Is there an ego, lobbying, and "gang" problem in TM?

[AhuraMazda1]

Hello all, this has been on my mind for some time now and I’m not sure if it’s been addressed here in a significant sense.

I get the impression that there is an unhealthy popularity contest and gang mentality prevalent in TM consisting of players such as Taremi, Jahanbakhsh, Ansarifard and a few others.

My evidence of this consists of players like Azmoun publicly ridiculing Rezaian when the latter was prepping for a return to the squad; the at the time in-form player Siavash Yazdani being dropped by Skocic which coincidently happened right after he fell out with the controversy-laden Kananizadegan; the infamous Instagram “story-gate” debacle that once again brought to the forefront issues between TM personalities and groups; how some players schemed behind the scenes to oust Skocic whilst others lobbied for him; the body language of players such as Taremi towards Mohebbi; the perceived egotistical nature of players such as Hajisafi and Jahanbakhsh to be the player to shoot, take the corner, take the FK etc.

Now, I do believe some players are potentially self-policing such as Taremi and Azmoun (who showed signs of tension in the past during the story-gate issue) to ensure there is some sort of truce between the groups but this could be short-lived.

I don’t like seeing these signs and I worry this will eventually lead to major impasse perhaps during the AC or right after. I’m uncertain when this pattern started but I suspect when the unpopular Khalatbari was sidelined by Queiroz when he was arguably the best Iranian player at the time.

Is there an ego, lobbying, and gang problem in TM? I welcome your thoughts!

[Azmoun_shireh]

My personal opinion is that players like AJ and Taremi who have played under CQ and in top-level European football are trying to instil some professionalism and be the leaders, however, with most things in Iran they're probably dealing with resistance from the IPL bache naneh players.

This is what happens when you have a weak coach and this includes GN, having a mafia entourage further showcases your weakness.

[perspolis#1]

I suspect there is a combination of all 3 in TM.

Ego--> Our TM players ego is higher now than ever before. Even our 1998 team with what is perceived as the OG hard headed "men" of our football none of them had egos like this. Blame social media.

Gang--> I'm sure that element is there although in the past we have had Persepolis/Esteghlal division in TM and still operated.

Lobbying--> I always assumed there is deep lobbying in our football for certain players, coaches etc and unless we go out and jail/kill/trial some nameless top level government officials who make it happen we can't change it.

Of course with the former two it takes strong captainlike qualities in at least 1-2 players to fix it.

I see the trend in Manchester United now also where body language is clearly seen by Martial complaining about pressing when Ten Hag tells him to, or players looking at each other and trying to shift blame in case they get scapegoated next. Someone who pushes them to perform at highest level and put the petty stuff aside. A Bagheri, Keane, Viera like player with attitude does this but we don't have this.

Our Captains are bebakhshid googooly magooly and cant instill discipline.

GN has a decent record of disciplinarian but the issues here might be more complex and I dont think he relates to the players as they are new generation

[AhuraMazda1]

My personal opinion is that players like AJ and Taremi who have played under CQ and in top-level European football are trying to instil some professionalism and be the leaders, however, with most things in Iran they're probably dealing with resistance from the IPL bache naneh players.

This is what happens when you have a weak coach and this includes GN, having a mafia entourage further showcases your weakness.

Interesting take, although I do feel these two players have played a role during various instances in instilling what could be argued to be a toxic environment in TM.

[arj42]

I suspect there is a combination of all 3 in TM.

Ego--> Our TM players ego is higher now than ever before. Even our 1998 team with what is perceived as the OG hard headed "men" of our football none of them had egos like this. Blame social media.

Gang--> I'm sure that element is there although in the past we have had Persepolis/Esteghlal division in TM and still operated.

Lobbying--> I always assumed there is deep lobbying in our football for certain players, coaches etc and unless we go out and jail/kill/trial some nameless top level government officials who make it happen we can't change it.

Of course with the former two it takes strong captainlike qualities in at least 1-2 players to fix it.

I see the trend in Manchester United now also where body language is clearly seen by Martial complaining about pressing when Ten Hag tells him to, or players looking at each other and trying to shift blame in case they get scapegoated next. Someone who pushes them to perform at highest level and put the petty stuff aside. A Bagheri, Keane, Viera like player with attitude does this but we don't have this.

Our Captains are bebakhshid googooly magooly and cant instill discipline.

GN has a decent record of disciplinarian but the issues here might be more complex and I dont think he relates to the players as they are new generation

Bebakhshid googly magooly 🤣🤣🤣🤣

[AhuraMazda1]

I suspect there is a combination of all 3 in TM.

Ego--> Our TM players ego is higher now than ever before. Even our 1998 team with what is perceived as the OG hard headed "men" of our football none of them had egos like this. Blame social media.

Gang--> I'm sure that element is there although in the past we have had Persepolis/Esteghlal division in TM and still operated.

Lobbying--> I always assumed there is deep lobbying in our football for certain players, coaches etc and unless we go out and jail/kill/trial some nameless top level government officials who make it happen we can't change it.

Of course with the former two it takes strong captainlike qualities in at least 1-2 players to fix it.

I see the trend in Manchester United now also where body language is clearly seen by Martial complaining about pressing when Ten Hag tells him to, or players looking at each other and trying to shift blame in case they get scapegoated next. Someone who pushes them to perform at highest level and put the petty stuff aside. A Bagheri, Keane, Viera like player with attitude does this but we don't have this.

Our Captains are bebakhshid googooly magooly and cant instill discipline.

GN has a decent record of disciplinarian but the issues here might be more complex and I dont think he relates to the players as they are new generation

I agree, we need leaders in this squad. Minus Omid Ebrahimi, I don't see real bi-hashiye, pahlevoon, looti characteristics in this team. IMO, Azmoun is one of the culprits of a toxic TM but I credit him at least with trying to fake this persona with his "man mardam" quotes in every interview he does which is cringy but suggests somebody is constantly in his ear telling him to grow up a bit.

[Hosseini]

Team lacks major leadership. Mehdi and AJB probably are the best in that respect, Azmoun has shown it at times at well but nothing consistent

That's too bad since even when the team wasn't great talent wise, we always had pretty good leaders, like Nekounam, Ashkan, Ando, Seyed Jalal

[Nokhodi]

There are always egos and gangs or "bands" as we call them in TM.
Its inevitable with a individualistic culture like ours, combined with 23 very good athletes who all have their own ideas.

You definitely need a strong leader.
Nekounam was able to handle things like this.

Even strong personalities like Daei were not great captains (but great players).
Or someone like Bagheri who became a strong presence on the bench, was extremely sensitive during his playing days.

Out of the batch now the best leader is probably JB, or even PAG. The rest just don't have it.

[DR Strangemoosh]

Yes there is and it started with just one person - Branko Ivankovic.

Ciro didn't allow it, but this guy Branko fostered the factions - my only guess is that he thought it would make players more competitive or something.

That whole culture has remained after all these years and now just like then we have these little groups which don't speak to each other, even before Mahsa murder.

When we say that this guy poisoned the soil, it wasn't from just one or two perspectives. Hopefully some people involved in the future of Iran's football understood that with the pre-game Kanaani/Khalilzadeh etc... politics for Iran-England. Once the soil is poisoned...

[The]

There are always egos and gangs or "bands" as we call them in TM.
Its inevitable with a individualistic culture like ours, combined with 23 very good athletes who all have their own ideas.

You definitely need a strong leader.
Nekounam was able to handle things like this.

Even strong personalities like Daei were not great captains (but great players).
Or someone like Bagheri who became a strong presence on the bench, was extremely sensitive during his playing days.

Out of the batch now the best leader is probably JB, or even PAG. The rest just don't have it.

JB is a great locker room presence but I don't see him ever being "authority figure". He has a strong personality, but it's more on the playful side. Kind of like Ando.


Even in his future, I think he will make much better of an assistant coach than a manager.

The Nekunam types are rare to come by in our football. Most are either too passive or too hot-headed.

[AhuraMazda1]

There are always egos and gangs or "bands" as we call them in TM.
Its inevitable with a individualistic culture like ours, combined with 23 very good athletes who all have their own ideas.

You definitely need a strong leader.
Nekounam was able to handle things like this.

Even strong personalities like Daei were not great captains (but great players).
Or someone like Bagheri who became a strong presence on the bench, was extremely sensitive during his playing days.

Out of the batch now the best leader is probably JB, or even PAG. The rest just don't have it.

Absolutely, I feel we are forced to pick from a bad bunch. JB or PAG could be that but as The suggested, these guys are the playful types, I would add the most popular players alongside Beiro but certainly not leadership material. Taremi is the most powerful figure but far too divisive and hasheye-prone.

I really hope I'm not being hyperbolic here but I really think this issue will come to bite us and bite us badly! And perhaps we are only seeing a certain percentage of the drama, GN when he came in kept referencing hashiye-sazi around the team etc. It could be that inside the locker room there is some serious tension that is being contained. Not trying to be too forensic here but did you guys notice the exaggerated Azmoun passes to Taremi in recent TM games when he himself had better scoring opportunities? It feels like an act of appeasement to the "bigger lion" and not truly an act of altruism from Azmoun.

[The]

Absolutely, I feel we are forced to pick from a bad bunch. JB or PAG could be that but as The suggested, these guys are the playful types, I would add the most popular players alongside Beiro but certainly not leadership material. Taremi is the most powerful figure but far too divisive and hasheye-prone.

I really hope I'm not being hyperbolic here but I really think this issue will come to bite us and bite us badly! And perhaps we are only seeing a certain percentage of the drama, GN when he came in kept referencing hashiye-sazi around the team etc. It could be that inside the locker room there is some serious tension that is being contained. Not trying to be too forensic here but did you guys notice the exaggerated Azmoun passes to Taremi in recent TM games when he himself had better scoring opportunities? It feels like an act of appeasement to the "bigger lion" and not truly an act of altruism from Azmoun.

I might be psychoanalysing too much, but I think at least for the future generation, we have two potential leaders.

Hosseinnejad seems to be very mature. He has a leader's "swag".
Just the way he conducts himself on the pitch is levels above a peer like Salmani.

The other is Andarz. From what we saw of his in the world cup he is also mature for his age. Only thing is that he seems like the type that might occasionally lose his cool.

Khodabandelou was also a potential leader of the next generation, but he seems to have fallen off in the past year or so and doesn't seem like will be a regular TM player.

[AhuraMazda1]

I might be psychoanalysing too much, but I think at least for the future generation, we have two potential leaders.

Hosseinnejad seems to be very mature. He has a leader's "swag".
Just the way he conducts himself on the pitch is levels above a peer like Salmani.

The other is Andarz. From what we saw of his in the world cup he is also mature for his age. Only thing is that he seems like the type that might occasionally lose his cool.

Khodabandelou was also a potential leader of the next generation, but he seems to have fallen off in the past year or so and doesn't seem like will be a regular TM player.

I actually trust Iranians with psychoanalysis, we're pretty astute in reading people I feel. Ah nice, I'll watch out for these guys you mentioned. I know Hosseinnejad but not the others. Gone are the days I used to skip lessons as a teenager to watch our Omid team!

[Hosseini]

I really liked Kasra Taheri during the u17 WC. I think he could also make a good leader, tapping in that Iranian psychoanalysis

[AhuraMazda1]

I really liked Kasra Taheri during the u17 WC. I think he could also make a good leader, tapping in that Iranian psychoanalysis

Nice! Hoping these prospects get a chance to play some real club football!