TM-News-Vol. 7

[Keshwardoost]

I remember how much hate the ex TM manager got after the intervue when he was standing near the footballfield. He said there is much to do and something about being worried..
I thought, yes finaly someone that takes it seriously.
That activates the brain to find solutions.

I wrote back then that his anwers were good and a good sign.


Now we have this clownshow, nobody looks worried, and nothung happens.

[Farzadfarhangni]

With Skocic, yes, but 2018 Team Melli with CQ is on par or better than both Wales and the US. We have a legit shot at winning or getting second in the group with that team

Just curious if you think the pool of players available now is better or worse than 2018? Remember, we can't put 11 forwards in the starting line up!!!

I love Ebrahimi and we need him to start, but he is not as energetic as the 2018 Ebrahimi. Ezatolahi is pretty much a must start for us and he runs about half as much as he did in 2018. I want Milad to start at left back as I think he is our best defender against speedy wingers but I think we all agree he is not in the same form as 2018. Beiro was on top of the world entering 2018 WC. Our gk situation is weaker I would say right now. I would like Amiri to start but again, he is 4 years older and coming off an injury... so, probably, no better than 2018 Amiri. Yes, for sure, 2022 Taremi is better than 2018 Taremi. Azmoun also, but to a lesser extent. I would also say that Ghoddos 2022 is better than the 2018 version but he rarely delivers for TM. I want him to prove me wrong in Qatar. I would say a tie for our RB and center backs although most on this forum would say 2018 RB and center backs were better. I would also say JB is better now but not sure where most people stand.

I would say a mixed bag but I give the edge to the 2018 team. Nobody was super good, but no one was super bad either. All positions were roughly at the same level. 2022 team is very bi-polar. I hope in the half season before the WC, some of our issues sort themselves out. We need Milad, Nour, Amiri, Ghoddos, and Beiro to get lots of playing time in the fall and kill it.

[Hosseini]

2018 was surely better, you're very right. We had a much stronger midfield, our midfield now has Ahmad Nour and our defense has Nourafkhan, two significant downgrades

While talent-wise 2018 was better, the coaching was also significantly better (and no offense to Skocic, this is just his level as a coach - like others have said he's average). If this 2022 team organizes a solid defensive block that is organized we can still compete at the highest level, and like I said even get second or first in the group with a tinge of luck

The problem is that is not happening with the current coaching situation from what we have seen so far

The bottom line is that the teams we are playing are good, but certainly beatable

Kheyli heifeh that this golden opportunity to go to the next round seems to be going to waste considering the potential this team has

Just curious if you think the pool of players available now is better or worse than 2018? Remember, we can't put 11 forwards in the starting line up!!!

I love Ebrahimi and we need him to start, but he is not as energetic as the 2018 Ebrahimi. Ezatolahi is pretty much a must start for us and he runs about half as much as he did in 2018. I want Milad to start at left back as I think he is our best defender against speedy wingers but I think we all agree he is not in the same form as 2018. Beiro was on top of the world entering 2018 WC. Our gk situation is weaker I would say right now. I would like Amiri to start but again, he is 4 years older and coming off an injury... so, probably, no better than 2018 Amiri. Yes, for sure, 2022 Taremi is better than 2018 Taremi. Azmoun also, but to a lesser extent. I would also say that Ghoddos 2022 is better than the 2018 version but he rarely delivers for TM. I want him to prove me wrong in Qatar. I would say a tie for our RB and center backs although most on this forum would say 2018 RB and center backs were better. I would also say JB is better now but not sure where most people stand.

I would say a mixed bag but I give the edge to the 2018 team. Nobody was super good, but no one was super bad either. All positions were roughly at the same level. 2022 team is very bi-polar. I hope in the half season before the WC, some of our issues sort themselves out. We need Milad, Nour, Amiri, Ghoddos, and Beiro to get lots of playing time in the fall and kill it.

[Farzadfarhangni]

2018 was surely better, you're very right. We had a much stronger midfield, our midfield now has Ahmad Nour and our defense has Nourafkhan, two significant downgrades

While talent-wise 2018 was better, the coaching was also significantly better (and no offense to Skocic, this is just his level as a coach - like others have said he's average). If this 2022 team organizes a solid defensive block that is organized we can still compete at the highest level, and like I said even get second or first in the group with a tinge of luck

The problem is that is not happening with the current coaching situation from what we have seen so far

The bottom line is that the teams we are playing are good, but certainly beatable

Kheyli heifeh that this golden opportunity to go to the next round seems to be going to waste considering the potential this team has

Ok, I know we can't convince each other on the coaching front but I'll just say that we have not seen how Skocic is going to set up the team in WC, so don't give up all hope. It probably won't be as defensive as CQ's team but I doubt it will be an all out attacking like in qualifiers.

We talked about our team in 2018 and now, lets talk about our competition. We were told that this was the group of death, but both Portugal and Spain were eliminated in round of 16. Spain had major problems and coaching changes right before world cup. To me, Portugal were a bit too disjointed and too reliant on Ronaldo also. I have said it before and I'll say it again. The best performance over the three games in that group was by Morocco. They were a solid cohesive team, very well coached and outplayed Iran, Portugal and Spain.

I wouldn't say our group is tougher this year but I certainly won't say it is any easier either. Just because we beat USA 24 years ago does not automatically make us the favorites this year.

Overall, I call our squad about equal to 2018 and the competition about equal. I don't think we are likely to get out this time either but it is good to have hope. We need to be at our best and get lucky here and there too. In 2018, we got lucky against Morocco and we played well against Portugal and we almost made it. In 1998, we played well against Yugoslavia but got unlucky (Rookie goalie mistake and not converting the chances we had), otherwise, we could have gone through with 2 wins. We again need to have luck and play perfectly.

[inarsenewetrust]

Just curious if you think the pool of players available now is better or worse than 2018? Remember, we can't put 11 forwards in the starting line up!!!
I love Ebrahimi and we need him to start, but he is not as energetic as the 2018 Ebrahimi. Ezatolahi is pretty much a must start for us and he runs about half as much as he did in 2018. I want Milad to start at left back as I think he is our best defender against speedy wingers but I think we all agree he is not in the same form as 2018. Beiro was on top of the world entering 2018 WC. Our gk situation is weaker I would say right now. I would like Amiri to start but again, he is 4 years older and coming off an injury... so, probably, no better than 2018 Amiri. Yes, for sure, 2022 Taremi is better than 2018 Taremi. Azmoun also, but to a lesser extent. I would also say that Ghoddos 2022 is better than the 2018 version but he rarely delivers for TM. I want him to prove me wrong in Qatar. I would say a tie for our RB and center backs although most on this forum would say 2018 RB and center backs were better. I would also say JB is better now but not sure where most people stand.
I would say a mixed bag but I give the edge to the 2018 team. Nobody was super good, but no one was super bad either. All positions were roughly at the same level. 2022 team is very bi-polar. I hope in the half season before the WC, some of our issues sort themselves out. We need Milad, Nour, Amiri, Ghoddos, and Beiro to get lots of playing time in the fall and kill it.

Yeah but its also worth remembering where those players were BEFORE they showed that incredible performance at WC... Nobody expected amiri to be player of the tournament at CM, some even thought he might struggle to make the squad. He had never even played as a central midfielder prior to the WC. Ebrahimi was not a key player in our qualification and came out of nowhere at Russia with his brilliant performances. These two guys really came out of left field to be our best performers. Both are older but also compared to then have much more experience of big matches (both went to europe and had successful seasons even if only for a year, both can lean on previous WC and AC experiences now). But for example the likes of Nourollahi or Mehdipour f do not seem worse on paper than pre WC Ebrahimi and Amiri, it remains to be seen if Sko can get some of these younger guys to perform at the same level omid did on world stage.

Beiro was also a bipolar mess in the friendlies building up to WC (go see his games vs turkey, tunisia, algeria), with nowhere near level of big game experience he or abedzadeh have now. Sure he turned up in those 3 games but once he gets minutes for Perspolis there is no doubting he will be on the same level, most likely much better given the experience he has accumulated since then (including big EU games, even if some were failures). He is much better with his feet now compared to 2018. The combo of him and Abedz is much deeper than GK line then.

Milad I agree with you, was on paper way better than his current version or any LB now, but apparently not even good enough for CQ to trust him over hajsafi. Left is the same question mark it has always been since pooladi days sadly.

Majid is a much better, more experienced and stable CB than 2018. I think current Kanaani isnt far off what PAGs form was heading into 2018. Both in qatar but very consistent for TM.

Azmoun and Taremi are a million times more complete players than in 2018. Azmoun scored like 6 goals for rubin kazan that season and went on a crazy 20 match goalless streak. Cannot compare to the player he is now, both in terms of overall play and mentality. Same goes for Taremi.

Ghoddos as you say is a better player now, its up to both himself AND the coaching staff to get more out of him, but in my opinion his transition to CM role is way more useful for TM than the sort of wing/Second Striker he was in 2018. He is also fitter and much more experienced.

We have way more offensive options: The likes of Gholizadeh, Allahyar are serious offensive wildcards with good EU experience. Again it is up to coaching staff to extract more from them. Similarly for likes of Alipour, Shahab.

Only real dropoff of real note is situation of saeid. Prior to last WC he played almost every single minute for Amkar Perm and had some particularly strong games vs top Russian sides like Spartak and Zenit as deep anchor of midfield. Now he is truthfully a mess.

[Hosseini]

Couple points about the squad comparisons. Like you said about the 2018 team, Eza was in far better form than he is now. We had more midfield and defensive options. Didn't have to rely on Ahmad Nour and Nourafkhan as midfield and defensive pieces. Ebrahimi also in better form. It's true Azmoun and Taremi are far better now, but I'm focusing more on midfield and defense which seems to be what we lack the most of now and can hurt us in terms of weaknesses.

Competition wise I disagree. I think 2018 was far more difficult. Portugal were Euro champs. Spain needs no introduction, top tier world-class team who were tournament favorites. And Morocco won the African nation's championship in 2018.

This USA and Wales team are very beatable. Not easy but far better than what we faced in 2018. Remember that the US and Wales teams have very little to no world cup experience. Not only do we have much more experience there, but so did Portugal and Spain - immeasurably more than these squads. As for England, they are one of the weaker world class teams we could've been drawn for and have many weaknesses just looking at their recent performances

Ok, I know we can't convince each other on the coaching front but I'll just say that we have not seen how Skocic is going to set up the team in WC, so don't give up all hope. It probably won't be as defensive as CQ's team but I doubt it will be an all out attacking like in qualifiers.

We talked about our team in 2018 and now, lets talk about our competition. We were told that this was the group of death, but both Portugal and Spain were eliminated in round of 16. Spain had major problems and coaching changes right before world cup. To me, Portugal were a bit too disjointed and too reliant on Ronaldo also. I have said it before and I'll say it again. The best performance over the three games in that group was by Morocco. They were a solid cohesive team, very well coached and outplayed Iran, Portugal and Spain.

I wouldn't say our group is tougher this year but I certainly won't say it is any easier either. Just because we beat USA 24 years ago does not automatically make us the favorites this year.

Overall, I call our squad about equal to 2018 and the competition about equal. I don't think we are likely to get out this time either but it is good to have hope. We need to be at our best and get lucky here and there too. In 2018, we got lucky against Morocco and we played well against Portugal and we almost made it. In 1998, we played well against Yugoslavia but got unlucky (Rookie goalie mistake and not converting the chances we had), otherwise, we could have gone through with 2 wins. We again need to have luck and play perfectly.

[inarsenewetrust]

Per reputable uruguayan source we will play them on the 23rd of september.

[Hosseini]

Per reputable uruguayan source we will play them on the 23rd of september.

Bless up. With this prep things look upward. Uruguay will be a good test to see where our defense is and truly how weak it truly is against a world class team. Should be an even better wake up call than Algeria. Qatar should show us how Taremi and Azmoun can do against a weaker defense and what opportunities they can exploit

Edit: Oops misread as we are playing Qatar too, but maybe we will lol

[inarsenewetrust]

Bless up. With this prep things look upward. Uruguay will be a good test to see where our defense is and truly how weak it truly is against a world class team. Should be an even better wake up call than Algeria. Qatar should show us how Taremi and Azmoun can do against a weaker defense and what opportunities they can exploit
Edit: Oops misread as we are playing Qatar too, but maybe we will lol

if our 2nd opponent is indeed a non-WC team but still "highly ranked" (whatever that means), options are now pretty limited so not hard to speculate.

All reasonable opponents in Asia / N. America are going to WC (Mexico, Japan, Australia, Qatar).

In africa thats means no senegal, cameroon, ghana which were all rumored before.

In S. America no Peru or Ecuador.

Most likely options: Venezuela, Colombia, Chile, Nigeria, Mali, Ivory Coast.

[diz]

Me waiting for a legit friendly against their A team

[Nokhodi]

Per reputable uruguayan source we will play them on the 23rd of september.

This lines up with the rumor that Qatar is setting up a mini tournament (4 teams) in Austria.
Wonder who the other team they're inviting is.

[kobekarimi88]

https://twitter.com/teammelliradio/s...KyHwd9BkWFsxMg

Would be amazing if true. Know the Team Melli Radio guys well & know they have legitimate sources. Fingers crossed.

[Nokhodi]

Don't give false hope to us man.

[mahestan]

Don't give false hope to us man.

With all the adversary TM faces, watch us make it out of the group stage...

At my old age, I might end up with a heart attack.

[St_Mark]

According to Farsnew
Next TM training camp will be held in a European country.
Austria is a candidate.

Farsnews

*-According to IFF SG, Austria remain the candidate for location of next match
*-TM to play two friendly games
*-Uruguay is one of the two
*-IFF need over one million dollars for these two games
*-IFF is the host and has to play about $700,000.00 to these teams plus expense.
*-IFF to name second opponent soon.