Your Starting Line-Up for Iran vs. Iraq and Iran vs. Bahrain

[Bi-honar]

The big question right now is whether CQ will risk playing Ashkah or Khosro in the Iraq game with their latest injuries.

With Rafei also recovering from injury, I think it's very likely to see Ghafouri and Shojaei in the line-up for the Iraq game at least.

[Mansoor]

Carlos played 4-3-3 in World Cup. He likes that formation with V shap formation in midfield, e.g. Nekunam in the back with Ando to his right and Hajsafi to his left.

During defensive phase, the two wingers move back to cover the lanes and form 4-5-1. During the attack they move up to form 4-3-3.

There is no classic "play maker" in this formation as Carlos does not believe in it.

If the game plan is offensive, he puts Heidari in right back to add from the back. If the game plan is defensive, he puts Montazeri there to play 3+1 in the back.

With Montazeri gone, I am not sure who would play that role.

He likes to switch to 4-2-2 in second half when the team needs to score. He has done it in the past with Dejagah and Gucci. He may use Gucci and Azmoun for that in second half.

Don't expect to see Iran's game plan against Iraq but here is his most likely line up:

---------------Haghighi
Heidari-Hosseini-Sadeghi-Pouladi
--------------Nekunam
--------Ando----------Hajsafi
Jahanbakhsh-Gucci-------Dejagah

This line up would have Azmoun, Shojaei, Rafei, and Ansarifard as "sup subs". All four can make a difference and effect the outcome of any game, and that is a great set of options to use by Carlos depending on game situation.

He may use Rezaiean or Ghafouri in RB instead and/or start Shojaei instead of Hajsafi in LM. All others basically have sealed their starting position.

[masoud nekounam]

^ I would say Shojaei, Hajsafi, and Jahanbakhsh are competing for only two spots.

These are our three midfield/forward scenarios:
------------------Nekounam---------------
---------Teymourian-----Hajsafi----------
-Shojaei-------------------------Dejagah-
--------------Ghoochannejhad------------

-------------------Nekounam--------------
---------Teymourian-----Hajsafi----------
-Jahanbakhsh------------------Dejagah-
---------------Ghoochannejhad------------

---------Teymourian---Nekounam-------
-Jahanbakhsh-----Shojaei-----Dejagah-
--------------Ghoochannejhad------------

I think Jahanbakhsh will start as the super-sub, meaning the first line-up is the mostly likely one. Shojaei and Hajsafi are familiar with CQ's game-plan and both executed it superbly during the World Cup, showing great tactical discipline and positional awareness, but also creativity going forward as well.

I watched the Argentina match again recently and especially in the second-half, Shojaei was excellent, three of our golden opportunities were all because of him. He wasn't bad vs Bosnia either, but he was withdrawn at HT because Bosnia's LB was fouling him every time he got the ball. And if you say this is because "Shojaei is a sissy" then you are an idiot because nobody else would be able to do anything about getting rammed into by Kolasinac the instant they came in contact with the ball. The only reason the same thing didn't happen to Heydari when he came on is because Heydari was practically invisible, so Kolasinac didn't need to foul him. Shojaei actually earned us a lot of free-kicks in the first-half and almost scored too when he hit the bar.

That being said, I would personally prefer JB starting at right-wing with Hajsafi joining Ando and Neko in the middle so that we have more speed in our team, but the Shojaei bashers need to chill and criticize him only when he actually underperforms, not just any time he is on the field.

My biggest concern for TM right now is Heydari at RB because he is simply not good enough. Plus, his only competition is Rezaiean and Ghafouri who only have 20 minutes of national team experience between them, so we are pretty much stuck with Khosro right now. Heydari is obviously not the best defender and is pretty slow too, but even in terms of attacking, he will not be able to produce what Montazeri did in the World Cup. Montazeri is better than him in every aspect- speed, headers, defending 1v1, even attacking/crossing.

[masoud nekounam]

Btw, what position is Pouraliganji? CB, wing-back, DM?
Also, is Rezaiean only RB, or can he play CB as well?

[Bi-honar]

Carlos played 4-3-3 in World Cup.

I honestly don't know where some of you guys get this information from. It was already a stretch for some to say we played a 4-4-2 in the WC, now you're suggesting we played with 3 strikers?!

CQ not only plays a classic 4-2-3-1, but he is and has been a big proponent of that system. He recently experimented with a 4-1-4-1 in the S. Korea game. Both systems are variations of a 4-5-1 with a single striker upfront (Gucci). The fact that a 4-5-1 can easily convert into other systems in defense or offense, doesn't make it another system altogether.

If you don't believe me, at least research this stuff on FIFA.com. This is our actual formation against Nigeria (click on link). The only minor modification to the classic 4-2-3-1 in this game was that he moved Ashkan from a wide left position to overlap more with Hajsafi.

This is our actual formation in the Argentina game (click on link). Again, the only minor variation was to move Hajsafi from a more central position to cover behind Ashkan.

And this is the actual formation in the Bosnia game (click on link). This is the only game where a case can be made that we were playing a 4-4-2 from minute 30th on (4-5-1 in the 1st 15 minutes and 4-2-3-1 in the 2nd 15 minutes), which makes sense considering Bosnia scored in minute 23 and we were in a must win game.

[ehsan singapore]

I honestly don't know where some of you guys get this information from. It was already a stretch for some to say we played a 4-4-2 in the WC, now you're suggesting we played with 3 strikers?!

CQ not only plays a classic 4-2-3-1, but he is and has been a big proponent of that system. He recently experimented with a 4-1-4-1 in the S. Korea game. Both systems are variations of a 4-5-1 with a single striker upfront (Gucci). The fact that a 4-5-1 can easily convert into other systems in defense or offense, doesn't make it another system altogether.

If you don't believe me, at least research this stuff on FIFA.com. This is our actual formation against Nigeria (click on link). The only minor modification to the classic 4-2-3-1 in this game was that he moved Ashkan from a wide left position to overlap more with Hajsafi.

This is our actual formation in the Argentina game (click on link). Again, the only minor variation was to move Hajsafi from a more central position to cover behind Ashkan.

And this is the actual formation in the Bosnia game (click on link). This is the only game where a case can be made that we were playing a 4-4-2 from minute 30th on (4-5-1 in the 1st 15 minutes and 4-2-3-1 in the 2nd 15 minutes), which makes sense considering Bosnia scored in minute 23 and we were in a must win game.

i agree i dont remmber iran ever play 4-3-3, we play mostly 4-2-3-1 however with jahanbaksh and azmoun now we have a better chance to atttack now, but still we will focus on defense first

[Ghermez Agha]

My biggest concern for TM right now is Heydari at RB because he is simply not good enough. Plus, his only competition is Rezaiean and Ghafouri who only have 20 minutes of national team experience between them, so we are pretty much stuck with Khosro right now. Heydari is obviously not the best defender and is pretty slow too, but even in terms of attacking, he will not be able to produce what Montazeri did in the World Cup. Montazeri is better than him in every aspect- speed, headers, defending 1v1, even attacking/crossing.

I understand your concern being that Montazeri's absence leaves very big shoes to fill after his performances he put on for TM in Brazil, however, as someone who has followed Vouria Ghafouri very closely over the last season and a half, I can assure you he is by far the most fit to fill the void.

He isn't as physically strong as Montazeri given he is a natural RB unlike Pejman, but he is faster, better on the ball, can read counters just as good, and is probably one of the best tacklers I've seen in the IPL....his timing is very good.

I'd definitely give him the edge over Heydari and I think there is a decent chance CQ may do that. He provided us with a good spark against SK in November and I think it raised a few eyebrows.

About Rezaeian, he's a good player too but I wouldn't rate him better than Ghafouri. He went on a nice scoring run for a little while last year where he scored in 3-4 matches consecutively so he is definitely good in attacking, but I'm not sure he is as good defensively as Vouria or even Khosrow.

Btw, what position is Pouraliganji? CB, wing-back, DM?
Also, is Rezaiean only RB, or can he play CB as well?

Pouraliganji is a DM who CQ is kind of transitioning into a CB, similarly to what CQ did with Pooladi from turning him from a CM to a LB. Very smart and good idea IMO given his physique and skill set, we have a shortage of young talent in the CB spot so it's great to see that he is a future prospect and likely started for us in that spot in the near future.

Rezaeian is a RB who used to play RM and still sometimes does for Rah Ahan, similar to Heydari who is often used as a RB when his natural position is really RM. Similar skill set to Heydari as well, but I'd say Rezaeian is physically stronger than Heydari.

[masoud nekounam]

^ Thanks, that was encouraging to read. I hope you're right about Ghafouri, players like Son, Oar, and Kagawa would run Heydari ragged.
What position is Vahid Amiri? Is he any good? I know he probably won't play a second at the Asian Cup, but just wondering.

[Mansoor]

Bi-Honar Aziz, I know you don't approve one of the top coaches in the world so I basically have no chance to argue any case with you. However, I posted that technical information for the board and just want to make sure I am clear on the technical points I wrote.

I have no interest in making a long debate out of this but to answer "where do you guys get this information from" I do have a national USSF coaching license and have been in this beautiful game for over 40 years as a player, sports writer, TV commentator, and youth coach. I also had the pleasure of watching Iran's WC match with one of the most knowledgeable coaches in Iran, if not the most, and we did discuss Iran's formation and tactic.

Iran DID play 4-3-3 in WC and also in recent friendly against S.Korea. I only wrote a brief note above and did not want to go through technical details to bore anyone but here is a bit more info since it might have been misunderstood:

The system is a floating 4-3-3 with V formation in midfield. During the defensive phase, the two wingers move back and since the bottom tip of the V in midfield remains in his position, the formation changes to 4-5-1 (4-1-4-1). Once Iran gains position of the ball to attack, the wingers move wide and form the 4-3-3.

None of the two upper midfielders line up with bottom player of the V to resemble any sign of 4-2-3-1. In 4-2-3-1, two defensive midfielder line up together in defensive phase while one moves the ball up during the offensive and moves a bit forward (Ando).

Since Iran was concerned against some of the top teams in world defensively, the formation hardly used it's attacking form unless during transition. Another word, when we had to re-start the match from the back, we remained close to 4-5-1 since we did not have individual quality to match against the opponent and the chances were highly we would lose the ball and then had to face dangerous counters against the likes of Messi and DiMaria.

So, wingers stayed more back and wait for lose ball to possibly start the attack.

Thanks to Bi-honar Aziz for that wonderful links from FIFA, you can see the players in midfield with a V formation. However, football is not played in chess plate or papers but on the field. In practice and during the play, players of different positions have different zone to move and depending on their individual capacity and capability, different range and area of movement. Someone like Dejagah from BPL has much more wider areas of the move than Heidari from IPL. Some pairs like Hajsafi and Dejagah position themselves according to each others play than other pairs in other side.

So, writing the formation here with simple typing without arrows and circles and lines does not match exactly with what you see on the field. It is a simplified version of it for not-technical readers. The drawing on FIFA site that Bi-honar provided are perfect example of how our right or left differs or how our players move or position themselves with "pre-defined" roles by Sr. Carlos.

I neither have the tool nor the time to explain those circles and formation posted there in details but leave it to those interested to read, review, and understand.

BTW, that is what makes Carlos so amazing is how much he understands our players and the opponents' players and how he forms these "micro-formations" to produce what he did in WC or even against Korea in Korea.

He studies every single opponents players in an amazing details with his staff for weeks, and provide our players with details information to counter and neutralize certain players: e.g. how he moves to the left vs right, which Receive and turn he is comfortable with, where he prefers to take the ball, how to take him out of his comfort zone, etc ....

All these eventually surfaces for us to watch what we see. His recent results where no "incident", "luck", or else. Pure football genius work based on Micro analysis and coaching. I myself consider each of his game a continuing education and enjoy them from technical perspective. I suggest everyone to take that into consideration and enjoy these rare situations in our football.

Any how, as mentioned before, you can also see when Carlos likes to switch to 4-4-2 from the notes as I stated before.

P.s. Masoud jaan, Ghremez Agha did answer your question perfectly. nothing more to add.

[Kiarash]

Since when did we start playing 4-3-3? Did I miss something?

[aryanirani]

I cant believe some people are still including Shojaei in the starting line up... LOL

[Z Joon]

Iran's best 11 voted by "IR Soccer" fans on facebook

[Kiarash]

Omid Ebrahimi for Nekounam? Lol.

[Bi-honar]

The system is a floating 4-3-3 with V formation in midfield. During the defensive phase, the two wingers move back and since the bottom tip of the V in midfield remains in his position, the formation changes to 4-5-1 (4-1-4-1). Once Iran gains position of the ball to attack, the wingers move wide and form the 4-3-3.

I don't know what to say Mansoor jaan. I shared the actual formations with you straight from FIFA's site, which is based on the average position of the players during the entire game, each 15 minute period and for each half. This isn't my opinion, it's a matter of fact.

There are also actual heat maps for each player and each game on the FIFA site, none of which closely resemble a 4-3-3. Although the case can be made that we did not park the bus in any of the games, to say that we were actually playing the most offensive formation in football with 3 strikers is a real stretch even for the most open minded people and if we were to ignore all the data from the games.

I think you're just getting confused by the tactical line-up which is what the coaches submit to FIFA prior to the game to be shown on TV as the formation being used. That doesn't have anything to do with the actual formation used during the game and we all know CQ is the master of these types of cunning moves (by the way, I don't know where you got the idea that I don't approve of CQ, just because I criticized certain aspects of his work).

As an example, you can see the "tactical line-up" for the Nigeria game on the FIFA site in this link, along with the "actual formation" and each player's heat map. Yes, looking at the tactical line-up, it looks like we were playing a 4-3-3, but we all know Hosseini wasn't playing as a RB, Montazeri wasn't playing as a CB, Ashkan wasn't playing as a right winger and it wasn't Heydari who was playing beside Ando.

That's why you have to look at the actual (average) formation of the players and the heat maps. Nigeria typically plays a 4-3-3 and they did so in this game, although their LB/RB were pushed so high up that it looked more like a 2-4-1-3. Regardless, they played with 3 strikers: Moses, Musa and Eminike.

You look at the heat maps for those 3 players, barely spending any time in their own half and compare that to Haj and Dejagah and to some extent even Gucci and you're going to tell me that you don't see any difference in those heat maps and that we were indeed playing with 3 strikers, 2 of which spent the majority of the game in our own half?!

[aryanirani]

LOL @ any line up that doesnt have Hajsafi playing fixed..


Also I would never have Heydari starting, Vouria is better + why start with Sadeghi his form this year has really dropped Pouraliganji has been amazing and is young.