Iran vs Iraq post match discussion

[Kavian]

None of the new faces were really impressive. But lack of preparation was very obvious in the team. Now you can see how important it is to play friendlies even against second or third rated teams.

[Bi-honar]

Well, you know me boys, I'm always looking for both critical and positive aspects of everything TM, but I must say that aside from the first 15-20 minutes that were understandably jittery, there was nothing but BRIGHT spots in this game. I don't even know where to begin!

First of all, I still can't believe we beat Iraq (the 2007 Champions and one of the top 8 teams in every Asian Cup since 1996) with our reserves! And it wasn't that we just beat them, but we either contained or dominated them in every aspect of the game, technically, tactically, speed wise and most importantly physical strength.

Since the revolution, there was very little separating us from Iraq, at most one goal to be exact (either way), with the exception of the 2006 LG Cup where we beat them 2-0. So for our reserve team to come in and show the self-belief, heart and desire to beat them in this manner, was a very pleasant surprise and it reminded me of the 70's where we were so far ahead of our opponents in Asia, that we could send our "B" team and still beat most teams.

I was VERY impressed with CQ taking a gamble with our younger players at this juncture and given our limited preparations. As I said in the game thread one of the fair criticisms of CQ has been that he's a little too conservative at times. This game showed that he's not afraid to experiment or take chances to the highest extent possible and that he had enough belief in his players and the depth of our squad to take such a gamble. So, double kudos to him for that.

One of the hurdles facing TM in the WC was fatigue and the perception that we didn't have the bench to rotate some of the players. CQ was obviously aware of that going into this tournament and it was important to resolve that issue before the tournament started. I believe that was one of the main reasons he fielded the "B" team and he must have been very satisfied with what he saw - the other reason being that he perhaps didn't feel that Iraq was even in the same league as our "A" team! Both of these are very encouraging.

Pouladi was obviously the only player from the "A" squad, but he hadn't practiced with the team since the WC, so it was also important to gauge his performance. Speaking of which, we only had 2 starting players in this match with more than 20 caps (Karim and Pouladi). 7 of our starting 11 had less than 5 caps with 6 of them either being capped for the 1st time or playing only their 2nd game! That should put this performance into perspective for everyone. And did I mention our transition play was AMAZING!

I'm now very hopeful of our chances in the tournament, not that I wasn't before, but I'm more confidently hopeful!

[Abtin]

CQ post match comments in video: http://footballitarin.com/video_page.php?id=13104

[ehsan singapore]

gucci take his chances, but a striker has to be sneaky as well that the whole case. on the other hand we have two good forwards and we have dejagah,jahanbakash and shojayi,we have few other good players as well

[Abtin]

Lucky Iranians in Australia..

[LiverpoolFC]

azmoun is good however gucci is a more experience player , or maybe cq might shift to a 4-2-3-1 and play azmoun as am behind gucci so they both can score that a possiblilty also, but most likely gucci will start.Gucci brought iran to world cup and scored goal in world cup i am sure CQ will start him but i believe azmoun will get more playing time as well

Gucci takes advantage of defensive mistakes that's how he scored against Korea, Sneaky opportunist player
This is the player who Struggled at Charlton in the second division and right now at Al Kuwait he's no where as good as Azmoun .. but i agree CQ will play him as a lone strike, park the bus and hope there's a defensive mistake so Gucci could take advantage of .. CQ will always pick Gucci and Shojaei no doubt about it!!

[TheBoss]

Some pictures

[Autreen]

The bad:
- Amiri missed two gilt-edge chances, what the hell? Aren't you an attacker? What's going on? I know he got the assist but that goal had less to do with his pass and more to do with Azmoun's power. Ghafouri missed a sitter as well. I couldn't believe what I was looking at.

- Ansarifard was invisible all game except for that one time he won the ball up-field and had two players to pass it to on the wings but instead tried to take on two Iraqi defenders and skirt his long shot way wide. Yeck.

- The GK who replaced Beiranvand was very lucky that the Iraqi player's long shot was wide because not only was hit with a lot of power, it sent him completely wrong way... FROM OUTSIDE THE BOX. Yeck. Please keep Haghighi healthy khodah

The good:
- Azmoun is as powerful and quick as ever and has an impressive workrate. I would still start Gucci because of his record but if he started in his place I wouldn't feel worried.

- Pouladi started out shaky but grew into the game well. It's good to see him back from whatever nonsense kept him out for so long. He's an asset for TM surely.

- I liked the look of Rezaeian at RB a lot

- It seems like Dejagah has lost some skill but he's out for blood nonetheless

- Jahanbacksh on the other hand has only improved. Can't wait to see him unleashed in the group stages


Overall, I'm less confident of Iran's depth but I'm hoping the rain and the lack of friendlies is what made them so sloppy. Glad they got the win though, that's all that would matter in an actual game

Lastly: THANK YOU YOUNIS MAHMOUD FOR THAT SHITTY PENALTY

[ehsan singapore]

Well, when I said 4 I was including Mehdi Sharifi as well. Even though he is not in this cup.

you maybe right, but if he is not in the cup he is not included

[_Navid_]

to be honest i would say we have 2 and half striker, we have gucci and azmoun, as two full and half for karim, vahid amiri is poor, i dont think CQ will play them unless he has no choice at all

Well, when I said 4 I was including Mehdi Sharifi as well. Even though he is not in this cup.

[Tehranto]

I really liked Soroush Rafei and Morteza Pouraliganji. I think both are future TM players for sure and are being groomed.

Really unimpressed with Ansarifard. I know he's only 24, but he really hasn't made marked improvements. In one situation, he had two open players on his right hand side and he decided to go for glory - he didn't even hit the target. It could have been a one on one. Anyway, this is not a huge concern now, because we have Azmoun and Reza Gucci, but really sad that Karim has not turned out into the player we thought he would.

The penalty was no penalty, either. We were on the butt-end of the calls by the Ref.

[ehsan singapore]

I would select Azmoun ahead of Goochanzejad any day of the week

azmoun is good however gucci is a more experience player , or maybe cq might shift to a 4-2-3-1 and play azmoun as am behind gucci so they both can score that a possiblilty also, but most likely gucci will start.Gucci brought iran to world cup and scored goal in world cup i am sure CQ will start him but i believe azmoun will get more playing time as well

[Martin-Reza]

He so far only used both if them as sole striker, so I doubt he will use both of them at the same time. Ansarifard on the other hand was repeatedly used alongside Gucci or Azmoun.

[persiangodfather]

need to find a way to play gucci and azmoon together, I think cq missed an opportunity to try them together in a friendly

[ehsan singapore]

I am happy for Azmoun. For the first time in 20 years we actually have 4 good strikers to choose from. Amiri was disappointing.

to be honest i would say we have 2 and half striker, we have gucci and azmoun, as two full and half for karim, vahid amiri is poor, i dont think CQ will play them unless he has no choice at all