right side where only Mahini was to handle all the attacks!) had a few hic-ups though

NEKOUNAM – 5
Almost all his score is for his shot (which if we had a forward in the line up, he’d have pounced on the spilled rebound ball and scored. But it seems CQ didn’t like teams with forwards until minute 75!!!). had a few good passes and acts. But was very invisible for long periods too

ANDO – 7.5
He basically made up our midfield belt and compensated for that idiot Jabbari’s non-presence and Nekounam’s low visibility

HAJSAFI – 6
he ran a lot and helped cement our left side. Not much in going forward though. I wonder why Pouladi didn’t play.

KARIMI – 5
Again, like Nekounam had a few instances of productivity, but was marked out of the game by tough marksmen.

JABBARI – 1
This score of 1 is for the ONLY thing he did the entire game that proved useful for the team: walk out of the pitch to be replaced by Khalatbari. What a waste of spot!

EBRAHIMI – 3.5
Was totally out of place and was invisible. His exit was totally justified. He isn’t a natural striker and obviously didn’t have any impact on the team’s scant few attacks. I wasn’t impressed with him. But it doesn’t mean he shd be dropped from the overall TM roster.

HEIDARI – 6
His entry did bring a bit of stability to the right side as he, unlike prima-donna Jabbari, did help with the defense and ran more to cover more areas. That’s why we saw less mistakes by Mahini too. But nothing really special in the day almost the entire team played badly


KHALATBARI – 7.5
For his short stint he certainly did have a major impact on the team and the result. I really wonder why CQ didn’t bring him in the first half for ebrahimi or jabbari

ANSARIFARD – 7.5
Mainly for his fantastic and precise pass to Khalatbari. A short stint, however.


THE TEAM – 6
Mostly becoz we won and got the 3 points. But the quality of their performance was very very low.

CQ – 6
Until minute 75, and seeing his starting line up (without a single forward) and persistence with jabbari and even karimi, I’d have given him a score of ‘4’. The other 3.5 is for his last two subs who took care of the job. Our first game wasn’t very convincing and left a LOT to be desired. Be it with line up, strategy, team-work, … etc. I expect (and we ALL shd expect) more from a coach with his resume.

[Martin-Reza]

Rahmati shireh, by far the best player, no chance on the goal, perfect match by him.

Very disappointing display apart from him, we are simply not the same team on the road. Much work for Carlos to do, but thanks to Rahmati, Ando, Ansarifard and Khalatbari we had a perfect start.

[maij]

Doc: While your first post on the performance and match analysis was quite good , you then spoiled it by being so generous with your marks and not strictly in agreement with the first post.

Apart from Rahmati , the whole team was bad. Take Khalatbary and Karim Ansarifard out of the formula , because they were sub players , and the fact that they combined to score the goal made me so happy.

I think this was one of the worst official matches of Team melli for as far as I remember. I definitely do not agree that the quarter final match against S. Korea in AC 2011 was as bad as this , according to some posters in the general forum. This match is definitely in the waste basket to be forgotten , but with a special mention to the glorious goal of Khalatbary and the world class assist of Ansarifard.

Javad Nekounam was incredibly weak , and not for the first time in the last few years.
Ali karimi was actually trying very hard , but....!!! Enough of this , it is simply sad to see him try and try , yet he just does not have it in his lungs or legs.

Ando , Jabbari were as bad as Nekounam.

Hossein Mahini was simply a disaster.
Who is this Ebrahimi ? What is so magical about him ?

Pejman Nouri was embarrassing.

3 other players deserve credit for me. Hosseini , Montazeri and Haj Safy.

I guess the worst performance , and by far was by Carlos Queiroz. I am seriously doubting this guy's ability to have a great or even a moderate impact on Team Melli. His initial zany lineup , game plan , poor team tactics , elementary errors , basic passing mistakes combined with other factors , leaves me in serious doubt. Even if we make it to Brazil and I hope we do , I think this man is not capable of improving the quality or standard of Team Melli. This is the ugliest win of Team Melli for as long as I remember , and frankly , I don't care about the performance. But , I don't like to fool myself , nor lie up to my teeth like some people do about Team Melli. The fact is clear , this team is in dire need of change and improvement.

[BacheLot]

CQ went way too experimental ..! I don't know wtf was he trying to pull, with his miss positionings & wack starting lineup..!? lol

Hala khoob yeki az too k00nemoon dar aavordim..ha..! lol

[KasraKhan]

^ I agree.

I love CQ and all, and he knows 1000 times more than me, but for the life of me, I can't understand why he started Ebrahimi and Montazaeri. Montazeri had a decent game, but Ebrahimi didn't touch the ball. I just don't understand why you would start two players who have ZERO caps in such a huge international world cup qualifying match, away too. Makes no sense.

[St_Mark]

After some 15-20 minutes (no thanks to pfdc servers being busy):
RAHMATI – 8
He did have a couple of fantastic saves. But he also conceded a goal (that shd have been given) and he showed he hasn’t remedied his weakness on crosses
MAHINI – 6.5
He was left alone on the right side, no thanks to our prima-donna jabbari refusing to do ANY DAMN THING. But he also did have a horrible back pass that almost led to a goal. and a few other mistakes that reduce his score. I expected more from him.
MONTAZERI - 7.5
He proved trusting him to pair up with Hosseini may not be a bad idea. I’d say lets maintain this duo in the central defense. A few mistakes here and there. But nothing out of ordinary given Iranian football and its low productivity in defense
HOSSEINI – 7.5
Same as Montazeri. I like this duo. Seems more intelligent than the aghili-hosseini one.
PEJMAN NOURI – 7.5
Seemed to be everywhere. A total work horse. But with CQ putting 2 lefties on the left side, they all covered each other well (unlike the right side where only Mahini was to handle all the attacks!) had a few hic-ups though
NEKOUNAM – 6
Almost all his score is for his shot (which if we had a forward in the line up, he’d have pounced on the spilled rebound ball and scored. But it seems CQ didn’t like teams with forwards until minute 75!!!). had a few good passes and acts. But was very invisible for long periods too
ANDO – 8
He basically made up our midfield belt and compensated for that idiot Jabbari’s non-presence and Nekounam’s low visibility
HAJSAFI – 7
he ran a lot and helped cement our left side. Not much in going forward though. I wonder why Pouladi didn’t play.
KARIMI – 6
Again, like Nekounam had a few instances of productivity, but was marked out of the game by tough marksmen.
JABBARI – 1
This score of 1 is for the ONLY thing he did the entire game that proved useful for the team: walk out of the pitch to be replaced by Khalatbari. What a waste of spot!
EBRAHIMI – 4
Was totally out of place and was invisible. His exit was totally justified. He isn’t a natural striker and obviously didn’t have any impact on the team’s scant few attacks. I wasn’t impressed with him. But it doesn’t mean he shd be dropped from the overall TM roster.
HEIDARI – 6.5
His entry did bring a bit of stability to the right side as he, unlike prima-donna Jabbari, did help with the defense and ran more to cover more areas. That’s why we saw less mistakes by Mahini too. But nothing really special in the day almost the entire team played badly
KHALATBARI – 8
For his short stint he certainly did have a major impact on the team and the result. I really wonder why CQ didn’t bring him in the first half for ebrahimi or jabbari
ANSARIFARD – 8
Mainly for his fantastic and precise pass to Khalatbari. A short stint, however.
THE TEAM – 6.5
Mostly becoz we won and got the 3 points. But the quality of their performance was very very low.
CQ – 7.5
Until minute 75, and seeing his starting line up (without a single forward) and persistence with jabbari and even karimi, I’d have given him a score of ‘4’. The other 3.5 is for his last two subs who took care of the job. Our first game wasn’t very convincing and left a LOT to be desired. Be it with line up, strategy, team-work, … etc. I expect (and we ALL shd expect) more from a coach with his resume.

If Iran has played as you described so bad why coach get such high mark?
Iran played miserable game. Queiroz game plan and formation was not working and questionable. Iran simply was lucky and this game was one of those bizarre game and unjust result.
I think best is to call the game as is regardless of who is the coach.
If you did not know who is the coach for this match and seen it would you give that high mark to the coach?
Queiroz is best we ever had but that does not mean he is immune from critics .
One or two bad performance will be tolerated but i am afraid even Queiroz has to deliver otherwise even him as big as he is will face "Ali Daei " ! chant
It's a cruel game
I wish himluck again and i hope this one game was an exception because fans have much higher expectation from him.

[Doctor DOOM]

Doc: While your first post on the performance and match analysis was quite good , you then spoiled it by being so generous with your marks and not strictly in agreement with the first post.

lol. I know. I also agree. I guess the euphoria of the 3 points snatched at the jaws of deserved defeat got the better of me.
perhaps I shd have waited another 20 minutes

I guess we can shave off about 1-2 points off everyone in my scoring to be more precise.





I guess we all know I'm not among those who just close their eyes and accept whatever the coach does/say. so no chance I'd give CQ a pass card so easily.
the only explanation for CQ's PRE game plan (still absolutely no excuse for that f**k up of a starting line up and even the BIGGEST f**k up of them all: allowing jabbari remain on the pitch any further than the first 20 minutes) is to tire the uzbeks so much that they would be vulnerable to intro of two quick footed attackers (khalatbari and ansarifard).

yes. that would make sense ... as a PRE-game plan.
But for God's sake what the hell was he thinking by having no striker in the team from the start? what the hell was he doing after he saw how our midfield was OVER-POWERED numerically (no strikers so opponent defenders come join in) as well as technically (No-shows like jabbari and karimi and ebrahimi) and still did not a damned thing for 70 minutes?
in coaching terms that's called a freaking brain-freeze ... expected from rookie coaches who behave like deer, frozen, caught in the headlights of a speeding car (pretty much like branko in second half vs. mexico).
But for someone like CQ and his resume'? that was an EMBARRASSMENT!

He'd better get his head out of his "real madrid/portugal" non-trophy cabinet and see what we have and what we dont have.
even if that was the strategy, then he shd have had at least ONE striker who'd keep a couple of defenders at bay and subbed BOTH jabbari and ebrahimi for their no-show in the first half itself.

[Nokhodi]

First of all a little note about CQ's international tenure. When he was in Portugal he was criticized for 3 things.
1- Defensive approach despite having amaizing offensive talent available.
2- Attitude towards friendlies - they didn't play many and if they did they would take it very easy or play weak teams.
3- Odd selections.

All 3 of these are things TM fans love to complain about so be prepared to hear alot more against CQ even if we qualify. I smell a Branoesque witch hunt starting soon.

As for the game.

1 - Midfield did not exist. We really didn't have a forward (until the last 15), but the midfield could not pass, shoot or create any chances
2 - No one was able to move the ball forward. There was no forward momentum again until Ansarifard came in.
3 - Players were asleep, especially in the 1st half. Too many misplaced passes, poor runs, asking for a call and stopping play even if there is no whistle.... WAKE THE F*** UP, IT'S THE DAMN WORLD CUP WE WANT
4 - Nekounam was not covering the attacking midfielders of Uzbekistan. At least 2 of their really good chances were because Nekounam is always lagging or forgets to mark up his man.
5 - Mahini was risky. He did really well at times, and then performed like and incompetent schmuck at other moments.
6 - Montazeri was ok. Aghili is a better defender, but Montazeri is smarter.
7 - Ando despite his last pass, is terrible in attack. His passes are always off, his shots and short distance play very poor. Thank goodness he is a hustler.
8 - Ansarifard's pass to KB was sublime, and the finish by KB was beautiful. 9/10 that would have been a f*** up by TM players.
9 - First half performance was the worst TM match I have seen since Iran-Bahrain 2001. I am happy with the 3 points. TM played like how Arab nations play against us. Tokhmi, cheap, no possesion and then score in the last minute to break hearts.
10 -Regarding the starting lineup. Isn't this what half of you always want? Switch x with y, move z up to b....; the sad truth is most players who make it to TM with a few exceptions are pretty much the same as the rest +/- 5%. It is why every coach calls up the same core. There are certain specific functions within the machine they require and that is all they are there to do. Inclusion of Ebrahimi today showed that. Brilliant in the league, completely outclassed on the international stage.
11 -Nekounam and Jabbari's form was extremely worrying. Mahini, Nouri, and Karimi were poor. Heydari, KB and Ansarifard good subs and Rahmati was a superstar. I'm glad CQ didn't bow to pressure there and play someone else.
12 - This game at points was not all about failure of the tactics. Some of the players seemed to have forgotten the most basic skills. You could have the best coach on earth and train every day and have the finest friendlies, but if your players freeze up like that you will get nowhere.
13 - Approach to Qatar game will be completely different I am sure.
14 - I think we all really want Dejagah and Ghazi back in the squad quick. Hustle and strength. TM needs it against everyone.

[zzgloo]

Niether Uzbakistan is that Good,nor TM is that Bad ....nor CQ is that bad......

No one was at fault but CQ...( but he deserves the benefit of the doubt..and too soon to be judged )
We will shoot ourseleves in the feet,if we alianate CQ at this stage........The guy is still figuring his way around....just like Kranjar of the Sepahan after a misrable season with perspolise....I just hope CQ adjustment would not take that Long.