Iran - Saudi Post match comments

[yashar_fasihnia]

oh btw...our team still needs a lot of practice together and more coordination.
its clear we are not yet "jaoftadeh" and we need more gelling up to do. that comes through time and hopefully more friendly games.

[yashar_fasihnia]

interesting points guys and since most of us here have mentioned the points to be mentioned, i felt i could say something that hasnt been addressed much.

i just wanted to make a comment about nekounam and why he "appeared" to not have a very good game.

today, iran played 4-4-2, with 1 DM, javad nekounam. this was wat many of us, including myeslf, wanted from the beginning and there was even a long thread discussing it and comparing it with the 4-2-3-1 formation and using 2 DMs.

in my opinion, today, javad nekounam did his best and was on good form.
the problem was he had a lot of duties and responsiblities on his shoulder SIMPLY BECAUSE, the 2 midfielders on the 2 sides, zandi and teymourian were pathetic.

offensively, the 2 contributed nothing. so nekounam had to cover up for them as well in the offensive side of the game.

in defense also, teymourian did some contribution but zandi did none. again, "feshar miyumad ru javad nekounam".

also, these 2 players really played far away from nekounam and so, there were huge gaps in the middle which the saudis could exploit and nekounam alone couldnt cover it by himself.

i thank god nekounam is on top form again and was able to do his best on the field. IF he wasnt on top form like some months back and was just returning from and injury and had to play as single DM today, both him and TM would have been totally squashed by the saudis. this was precisely wat i argued for months back when we were playing UAE, syria and kuwait.

in my opinion, if daei wanted to play nekounam and zandi, he should have played 4-2-3-1. in this way, zandi would be playing upfront and have less defensive duties to do and concentrate only on offense while teymourian playing 2nd DM would have to focus only on destruction and defensive duties which he is good at. ball distribution would be more nekounams job and nekounam would have a bit more freedom to move infront and take long range shots.
not to mention, 4-2-3-1 is prehaps the best formation to cover all areas of the field and avoid leaving any gaps in the middle of the field for the opponent to exploit. that being said however, our lines and our players themselves, had huge gaps between them and hence, the saudis could pass us from line to line and from player to player through quick passing combinations. if our players and lines played closer to each other and moved up and down, left and right, more as a unit, rather than an individual player, then the saudis would have less space to move and pass around. thats exactly how most counter attacking teams, like north korea and jordan play. a compact, coordinated "unit" playing, rather than 11 individuals.

in this match, because nekounam was the only DM and there wasnt much defensive contribution from the other midfielders, he really didnt have the freedom to go infront during attack for headers or take shots from the rebounds or the crosses the saudis cleared.

or, we could play 4-4-2 today but either bench zandi and teymourian or somehow make them overcome their deficiencies. make zandi participate in defense as well (and make him physically fitter if thats his problem) and somehow increase teymourians concentration during passing.

these 2 players slowed down our offensive moves because of wrong passes and lack of movement and creating space.
but when madanchi and jabbari came in, our team became faster. madanchi is a speedy winger who runs a lot and runs fast thereby increasing the speed of the game, creating more space and at the same time, relieving his team mates off some pressure during offense and defense.
jabbari on the other hand, isnt as fast as madanchi, but is a quick thinker. in other words. he passes the ball around quickly, and passess well with good accuracy and to correct places. his passes are worthy because he hardly turns back in an offensive transition to make a back pass. he doesnt run out of ideas quickly. some players, like teymourian are like that. as soon as they dont see a real 100%chance for a pass, they dont know wat to do and pass back to nekounam or to the defender. this kills our offensive game and the speed of the team.

in my opinion, if we wanna play 4-4-2 with 1 DM, we need to bench teymourian. or if we really want him to play, try him as RB or LB. he can destruct well and has a lot of stamina, thereby making a lot of runs up and down the field. his crosses are also not bad and he can destruct the opponents game quite well.

about zandi, i like him, and i think he is a valuable asset, but for some reaosn, his contribution isnt enough, not atleast for a 90 minute player. we either need to bring him on as a substitute so he can bust his @$$ off in the remaining minutes he plays, or just assign him a highly offensive role with minimal defensive responsibilities, so he doesnt cost us much if he doesnt perform his defensive duties well.

overall, i think the saudis deserved to win, but hey, we didnt give up and we fought back and earned a point. good for us and th boys. im happy daei made good substitutions, except for khatibi. i think he could let rezai play.

and im glad he didnt play sadeghi at all today, so criticisms about him playing sadeghi (whether, correct or incorrect) would be reduced. and the substitions he made, he removed ando and played jabbari instead of sadeghi which means daei is not blindly playing sadeghi every chance he gets.

[Martin-Reza]

I never answered any of your criticisms toward TM up to now, because I wanted to wait for a tough match, now that we have played KSA, criticisms can be considered more valid.

Anyway, I donno how you watched our right midfield, but from what you wrote there is a paradox here, you say our right side didnt do anything, while you say Gholamnejad had a great game, you seem to ignore his penetrating runs into Saudi's def in second half, or his one-twos with Rezaei or Shojaei?

I mean how should a right side or right midfield performance be evaluated? just the performance of an individual in a strict spot which is seen on the paper?
In today's football its not like we put in a player in the right midfield spot and ask him to do right midfield stuff, spots are merely just names as any player on the right side or central midfield can start attacks and moves i.e Gholamnejad cooperations with Rezaei and Shojaei or even when Vahid came a little bit back on right pressure the Saudi's defense or get passes from Shojaei or Rezaei.

All in all rejecting all the work our right side did yesterday because you didnt like Shojaei is absurd, please try to cover up your bias in some more logical reasons because as we all know this is F+

How can you dare saying that? If we had Kazemian, Mobali, and Asadi, all playing RM at the same time of course, we would have won 27-0. And undoubtedly Zare did nothing right and Sadeghi's presence on the bench completely messed up our game.

Did I forget anything? Maybe Karimi would have scored a couple of hattricks as well. Unfortunately Azizi doesn't play anymore.

Too bad Daei is so damn stupid, but luckily we got a draw from underdogs Saudi Arabia in Riyadh.

[Masoud_A]

PART 1 -

I never answered any of your criticisms toward TM up to now, because I wanted to wait for a tough match, now that we have played KSA, criticisms can be considered more valid.

Anyway, I donno how you watched our right midfield, but from what you wrote there is a paradox here, you say our right side didnt do anything, while you say Gholamnejad had a great game, you seem to ignore his penetrating runs into Saudi's def in second half, or his one-twos with Rezaei or Shojaei?

I mean how should a right side or right midfield performance be evaluated? just the performance of an individual in a strict spot which is seen on the paper?
In today's football its not like we put in a player in the right midfield spot and ask him to do right midfield stuff, spots are merely just names as any player on the right side or central midfield can start attacks and moves i.e Gholamnejad cooperations with Rezaei and Shojaei or even when Vahid came a little bit back on right pressure the Saudi's defense or get passes from Shojaei or Rezaei.

All in all rejecting all the work our right side did yesterday because you didnt like Shojaei is absurd, please try to cover up your bias in some more logical reasons because as we all know this is F+

[gol_kuchik]

Nokhodi Jan, I agree with all of your post. Reading some of the comments
I think some people were watching a different game.

But here is several points from me:

1-First, the engine of our team is Kaebi. I think until 3 days before the
game, it was not certain that he is suspended. If you saw slowlness on
the right that's pretty much due to his absence. NO ONE can play the role
of the back on the right that transitions to attack in a 4-2-3-1 like Kaebi in Iran period.

2-Unlike Gholamnejad, a player like Zareh who has had sooooo many chances
playing in that position, was not very sharp and failed to even press.
Zandi did not do much either, but we all agree he is not playing his position,
but what was Zares excuse? Let's not forget he was presuing the player
that actually created the assisst for the goal, and got tricked by him several
times.

3-I do think there was significant difference on how players tried to clear
the ball in the box and the back field. Unlike many times in the past rather
than just kicking the ball there were short passes, which appeared to be
by design and generally worked a lot better than when the just kicked the
the ball to the middle of the field only to see the opposing team return with
the ball.

4-Yes our left side is worse than I imagined. Let's not forget the other
attack from the left that was very nicely saved by Rahmati, Zare blew that
cover as well. I think Daei did not want to experiment with replacing both
left and right back and once Kaebi returns hopefully Zareh will be replaced.

5-I have no idea why Khatebee was there, apparently Daei had made a joke
about Tabriz which was picked up by reporters and as a concession he
put him in. (Daei is from Aradbil and the East-West Azarbaijans don't exactly
see eye to eye) That is my only explanation, although frankly we are really
weak in that position and poor Vahid is left all by himself.

6.Was it me thinking this or did we actually gave soooo much space in the
middle field? Saudi's went unchallenged often after 2 or 3 touches! It
got much better in second half, but still room for a lot of improvment.

7.Rezai did not play well and had a number of weak passes in the SAs box.
Still he did the same in the first Syria games but recovered nicely later so
he may need more time.

8.Our players fitness was very good, At least compared to Saudi's. This
reminded me of the game against Jordan where we won 2-0 and scored
both goals after 75 min once they ran out of energy.

9.Our defence can really really benefit from a quality friendly game against a
worthy opponent. We just seem to have too much lack of communication or
misunderstanding between Jalali and Aghili and the other two backs.

My player rating:

Rahmati: Very nice saves, good composure nice initial kicks. Once again
the best we got.

Gholamnejad: 4.0 With little experience with TM he did ok, but since Kaebi
is very yello card prone, someone more solid is needed in this position.

Jalali: 3 good performance needs to sync up more with Aghili.

Aghili: 3 first save by Rahmati was partially his blown coverage (I think)

Zareh: 4.5 He ain't getting better time to think about alternatives

Ando: 4.0 Not as effective runner as we know he can be, Fulham is not
doing him good

Nekou: 3.0 some bad passes by overall who can argue with goal scorer.

Shojaei: 3.0 Common he is becoming Karimi but runs a lot more

Zandi: 4.0 Needs to change something about his prep. Nekou should have
let him take the shot though and that could have changed his fortune.

Rezai: 4.0 Not very effective, bad passes but I think he will get better in
this round just like last round. Is anyone teaching these players how to
take a shot?

Speaking of which, we had no shot taken from 15 meter + (except for that
Khatibi thing), why is that? This can really open defences but I guess we
don't have any shot takers like Bagheri. Nekou did not even try or had
no chance to try.

Vaheed: 3.0 He particpated in defence and in offence there was not much
coming his way, still he tried to create opportunity, and perhaps after his
header he drew too many saudi defenders on him later which helped Nekou score.

Subs:
I really like Jabbari's contribution as well as Madanchis, they both get 3.0
and Khatibi makes me speechless.

I just hope we will see well constructed goal like the Saudis in one of our games.
======================================

I think Saudis have a record of no loss at home that spans several years.
The 1-1 draw was a good result for TM and coach Daei. We did get lucky
in my mind but still the result matters. The next game against N.Korea
will be key on how we can move forward. As we saw today,
7 of our 14 players are legioners, so it is very hard to get a TEAM ready when
you have 50% of the team only 72 hours prior to a game.

[Hadi]

I think you've mad some good observations and have put some good thoughts into your analysis...unlike others who use a lot of emotions.
However, respectfully I disagree with some of your comments, especially # 4, as I think our boys were not really intense and stressed today, solely because of ALI DAEI being the boss. I think they all looked pretty confident and fought till the end. I've seen far worse games from TM, when you can totally see fear in players' faces.
Also, for your point# 3, I think the only player who might be worth calling up to TM is Kazemian (RIGHT NOW) ........yes, of course Mahdavikia was amazing, but now he lacks the speed he used to have...the only position he can play is right defender and we got Kaebi and Gholamnezhad for that. Nikbakht can be pretty good, but he's got weight and fitness problem too and thus not that fast at all......that said, I honestly think he is not any worse than other playes, perhaps he can be used as a super sub, instead of crabby Khatibi

Thanks for the reply.

what i mean by unpreparedness, i mean they were not psychologically prepared to withstand the first 30 minutes of Saudi pressure. it was as if they didn't expect it! the number of times they gave away the ball was evidence to this. when you are under huge pressure, you try to escape by either clearing the ball long or playing a few quick passes to tire the opponent or find a free player. All our players did were either to dribble and lose the ball, make bad passes or pass the ball to another player under pressure!

about Kazemian, I think calling up Kazemian and others is not the issue. ACTUALLY using them is the issue. I don't want to see kazemian or any other player called up but when it comes to the match itself, players like Teymorian get to play again.

[avicenna 18]

I was not pleased with the performance of our team. I've said it once, and I'll say it again, Iran needs to develop the ability to maintain possession of the ball. This is a fundamental aspect of quality football; perhaps the most basic starting point. It is one which we have failed to master.
Saudi Arabia, although a decent Asian side, is nothing compared to European heavyweights like Portugal and Spain. When we play strong sides like this(see the WC),a and continue to concede so many turnovers, it is difficult to probe the opposition's defence, to exhibit their weaknesses.
Although I am reluctant to name individuals(as it is, largely, a problem with our football system) Andranik Teymourian's performance was especially disappointing in this regard. Although he is supremely fit, his inaccurate and haphazard passing are a hindrance. Sitting on the bench for such a lengthy period at the club level is, rather obviously, the major cause of his poor decision-making.
Daei's performances against Kuwait and Syria, in the last two WCQ impressed me, as he seemed to be developing a system of possession football. Unfortunately, today, TM was unable to achieve this important first step. Daei must go back to the drawing board and pinpoint the reasons for this.

I agree with you on the possession of ball thing......Especially in our defense line and in transition to midfield and forward, there was no game plan whatsoever.......a problem we've had for a very long time.

I can't count how many times Aghili, Hossein lost the ball and/or just aimlessly sent the ball to other half...quite annoying!!

[avicenna 18]

Thank god we have F+ forum for times like this.
I have to admit, we ESCAPED with 1 point from Arabia. We were on our way to come home with 0 points and it certainly looked that way, until we scored a purely incidental goal from a corner kick.
As i said in the previous thread, as expected, TM played an unorganized and disappointing match. In order to delve deep and find the reasons behind this, I would like to categorize our problems in to two categories:
* Problems directly related to Daie and coaching staff
* Problems beyond the control of Daie
Problems directly related to Daie and coaching staff
1- Tactics: When Ali Daie sat the throne of TM, he repeatedly said that he is going to make many changes, he has his own style, he will not give guaranteed spots to big names, etc etc etc etc....
But what we saw yesterday, went against all that he claimed. That TM, looked and played like any other TM in the past two years with no changes at all. The team played with the same old players (except for Gholamnejad who only played because Kaebi was out). The tactics was also exactly the same.
2-Game Plan
What was our game plan? can anyone say? I don't think so. Why? because there were no game plans. Do you remember how we played against Mexico? How we played Japan in 2006 WCQ? in each one, we had a game plan. This time, it was as if our team was playing a friendly with no instructions at all!
Our game plan should have been simple. Pressure pressure pressure in the first half. clearing the ball fast from our own half. Organized and tight man to man defense. Sending long balls to one or two quick players upfront for a few counter attacks. basically Daie could have called any top coach and asked:
"excuse me, what game plan does your team have when they are playing in a critical match, away from home, with a strong opponent, and are looking for just 1 point?"
3- Player selection:
Ali Daie was supposedly playing with a 4-5-1 or a 4-4-1-1 system which changed to 4-4-2 in the end. But did he select the right tools for this tactic??? certainly not. Any football fan knows that a 4-4 system relies HEAVILY on wingers and wing backs. these players should have certain attributes: fast, good crossing ability, good stamina, ability to run with ball and continuously overlap the wing and send crosses into the box from the corners.
Which Iranian (TM level) players fit that description well these days?
-Mahdavikia
-Kazemian
-Madanchi
-Nikbakht (at least he used to)
-Kaebi
so as you can see we don't have that many options to start with. Still, Daie refused to use ANY of those players and went with Zandi and Teymorian instead. Teymorian is so awful that he deserves a TM bench spot at most. Zandi is simply not built for the wing position...simple as that.
as a result our attacking power, from the wings was ZERO. without strong wings in a 4-4-2 system, you literally lose your ability to plan any attacks.
Daie did well to partially solve this problem with his substitutions but that was not enough. For those who say we don't need Mahdavikia on our right, think again.
4-Psychological readiness:
Daie has played Saudi Arabia numerous times. He has also played in many critical WCQ matches. Still, I was surprised to see our players affected by the atmosphere and psychologically lost. Our players were nervous. they didn't know what they wanted. It was as if they didn't expect such pressure and such atmosphere!! Daie should have addressed this issue. He should have explained to them that Saudi would come in with guns blazing, and our job is just to act like a levy against a hurricane-Coolly hold and deflect the pressure.
* Problems beyond the control of Daie
1-Lack of friendlies: Lack of preparation is so obvious in this team, that a blind old man can see it from miles away. It is a HELL for an unprepared team to suddenly play Saudi at their own home. Was anyone able to count more than 2 passes by our players in the first half?? the way Nekonam, Teymorian, Aghili, Zare, Zandi and Gholamnejad gave away the ball was pathetic. Individually, our players were also affected by lack of preparation. Their ball control, vision, technique and defending had gone down to a 3rd class Asian team.
Saudi on the other hand, had come in prepared. Their players could have found each other with blindfolds on. Their passing was crisp, their technique was superior to us and they eventually got their goal. The only thing was that I felt Saudi was a bit afraid of our name and was very very cautious. And in the second half, they turned off their engines completely letting us a degree of control over the match. They also had some fitness issues. Had the game gone on for another 20 minutes, their players would have collapsed on the pitch
2-Surprisingly weak performance by few key players. Namely, Nekonam, Zandi and Hashemian. Nekonam wasn't the general he used to be. His play making was minimal and even in defending, he looked lost! Zandi was not in shape physically. Hashemian tried hard as usual but he was all alone upfront. He missed one 100% chance which proves why he is in a goalscoring drought.
I can only name Shojaie and Rahmati was those who did relatively well. Notice that both players rely heavily on individual skill.
---------------------------------------------------
What now?
we got a golden result. Just like in 2006 WCQ , we started with a draw away from home and just like in 2002 WCQ, we ran away with a draw from Saudi.
All that remains is for us to win all our home games and take a couple of draws away from home. But this is easier said than done. Ali Daie needs to seriosuly rethink his player selection. I am not saying he HAS no use Karimi or Kia. NO. he can use whoever he wants. But he has to decide NOW. no point in inviting 50 players but then playing with the same old players when the big day comes.
Is he going to use Teymorian just because he plays in Engalnd? is he going to stubbornly select Saipa players in his rooster? How is he planning on making full use of Nekonam and Shojaie in his team? what are his plans for the wings? how about our strikers? Is Khatibi even good enough for IPL level? are strikers like Meydavoodi or Rafkhahi able to play at international level?
Is Aghili good enough for TM (I don't think so). Isn't it time to give Nosrati. Shakouri, or others a chance? Will he go on searching for a few motivated, talented and in-from footballers in our league (like GR Rezaie)? How is he going to prepare the team psychologically? Will he change his attitude towards the press, fans, and critics and admit that there is work to be done and there are changes to be made...or is he going to come back, more stubborn and proud than ever and boast about the performance and the result???
And most importantly:
HOW IS HE PLANNING TO GET THE 3 POINTS IN AZADI? Is he going to rely on luck and incidents? or does he actually have a plan to get the 3 points with minimum risk (the way Branko did it)

I think you've mad some good observations and have put some good thoughts into your analysis...unlike others who use a lot of emotions.

However, respectfully I disagree with some of your comments, especially # 4, as I think our boys were not really intense and stressed today, solely because of ALI DAEI being the boss. I think they all looked pretty confident and fought till the end. I've seen far worse games from TM, when you can totally see fear in players' faces.

Also, for your point# 3, I think the only player who might be worth calling up to TM is Kazemian (RIGHT NOW) ........yes, of course Mahdavikia was amazing, but now he lacks the speed he used to have...the only position he can play is right defender and we got Kaebi and Gholamnezhad for that. Nikbakht can be pretty good, but he's got weight and fitness problem too and thus not that fast at all......that said, I honestly think he is not any worse than other playes, perhaps he can be used as a super sub, instead of crabby Khatibi

[Hadi]

Thank god we have F+ forum for times like this.

I have to admit, we ESCAPED with 1 point from Arabia. We were on our way to come home with 0 points and it certainly looked that way, until we scored a purely incidental goal from a corner kick.

As i said in the previous thread, as expected, TM played an unorganized and disappointing match. In order to delve deep and find the reasons behind this, I would like to categorize our problems in to two categories:
* Problems directly related to Daie and coaching staff
* Problems beyond the control of Daie

Problems directly related to Daie and coaching staff

1- Tactics: When Ali Daie sat the throne of TM, he repeatedly said that he is going to make many changes, he has his own style, he will not give guaranteed spots to big names, etc etc etc etc....
But what we saw yesterday, went against all that he claimed. That TM, looked and played like any other TM in the past two years with no changes at all. The team played with the same old players (except for Gholamnejad who only played because Kaebi was out). The tactics was also exactly the same.

2-Game Plan
What was our game plan? can anyone say? I don't think so. Why? because there were no game plans. Do you remember how we played against Mexico? How we played Japan in 2006 WCQ? in each one, we had a game plan. This time, it was as if our team was playing a friendly with no instructions at all!
Our game plan should have been simple. Pressure pressure pressure in the first half. clearing the ball fast from our own half. Organized and tight man to man defense. Sending long balls to one or two quick players upfront for a few counter attacks. basically Daie could have called any top coach and asked:
"excuse me, what game plan does your team have when they are playing in a critical match, away from home, with a strong opponent, and are looking for just 1 point?"

3- Player selection:
Ali Daie was supposedly playing with a 4-5-1 or a 4-4-1-1 system which changed to 4-4-2 in the end. But did he select the right tools for this tactic??? certainly not. Any football fan knows that a 4-4 system relies HEAVILY on wingers and wing backs. these players should have certain attributes: fast, good crossing ability, good stamina, ability to run with ball and continuously overlap the wing and send crosses into the box from the corners.
Which Iranian (TM level) players fit that description well these days?
-Mahdavikia
-Kazemian
-Madanchi
-Nikbakht (at least he used to)
-Kaebi
so as you can see we don't have that many options to start with. Still, Daie refused to use ANY of those players and went with Zandi and Teymorian instead. Teymorian is so awful that he deserves a TM bench spot at most. Zandi is simply not built for the wing position...simple as that.
as a result our attacking power, from the wings was ZERO. without strong wings in a 4-4-2 system, you literally lose your ability to plan any attacks.
Daie did well to partially solve this problem with his substitutions but that was not enough. For those who say we don't need Mahdavikia on our right, think again.

4-Psychological readiness:
Daie has played Saudi Arabia numerous times. He has also played in many critical WCQ matches. Still, I was surprised to see our players affected by the atmosphere and psychologically lost. Our players were nervous. they didn't know what they wanted. It was as if they didn't expect such pressure and such atmosphere!! Daie should have addressed this issue. He should have explained to them that Saudi would come in with guns blazing, and our job is just to act like a levee against a hurricane-Coolly hold and deflect the pressure.



* Problems beyond the control of Daie
1-Lack of friendlies: Lack of preparation is so obvious in this team, that a blind old man can see it from miles away. It is a HELL for an unprepared team to suddenly play Saudi at their own home. Was anyone able to count more than 2 passes by our players in the first half?? the way Nekonam, Teymorian, Aghili, Zare, Zandi and Gholamnejad gave away the ball was pathetic. Individually, our players were also affected by lack of preparation. Their ball control, vision, technique and defending had gone down to a 3rd class Asian team.
Saudi on the other hand, had come in prepared. Their players could have found each other with blindfolds on. Their passing was crisp, their technique was superior to us and they eventually got their goal. The only thing was that I felt Saudi was a bit afraid of our name and was very very cautious. And in the second half, they turned off their engines completely letting us a degree of control over the match. They also had some fitness issues. Had the game gone on for another 20 minutes, their players would have collapsed on the pitch

2-Surprisingly weak performance by few key players. Namely, Nekonam, Zandi and Hashemian. Nekonam wasn't the general he used to be. His play making was minimal and even in defending, he looked lost! Zandi was not in shape physically. Hashemian tried hard as usual but he was all alone upfront. He missed one 100% chance which proves why he is in a goalscoring drought.
I can only name Shojaie and Rahmati as those who did relatively well. Notice that both players rely heavily on individual skill.

---------------------------------------------------
What now?
we got a golden result. Just like in 2006 WCQ , we started with a draw away from home and just like in 2002 WCQ, we ran away with a draw from Saudi.
All that remains is for us to win all our home games and take a couple of draws away from home. But this is easier said than done. Ali Daie needs to seriosuly rethink his player selection. I am not saying he HAS TO use Karimi or Kia. NO. he can use whoever he wants. But he has to decide NOW. no point in inviting 50 players but then playing with the same old players when the big day comes.
Is he going to use Teymorian just because he plays in Engalnd? is he going to stubbornly select Saipa players in his rooster? How is he planning on making full use of Nekonam and Shojaie in his team? what are his plans for the wings? how about our strikers? Is Khatibi even good enough for IPL level? are strikers like Meydavoodi or Rafkhahi able to play at international level?
Is Aghili good enough for TM (I don't think so). Isn't it time to give Nosrati. Shakouri, or others a chance? Will he go on searching for a few motivated, talented and in-from footballers in our league (like GR Rezaie)? How is he going to prepare the team psychologically? Will he change his attitude towards the press, fans, and critics and admit that there is work to be done and there are changes to be made...or is he going to come back, more stubborn and proud than ever and boast about the performance and the result???

And most importantly:
HOW IS HE PLANNING TO GET THE 3 POINTS IN AZADI? Is he going to rely on luck and incidents? or does he actually have a plan to get the 3 points with minimum risk (the way Branko did it)

[Nokhodi]

Going off topic a bit, I would never rule out Saudi Arabia. Remember in 2001 after Iran beat Saudi 2-0, they fired their head coach and were looking in terrible shape. They bought in Al-Johar who in the end got them into WC 2002. Even whey the play bad they get the results they need. To them its not about playing good or bad, its about winning.
And I think they will beat South Korea. Saudi Arabia has consistently had South Korean's number in Asia. For WC 2006 qualification they absolutely walked over South Korea.



And Dr. Doom, please go back and watch the game again, Shojaei played great. He was the only one in the attack (until Jabbari came in) who was getting good passes in, holding the ball well,...
I know some of us maybe want to see Karimi in that position, but watch the game again and you'll see that maybe you are a bit harsh on Shojaei.


Also Ali Chicago, you are right about Zandi. Although I don't believe that he doesn't defend because he doesn't know how to, but rather because he is not in good shape and simply can't keep up with the rest. I would rather have him play in the Persian Gulf Cup than Cyprus.

[Ali Chicago]

I was not pleased with the performance of our team. I've said it once, and I'll say it again, Iran needs to develop the ability to maintain possession of the ball. This is a fundamental aspect of quality football; perhaps the most basic starting point. It is one which we have failed to master.
Saudi Arabia, although a decent Asian side, is nothing compared to European heavyweights like Portugal and Spain. When we play strong sides like this(see the WC),a and continue to concede so many turnovers, it is difficult to probe the opposition's defence, to exhibit their weaknesses.
Although I am reluctant to name individuals(as it is, largely, a problem with our football system) Andranik Teymourian's performance was especially disappointing in this regard. Although he is supremely fit, his inaccurate and haphazard passing are a hindrance. Sitting on the bench for such a lengthy period at the club level is, rather obviously, the major cause of his poor decision-making.
Daei's performances against Kuwait and Syria, in the last two WCQ impressed me, as he seemed to be developing a system of possession football. Unfortunately, today, TM was unable to achieve this important first step. Daei must go back to the drawing board and pinpoint the reasons for this.

Regina Jaan;

When you plays against weaker teams, everybody plays great and none of the ugly points shows up. Remember what a wake up was when our TM played in the WC 2006.

What was a heart break, was the fact that our TM can't maintain ball possesion as soon as the opponent start pressing our team. I am so worried how we will do against North and South Korea, those guys run like hell for the 90 minutes not like Saudis for only 50-60 minutes.

[Ali Chicago]

ali jan, why shd I not like if it is the truth?
in today's game, and especially the goal, you are correct. zandi screwed up far more than zareh in leaving his mark. ( that's why although the goal came off the left side, I did not blame zareh for it ).
so I'm fair, buddy.
but let me ask you this Q :
has zandi been playing all the TM games in the past 2-3 months as well ?
so while zareh gets a "free pass" in today's goal, on the whole, he was, once again, a very poor player in the squad and had far more negatives than positives .... as usual.
He was only saved just becoz ando REALLY SUCKED today and gets the worst player award.
I wonder exactly how many games shd a player under-perform for the coach to bench him?
what is the magic number?
3 ?
5 ?
7 ?
more ? how many ?

I know Payman Jaan, it was a rhethorical comment on my behalf. Zaree today IMO was one of our better players to be honest. Much better than Gholamnezhad. Do you recall when Gholamnezhad peneterated in the second half and lost the ball next to the corner flag of KSA team. KSA team had a counter, right from our right flank (his position) created a danger on our goal, our defense partially cleared the ball, Nekoo lost the ball again and they attacked agian and Still no sign of him. Zaree runs back and forth badbakht. I know it is comparing between bad and worse and worst maybe. But compared to our other defender (Bengar, Hosseini, Aghili, Gholamnezhad and even Kaabi), zaree is at the same level.

I wish he used his brain more often. He has the potential. Maybe we really need to give Ale Nemeh a chance. Don't get me wrong, not saying Zare is great but relatively to other defenders he is the same "gol"!!!

[RaginG Inferno]

I was not pleased with the performance of our team. I've said it once, and I'll say it again, Iran needs to develop the ability to maintain possession of the ball. This is a fundamental aspect of quality football; perhaps the most basic starting point. It is one which we have failed to master.

Saudi Arabia, although a decent Asian side, is nothing compared to European heavyweights like Portugal and Spain. When we play strong sides like this(see the WC),a and continue to concede so many turnovers, it is difficult to probe the opposition's defence, to exhibit their weaknesses.

Although I am reluctant to name individuals(as it is, largely, a problem with our football system) Andranik Teymourian's performance was especially disappointing in this regard. Although he is supremely fit, his inaccurate and haphazard passing are a hindrance. Sitting on the bench for such a lengthy period at the club level is, rather obviously, the major cause of his poor decision-making.

Daei's performances against Kuwait and Syria, in the last two WCQ impressed me, as he seemed to be developing a system of possession football. Unfortunately, today, TM was unable to achieve this important first step. Daei must go back to the drawing board and pinpoint the reasons for this.

[Doctor DOOM]

ali jan, why shd I not like if it is the truth?
in today's game, and especially the goal, you are correct. zandi screwed up far more than zareh in leaving his mark. ( that's why although the goal came off the left side, I did not blame zareh for it ).
so I'm fair, buddy.

but let me ask you this Q :
has zandi been playing all the TM games in the past 2-3 months as well ?
so while zareh gets a "free pass" in today's goal, on the whole, he was, once again, a very poor player in the squad and had far more negatives than positives .... as usual.
He was only saved just becoz ando REALLY SUCKED today and gets the worst player award.

I wonder exactly how many games shd a player under-perform for the coach to bench him?
what is the magic number?
3 ?
5 ?
7 ?
more ? how many ?

[Ali Chicago]

Payman Jaan;

You many not like what I write, but to be honest one reason, Zare looks so bad is Zandis' lack fo particpation in defense. Shayan20 posted the screen shot of the KSA goal, on the overlap where Zare had to pick one guy, Zandi 3 yards for our 18 yard box walks off and doesn't chase the number 7 of KSA. I can't beleive a professional player in an away home be so indifferent toward defensive duties.

The man is a left footed player but be khoda ghasam he is a not left mid. He is a fantasy player, who has no interest to get down and dirty (tackle, hassel).

To me it was a draw between Ando and Zandi. But to be hoenst both of these player are being used out of their own position in the TM and that is why, the underperform so bad. Ando second half comapred to first half was a bit better, because he was in the center.

Good subs by mr. Daie, excpet he should have pulled Ando faster and keep Rezai IMO for what it worth.

For the life of me, I don't undrestand why our team has to fall behind to start to play. Maybe our team should start the game 1-0 before the starting whistle.

This KSA team probably won't go far agaisnt N. Korea or south Korea. They aren't that fit and have a really poor coach. They for 50 minutes pressured the ball carrier and press us hard and I guess after that, they just died down (it is either their lack of fitness or bad mental attitude or poor coaching by Jowhar or all of the above).

Jowhars' sub to pull Alshoob and bringing number 6 (a defensiev move) and then subbing 11 with Yasar Ghahtani didn't make any sense. If it is a defenisve subs, one expect pulling 7 or 11 out and addition of a defensive player. Alshaloob was their play maker when he was out, KSA team died.

Our defense did a really poor job. Huge spaces between lb and rb and centeral defenders. Defense did'nt push forward on attack, so there was a huge gap between the mids and forwards.

We are really lucky ref didn't call the PK.

One thing I give the Coachign staff a very good mark is change of tactic and subs in the second half. Note even before subs, Shojai went to the RM and actually pushed forward quite a bit almost same level as Hashemian. Ando came to the middle.

Not sure we were playing 4-1-3-2 or 4-1-4-1 or 4-4-2 or a combination of.

Important thing is we got one point and cograts to every player, coaching staff and fans.