Iran vs. Kyrgyzstan Sept 5th WCQ Match Thread

[Nokhodi]

Ok, I watched the 2nd half as I was in meetings yesterday and the only way to follow was reading the beautiful reactive message here

My overall take - it was nowhere near as bad as some of you painted it.

In general there are three items I'd like to focus on:

1 - The field. There is no way you can say that the field didn't affect our game, or that it was the same field for both teams, when we play completely different football. Kyrgyztan wants to park the bus and paly the long ball. This field is perfect for that. We want to retain possession and work our way through with quick combo play. This field won't allow that.

Just look at this screenshot from minute 72. Azmoun tries to take a shot, and a huge divot opens up, taking both his feet with him. No wonder his shot is still in the air. There are countless chances like this in the game, but I just wanted to re-emphasize and ask us to be a bit more considerate.
Taremi was right when he said the field was "eftezah". The patch pieces had not taken root yet. They should have literally sewn it in like they did at Azadi.




2. The opponent's tactics.

It was clear park the bus strategy. We all knew it. I am sure even GN and his staff knew it. Look at this screenshot from around minute 70. It shows 10 (including goalie) Kyrgyz players defending. I think there is an 11th off screen. The only way to get through this sort of block is the quick combo play I mentioned above or shooting (which we tried). Again, not going to work out great with that pitch.

This is a tactic that works, and more and more teams are playing it against bigger teams. There is a reason why so many "big" Asian teams are struggling. It is really hard to break down. Doesn't matter if it's GN or anyone else



3 - Noorafkan.

This guy can't be in TM.
He can't play one touch football, is slow, can't defend, and his positioning is very off.
Screenshot below is from minute 79.
He is stuck in the middle and should be defending against a man. Instead Arya is overrun and Kazakhstan has an easy opportunity to cross from the wing. This happens throughout the game.

I really don't know why he is in TM. Is he related to someone powerful? Is he just that loved by other players? Are we that desperate for a multi-positional lefty? If so, just call up Amiri. Even at age 590, he is better than Noorafkan.

HE MUST BE DROPPED FROM TM.




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Other minor notes:

1 - We got the 3 points and usually play like crap in opening matches. Good work TM
2 - Khayemal Torabi should start. He is direct, speedy, and always looking for space and opportunities on the attack. Really stops our lethargy.
3 - F*** the authorities in Tabriz and Mashhad for not allowing women into their stadiums, otherwise we would have a better field. I honestly feel bad for Zob Ahan people. They kept their own team off their own field for a month to host the game and it still f***ed them over.
For Qatar game IFF needs to get dirty and attach itself to some power base in Iran to get authorities to listen to them.
4 - We will beat UAE.
5 - You wanted youth players, but they weren't good. Hazbavi in particular almost cost us 2 points! Don't be surprised if he doesn't start against UAE.
6 - Thank you all for your classy analysis. I disagree with most of you but enjoy reading your comments.

[koorosh]

Lol, Taremi doesn't need an excuse to moan. that's his specialty.

Also, Kyrgyzstan played on the same pitch. So... yea doesn't explain why they were better than us in the 2nd half.

What does explain it is that our manager isn't good at in game adjustments.

There are times where Iranian fans are silly and emotional... this isn't one of them. This is like Skocic era, where it was obvious he wasn't suited for the job, even when he won, but we kept with him until it was too late.

Do I think that we should get ourselves a top international coach? 100%. The earlier the better. Should have been right after the AFC.

But in all fairness, it was the players who let everyone down.

Kyrgyzstan played long pass to the forwards whereas we played possession and pass football. We had to because they sat back and played 5-3-2. The field condition had more effect on us.

We were not playing Argentina for which we required special managerial expertise. The manager can't go out and beat the players.

With a couple of exceptions, players neither put their heart into it nor some had the legs to do the running when the heart was willing.

They just were not going to kill themselves for Kyrgyzstan. Especially when leading as well. Especially since there is a next, more difficult game in a few days. They did the minimum and that was nearly not enough.

Meanwhile, 3 young players got lots of playing time. Hazbavi especially since Kanaani is rarely off.







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[mbaizai]

Agha yani chi “because of our home pitch we will end up 3rd and 4th”. Mage it’s only us playing on the pitch. What about the other team? Mage football is played in the air and only our team plays on the ground? Was the pitch bad? No shit. Anyone remember the away game against Turkmenistan in the last round where we played on shitty turf? Did we get outplayed? No. This GN has shown he does not know how to make adjustments at all.. again and again. On the bright side, he has the old gang of players (MT-Ezza-AJB-Shoja-etc) on his side and fully behind him.

Question for us as fans is: do we want an incompetent coach who maintains the locker room in order or do we want a competent coach who will most definitely have cultural issues and can potentially never adapt to Irans situation (friendlies, pitch conditions, politics, etc). Either way, there is no hope…

Ok I agree with you. What's your prediction for the UAE game?

[aria32]

I looked up the schedule and unfortunately it's not much helping us. We have a difficult away game against a very young confident UAE team . Next on 10 October we will fly to Uzbekestan to play them and on 15 Oct a home game against qatar. Will we fix the pitch anywhere at home to play Qatar? I'm serious guys we will end up 3rd or 4th because of our home pitches . That's our biggest issue before we blast the general

Agha yani chi “because of our home pitch we will end up 3rd and 4th”. Mage it’s only us playing on the pitch. What about the other team? Mage football is played in the air and only our team plays on the ground? Was the pitch bad? No shit. Anyone remember the away game against Turkmenistan in the last round where we played on shitty turf? Did we get outplayed? No. This GN has shown he does not know how to make adjustments at all.. again and again. On the bright side, he has the old gang of players (MT-Ezza-AJB-Shoja-etc) on his side and fully behind him.

Question for us as fans is: do we want an incompetent coach who maintains the locker room in order or do we want a competent coach who will most definitely have cultural issues and can potentially never adapt to Irans situation (friendlies, pitch conditions, politics, etc). Either way, there is no hope…

[BacheLot]

Lol, Taremi doesn't need an excuse to moan. that's his specialty.

Also, Kyrgyzstan played on the same pitch. So... yea doesn't explain why they were better than us in the 2nd half.

What does explain it is that our manager isn't good at in game adjustments.

There are times where Iranian fans are silly and emotional... this isn't one of them. This is like Skocic era, where it was obvious he wasn't suited for the job, even when he won, but we kept with him until it was too late.

Worrrrd...!! especially the Bold ..!!

that second half performance was absolutely shambolic the say the least ..! it got worse with every sub brought in..!

GN is way over his head and he can't hide it anymore ..!! we need an upgrade urgently (if IFF can actually afford it ??) or another pathetic WC showing currently looks well on its way this time likely in far more embarrassing fashion than the last one...!!

[mbaizai]

I looked up the schedule and unfortunately it's not much helping us. We have a difficult away game against an very young confident UAE team . Next on 10 October we will fly to Uzbekestan to play them and on 15 Oct a home game against qatar. Will we fix the pitch anywhere at home to play Qatar? I'm serious guys we will end up 3rd or 4th because of our home pitches . That's our biggest issue before we blast the general

[babak_iran]

Our shitty performance aside. What a embarrassment it is for a big city like Isfahan with 2 great clubs sepahan and zobahan who play on the ground can’t even maintain their pitches.

[The]

It's so embarrassing that it prompted Taremi to kiss GN during the game and Lash out afterwards.

Lol, Taremi doesn't need an excuse to moan. that's his specialty.

Also, Kyrgyzstan played on the same pitch. So... yea doesn't explain why they were better than us in the 2nd half.

What does explain it is that our manager isn't good at in game adjustments.

There are times where Iranian fans are silly and emotional... this isn't one of them. This is like Skocic era, where it was obvious he wasn't suited for the job, even when he won, but we kept with him until it was too late.

[koorosh]

Agha respectfully putting 5-6 passes together on the ground is something a high school team can do. Even Iranian amoo league players can do it.

I've watched TM a lot since childhood and our midfield was atrocious today. You dont need Guardiola as a metric

I would rather Pejman Nouri and Maziar Zare in their prime play than whatever Noorafkan was doing

At WC 22, TM had the lowest pass completion rate of any team. It is something we have always struggled with.

This is our level of football. There is a reason why we have one player in a good league from a country of millions of players.

People swing wildly in their opinions and emotions between single games.

It's so embarrassing that it prompted Taremi to kiss GN during the game and lash out afterwards.

This was always going to be a very tricky game...add in a crap field and players protecting themselves...and we frankly should be satisfied that the job was done.



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[IRAN_TILL_I_DIE]

Jahanbaksh and Ghoddos should NOT be in the squad until they find a club.
what does this show to the young players who play regularly for their club?
it is not right that these 2 are involved, it is demotivating for the young players trying to come through..

[Hosseini]

It probably costs a million dollars or so to maintain a perfect grass field and we can't do that. People look at our stadium and laugh it's so embarrassing. Khak to saremoon baba.

[a_m]

Let this sink in , anyone that has played a sport , or anyone that has played football , knows you can’t not play for a long time and expect to sharp and in form and ready ;

we have 3 players who haven’t even played a single game in 5 months on the team and 1 players who isn’t even TM level??!? Why

ezzatolahi - should not play
JB- shouldn’t be on the team
Saman - come off the bench
Moghanlou- not TM material


we have 2 players who been injured for like almost 1.5 years now , neither have the fitness to go 90 minutes both should come off the bench , when the other team is tired, especially Sardar !!

Sardar- bench players last 15 or 20 minutes max

Golizadeh- bench players 30 minutes max

And all 6 of these players played today , when in fact these players shouldn’t even be in the team or start at all ..


These just some adjustments GN needs to make , I hope he realize this and makes the appropriate changes for the next game,

[perspolis#1]

Too much hysteria.

You guys watch too much high end football and then expect our players to play like them and GN be Guardiola..

Our players are crap and our coach is crap and the field was crap, and VAR was crap...do you think we are Switzerland?

Got the result we wanted.

Next game.



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Agha respectfully putting 5-6 passes together on the ground is something a high school team can do. Even Iranian amoo league players can do it.

I've watched TM a lot since childhood and our midfield was atrocious today. You dont need Guardiola as a metric

I would rather Pejman Nouri and Maziar Zare in their prime play than whatever Noorafkan was doing

[Prowess]

Its funny how our problem yet again goes back to how poor our midfield is. Especially since we play 2 striker formation. That means our 2 midfielders in the middle need the base of the team. We really need Hosseinejad to succeed Ghoddos there ASAP. Need someone who can hustle and distribute the ball with pace. Love Ghoddos but he should be benched until he finds a club.

I love Ghoddos too, but I agree. Hosseinejad should’ve 100% been invited. Perfect game to build up international experience.

[Damavand]