IRAN vs JAPAN post match thread and player ratings

[AhuraMazda1]

Yes! The other funny thing was when we scored the penalty General goes to the water cooler to get a drink and there isn’t one there so he yells at one of his assistants lol, weird reaction but still funny nonetheless

Haha doroste. Bro, the guy literally nearly died in surgery a few weeks ago. He deserves a cold gulp

[taha]

Must watch Arabic commentary:



https://www.instagram.com/reel/C24-z...BmMjdhZWRiYQ==

read the translation. Too funny

Dug a little deeper, he's Iranian!

[oracle]

Waiting for the prayer post tonight. SALAVATTTTTT

Priest oracle after his nightly work out will start the mass.

[Hosseini]

12 hours

Some fans have waited decades for tm go to final
Of ac.....

IS NOW OR NEVER

Waiting for the prayer post tonight. SALAVATTTTTT

[oracle]

12 hours

Some fans have waited decades for tm go to final
Of ac.....

IS NOW OR NEVER

[Pishi_Rules]

Guys, some funny and interesting moments I saw from the rewatch:

1) One of our "leader" fans was having a tantrum over a drum with another leader and eventually yanked it away from him
2) There was a set piece and Shoja was being pushed by a Japanese defender every now and again. Shoja then anticipates it and grabs the guys wrist before he had a chance to do it again and then looked and smiled at him like "ahaaaa, didi mocheto gereftam". The Japanese defender looked traumatised

Yes! The other funny thing was when we scored the penalty General goes to the water cooler to get a drink and there isn’t one there so he yells at one of his assistants lol, weird reaction but still funny nonetheless

[Pluto2000]

We are also forgetting the secret ingredient to a lot of our success: Manicone. Big ups to IFF and GN for bagging this guy and getting him on our bench.

World class pedigree:

Internazionale (youth teams)

S.S. Lazio (assistant manager)

Switzerland (assistant manager)

Bordeaux (assistant manager)

Iran (assistant manager)

I've heard on Gol Bezan that Manicone was brought in to handle our defensive transitions...I'm not entirely convinced by our defense yet but I do like the experience that he brings.

[Abtin]

This was basically me 🥹💚🤍❤️



https://www.instagram.com/reel/C24zs...lndTJ0bWRocA==

[OSTAD POOYA]

Must watch Arabic commentary:



https://www.instagram.com/reel/C24-z...BmMjdhZWRiYQ==

read the translation. Too funny

[Hosseini]

We are also forgetting the secret ingredient to a lot of our success: Manicone. Big ups to IFF and GN for bagging this guy and getting him on our bench.

World class pedigree:

Internazionale (youth teams)

S.S. Lazio (assistant manager)

Switzerland (assistant manager)

Bordeaux (assistant manager)

Iran (assistant manager)

[Futbaldoost]

Rewatching full game now, updated thoughts. OFC ur impression changes a bit when you arent watching totally sleep deprived at 330 am, stressed and pissed lol.

First Half:

We were actually much better than I thought initially. Even the first 20-30 mins. We totally contained japan, although we let them have possession in higher areas than we allowed in the first half (credit to GN for setting line of engagement fwd by about 10 meters in second half).

The goal we conceded was a random incident that did not match the pattern of the game. Morita's positioning to drag saeid out of the middle was smart, saeid maybe should have done a better job tracking him, Shoja in my mind is still the main culprit bc he went so far out of position with ueda and still let him turn and pass. As a cb when you vacate your zone in that manner (especially LCB going that far out to right side) you either need to win the ball or foul the guy. He did neither and then left a gap that unfortunately was not filled quickly enough by kanani. Although morita also got a huge slice of luck with how he got thru kanani's challenge.

In fact, you could argue we made more dangerous openings than Japan in the first half. On the whole it was a cagey first half with both teams feeling each other out, and TM trying to carry out the defensive instructions correctly first, which was the right tactic.

Mohebbi had a great half off the ball, couple huge plays tracking back. He also did excellently on won breakaway, that he started himself by winning the ball back, and eventually got itakura a yellow card which would affect his game a lot down the stretch. Still on 2-3 separate occasions he was caught in possession doing really stupid shit (either taking too long or not focusing enough on simple pass).

ARJ was very poor on the ball. When you rewatch it is even more obvious. But off the ball, besides tracking back, his initiation of the press was excellent + number of high intensity sprints per pressing sequence very impressive.

When we pressed them with 5 guys in the middle of the pitch (front 3+Saman+1 of Ebrahimi/Ezatolahi depending on who was closest to ball) towards latter stages of first half and forced them long we found the blueprint for winning this game (although I suspect GN may have wanted them to play like that from the start but for whatever reason they were a bit too passive, too far back in terms of line of engagement). We would force them long and then CLEANED UP all aerials/2nd balls. Major props to Shoja and Kanani for domination here.

Beiro's distribution was excellent. Both his short passing and long passing. Milad was very solid defensively, did basics going forward and that was fine. Shoja had a couple crappy long balls and the fuck up on the goal but besides that had numerous great tackles and headers.

Omid Ebrahimi was also much better in first half than I thought during my first viewing. He was slow in possession a few times but overall clean distribution, great positioning and was always harassing japanese mids. Especially of note was our gang-style pressing of kubo whenever he got the ball. Clearly staff zoomed in on him and had a plan for him, he has been a star this season in La Liga and CL with real sociedad. We would often swarm him with 3 guys, almost always one was omid.

Second Half:

Immediately we start with the higher press that was effective in last 10 mins of 1st half. In second half Saman was immense in this regard initiating many presses, Omid one line deeper also highly active (but everybody really contributed here). You can actively see GN telling omid to press up multiple times during the half. This was not a random thing that just happened. The coaching staff planned for this and adjusted to execute it as much as possible in the second half. For people that say GN is tactically clueless, you have to give him props here.

On the scene for goal again it comes from this beastly press with 5, Saman initiating, Kanani cleans up like a tank and ARJ finally beats his guy and makes an accurate fwd pass to sardar whose first touch to simultaneously control the ball arj slammed into him and set himself for the key pass was brilliant. From there timing/weight is world class for mammad. His smart run and 1 clean 1 touch finish. Please always play with as few touches as possible mammad. This was definitely one of the best TM goals ever.

Besides his goal mohebbi had a great half. As usual 2-3 really crappy touches and giveaways but then great driving runs on a few occasions, lovely bits of skill in tight spaces, won a huge number of aerials, including the one that resulted in the PK.

In 2nd half Ramin and Milad were possibly the most focussed I have seen them defensively, and both had a couple good forays forward and dangerous crosses (2x for milad, one was nearly an assist to sardar). It was ramin's great diagonal to mohebbi that resulted in the PK.

TLDR:

Make no mistake, we deserved that win. Even in the first half we were solid, but game changer was stepping up about 10-15 meters in second half and initiating and maintaining a monstrous 5 man press from then on out. Everybody contributed for this press to work, but man I did not expect omid to have legs like that still. GN got his selection absolutely spot on and his tactics/management at half time were perfect.

Now the question becomes who will he play vs Qatar. I understand why he didn't sub now bc the guys on the pitch were just doing so damn well. Vs Qatar rotation is certainly possible in a few spots...hajsafi for milad (keep milad fresh for Korea match, plus Akram afif is on the other side anyways so hajsafi should be able to deal with Ismail mohammad...you would think...) Do we need 2 DMs vs Qatar, can omid sustain that level of running vs Qatar and then Again vs SK after his tremendous effort today. I am not sure. I would consider Torabi in the midfield, saman could play a bit deeper.

We are so much better with 3 true midfielders instead of taremi at 10. Taremi should replace Mohebbi who can still give us a lot of value from the bench with his confidence recovered.

Excellent analysis. This is what happens when one has the eye and the mind and watches it a second time. I had not been here for a long time and I missed your posts. I think most of us thought with our hearts initially regarding the first half and in retrospect we realized that TM played a lot better than we initially thought. I am surprisingly impressed with Ghalenoie too. I think he has put together a solid staff and his selections have been top notch. For example, I initially thought Ghaedi did not belong on the roster and I was wrong. I thought Ghalenoie is not a cerebral coach and I was wrong. I agree that he is still incomplete with the past and brings it up too many times yet he has definitely become calmer and more professional. This is also evident in our players demeanor and behavior on the pitch vis-a-vi the refs. They have become a lot more professional and in control of their emotions including their body language and at the same time preserving their passion which is our positive cultural signature.

Go TM!
Zendeh Baad Iran!

[arj42]

GN said originally Hossein kanani was supposed to take the pens loooooooool

[Babak agha]

tbh, the general calm and composure that i've seen from TM after going down a goal and or a man in the games has Pleasantly surprised the me the most about GN's TM..!!

Something CQ did not achieve in all his years..
Probably one the only things where you as a coach could have a huge impact on.

[BacheLot]

Interesting stat I found while looking at our history against japan.

this was the first time EVER iran defeated japan after being scored on first/being a goal down

determination.

tbh, the general calm and composure that i've seen from TM after going down a goal and or a man in the games has Pleasantly surprised the me the most about GN's TM..!!

[BacheLot]