Team Melli squad (March 2016)

[Iran_19]

Good list overall, good to see guys like Mazaheri, Shojaian and Pahlavan, Mehrdad Mohammadi, Shahbazzadeh there, is pretty sad that Sarbaaz players can't make it,otherwise with like Rahmani, Soroush Rafei, Shoja Khalilzade, Abollahzadeh we probably wouldn't say guys like Shojaei or even Pejman Motahari, etc.
I was kind of expecting to see either or both of Nejad Mehdi and Hadi Mohammadi of Zob Ahan both central defenders, but well maybe in next list.

[Afat11]

Can I ask why so many people are turned off of Cheshmi all of a sudden? I don't the guy is a star already, but isn't a bit early to write the guy off? He seems like a solid aggressive CB, which I don't think we have a lot of in Iran. No Iranian defenders outside of wingbacks have really ever gone to Europe, right? I don't think there is a big market for our defenders, just based on the historical fact that it is mostly our midfielders and forwards who get European offers.

Based on this, I understand why Cheshmi is not stating, "I will 100% be in Europe next year." He saw what happened to Pouraligangi. I'm sure PAG wanted to go to Europe, but like I said, there probably wasn't a great deal of interest. Cheshmi is probably keeping tight-lipped to not seem red-faced if it never happens.

I still don't write him or Kanaani or any of our defenders off. If you would have told me 5 years ago that we would have around 10 legionnaires in Europe that are under-23, I'd be skeptical. At that time, we only had 2, Shojaei and Nekounam. Our TM was also usually very old, and our players would usually go to Europe in the middle of their careers.

All it took was Sardar Azmoun and Alireza Jahanbakhsh to break that mold, and now we see the flood. Our players sometimes deserve it, but there is not a market for it until one person gets the opportunity and succeeds. I watch some middle and lower leagues in Europe, and our star defenders are not anything less than these guys (although I still don't think our league overall is at all comparable in professional quality to those leagues, which I think hurts many players' development and causes the vast majority of IPL players to stagnate. I still believe that our top of the line players, even those in IPL, can compete in top leagues, but that is based on their raw talent overcoming the crappy development system). The problem is, since Iran is not known to produce center backs by international standards, there is no scouting for that position. Hopefully somebody breaks that mold soon, and guys like PAG, Kanaani, Cheshmi, etc. can get a fair shot.

Honestly, I see Ezatollahi breaking that mold. I think in 2-3 years, Ezatollahi will be crushing it, and be a monster defensive midfielder, and scouts will say, if Iran produced that, maybe we should look at some of their other defensive players. Boom, and we have a handful of defenders playing in Netherlands, Germany, Italy, etc.

[peiman92]

Dejagah is suspended against India after getting a yellow card against Guam in last match. We need to use another CAM in this game.

Dejagah got his first card against India. That game was awarded 3-0 to Iran after India fielded an ineligable player. That should mean that the goals and cards are not counted?!

[Sarbaze-Vatan]

Dejagah got his first card against India. That game was awarded 3-0 to Iran after India fielded an ineligable player. That should mean that the goals and cards are not counted?!

Good question. Every source says that he is suspended against India.

[teammelli91]

Good list.

Thanks for all you do, 04041374!

Yes! Thanks man!

[teammelli91]

Good list!

[irani8perspolis]

Average age of squad: 25.1
Average age of strikers: 24.6
Average age of midfielder: 24.3
Average age of defenders: 26.3
Average age of goalkeepers: 25.6

[persepolisfan]

I'm not a fan of noorolahi. He doesn't perform very well usually, his long shots are good, but besides that he is just an average player.

[Sarbaze-Vatan]

I know Roozbeh Cheshmi is injured and will not be available around 6 months but what do you guys think about having Cheshmi as DM next to Ezatollahi in 4-2-3-1 formation for the future?

Which one do you guys prefer for right back position Ghafouri or Rezaeian?

[irani8perspolis]

I know Roozbeh Cheshmi is injured and will not be available around 6 months but what do you guys think about having Cheshmi as DM next to Ezatollahi in 4-2-3-1 formation for the future?

Which one do you guys prefer for right back position Ghafouri or Rezaeian?

chehsmi will never play midfield in a high level, his skills are not good enough

[Ghermez Agha]

I'm not a fan of noorolahi. He doesn't perform very well usually, his long shots are good, but besides that he is just an average player.

He is by far the best DM in the league after Ebrahimi but has a higher ceiling than him. Look at how Persepolis played without him vs when he is on the pitch. He has a 6th sense for disrupting counters and reading the build up perfectly....reminds me of Ando back in the day. There's a reason why he is liked very much and is so valuable to the team he is far, far above average. It's not every day you come across a physically tough DM like him with quick feet in our league, or anywhere in the world for that matter as its a rare combo to come across.

[Kian Persepolis]

Still no Beitashour :/

[Karimi 8]

Still no Beitashour :/

Not sure what has happened but I don't think he will be invited again. I would like to know why.

[Afat11]

Not sure what has happened but I don't think he will be invited again. I would like to know why.

I don't think we will ever know. Some people are 100% sure it's because he is not good enough. Some, like myself, would argue that something happened.

I know that some now, looking back, are all too happy that Davari is also not invited, but back at the end of 2014, what was the reason for Davari and Beita both being dropped? Could CQ foresee that Davari would lose his spot at Grasshoppers and have a tough time regaining a starting position? If so, why has he been so committed to starting Haghighi who had a fairly rough season at Panafiel before riding the bench for the year at Rubin? I don't see Haghighi as being light years ahead of Davari, and I really can't argue with anyone who does say that. Davari was the star and rock of Braunschweig in their promotion season, as well as their short stint in Bundesliga. I don't think he is that bad, and if he is, is he really so much worse than Haghighi? They're at the very least both shaky. Again, I haven't said Davari is the greatest or a star, I just don't know why he is excommunicated from the team when I see Haghighi given so many chances despite not being consistent and making a few costly errors.

That being said, my thought on Davari and Beita being excommunicated from the team is two possibilities. One, Davari and Beita refused a camp invite at the end of 2014 before the Asian Cup.

We know Davari did this, as he stated it was to see the birth of his child. I can only speculate as to whether Beita did the same. We know CQ only wants players who place TM in the highest priority. This is a high possibility that I'm believing with every camp that goes by without at least Beitashour being invited. The second possibility is that CQ just doesn't want Beita because he lives too far away to travel for TM games.

I'm thinking it is possibly a bit of both. Davari refused the camp invite, and has now been Rahmati'd. CQ basically lost Rahmati to bring Davari in, and probably didn't like this choice by Davari. People who really think that CQ predicted that Davari would lose his place in the club just aren't acknowledging the facts of how many chances CQ gives to people who he is loyal to, even calling up players who are sometimes not playing club football. He hasn't dropped some players worse than Davari in positions with a plethora of talent. We don't have a clear #1 goalie, and he still doesn't even call the guy up to see if he's improved or declined since 2014. It's strange to me, but I will accept some peoples' opinion that he is just trash and sucks. That is their opinion, I know it, please don't come argue with me, because I acknowledge your opinion. I'm just stating an alternative.

With Beita, part of me thinks he is in the same boat of never being called up again for some reason. Either he also refused a camp invite, or CQ just doesn't want to call him up as a result of distance. He would be horribly jet lagged to fly back and forth for the MLS season and TM games. It could be anything, but these are my theories. Again, they could just be terrible, but I don't think the circumstances suggest that being the case for either.

[PSGman#19]

How is doing shekari this season?