Player ratings Iran - Morocco

[inarsenewetrust]

I'm happy we got three points. i dont care at the end of the day. i think we could've been better but i dont know why they are so stressed esp those that play abroad like azmoun. we need re-energize for our second match and defend and focus and go counter attack.

you are disgraceful.

[Martin-Reza]

It's never a good idea to rate players after having watched an exciting game live. Re-watch it more relaxed and the rating will be much more accurate.

[inarsenewetrust]

just watched it again, agree with most of my original ratings. Except, I rated Sardar a 5 or 6, looking back he was more like a 7. Very dangerous, good link up, missed that one chance but didnt get a ton of service. Amiri, Beiranvand, Hajsafi, Cheshmi, Ebrahimi were the best though, really hard to pick a MOTM.

Ansarifard was good aerially and without the ball, but not with the ball, although didnt have a lot of opportunities. But, the way he pinched in was key to shutting down moroccan midfield, and this is why he played the entire match.

Also, very clear why hajsafi was LB instead of milad. In the stadium the only reason I could come up with was milad isnt that great when being pressed, while hajsafi is excellent on the ball for our standards. Im pretty sure this is why, hajsafi was very calm and handled moroccan high press excellently. He was dictating tempo of match from LB!

bravo, while for a neutral I could see how this was a boring performance, if you look closely we were tactically fantastic. After first 20 minutes, morocco had ONE CHANCE in the entire match. We closed their midfield so well, amiri was man marking belhanda, Azmoun was on defensive mid El Ahmadi, and the wingers and spare men would pressure boussofa. The moroccan players were very frustrated and it showed throughout the match, and in the late lapse in concentration. Amiri and Ebrahimi in the midfield were AWESOME.

I think taremi is our ace for portugal match. His physique, and the fact that portugal do not have top midfielders, means that we dont need him to pinch in as much, and he can find space in between lines and combine with sardar. I think ghoddos will play vs Spain, his play style is really suited for that match. So many options, its great!

Another observation, to those saying we didnt go for it at the end, THIS WASNT THE PLAN. With ebrahimis injury CQ's masterplan at the end got screwed, and he couldnt make the last sub he wanted (Dejagah possibly) to give us the final push. The offensive guys, legionairres, did not execute in this match. That is the reality, not the fault of coach or tactics. ARJ, Sardar, Karim were bright but needed to be mroe synchronized and clinical

LASTLY, cheshmi got a lot of hate from me included, and all unfairly. We were mad that Jalal was out and we found a scapegoat. Cheshmi was fantastic, great on the ball, a beast in the tackle, some crucial blocks, including two that denied goals. WOW.

Beira was so confident and cool, this guy made it from NOTHING. Where are the doubters now ???!?!?!? I have to say, I kept faith with this guy.
Again, cant split MOTM between Ebrahimi, Cheshmi, Beiranvand, and Amiri- ALL NON LEGIONAIRES.

[Babak agha]

Beiranvand - (8) Hadn't much to do, was good on the cornerkicks and was there the only time he was needed, which is all what matters.

Rezaeian - (7) Had a good game, one shaky moment in the beginning but thankfully nothing happened. He should stop the rolling tho, we can also waste time without rolling like that.
Chesmi - (7) Shaky moment in the beginning of the and a unnecessary hellow card. Nobody dribbled past him this time, but things might be different against the next two opponents. Curious to see if he'll start the next game.
Pouraliganji - (7) His usual self. I can't remember a sooti from him in any game and today was no different.
Hajsafi - (6) He had an ok game with a beautiful freekick/cross. His other freekick from 30 m was both harder and more accurate than JB's. But please can stop shooting on goal from 30m and just cross it in? We are actually quite decent on set pieces, so please just cross from there.

Ebrahimi - (7) He again showed that he could be a great replacement for Ezzatollahi. I don't think he will be starting the next matches tho, as I hope/think we will go back to Haksafi and Ezzi in the middle.
Shojaei - (3) Bad turnovers, as usual. Stupid yellow card that could've been a red card if he was unlucky, as usual. Now even slower than ever. I'm being extra hard on him as he really could've screwed us over not only with his shot passing after a good dribble, but with that really unnecessary card that could've been a red one if we were unlucky. We really need Dejagah (if fit) here!!
Ansarifard - (4) Didn't do too much on the attack and wasted that good opportunity. Seems to also struggle with running at that pace and controlling the ball. But we can't be too harsh on him as he is not a RM or RW. I don't see why Ghoddoos is not playing there, seems as fit and for sure isn't as high profile enough to think he should not defend.

Amiri - (6) Was played too hustle and did exactly that, nothing more and nothing less.
Jahanbakhsh - (5) Nothing special from him, hope plays his best games in the next two matches.
Azmoun - (5) Had some good link ups, but wasted his chance to score. I really hope he scores in the next two matches. What I've always noticed and what he still hasn't improved is the fact that he can't run at full speed with the ball and dribble. He always loses control on the ball even without somebody pressuring him. Still I think our most talented player. If JB and Hajsafi start crossing some balls in the 16, he could be lethal.

Taremi - (6) Was quite decent, less turnovers when he came in instead of Shojaei, but nothing special. I'm pretty sure Amiri will also get the notch over him against Spain as we already have our 3pts and Amiri could out hustle those 'lil' Spaniards.
Hosseini Didn't see much of him
Ghoddoos Really smart to go for the freekick there instead of the ball.

I don't think we're going to change the line-up much against Spain. I only see Ezzi playing instead of Ebrahimi. Shojaei is CQ's captian and I'm quite positive that he will start over Dejagah and Ghoddoos again and at this point I would also would keep Amiri there instead of Taremi. I would like to see Mimo back as ou LB and Hajsafi as our CM, but I doubt it's going to happen.

[Camran khan]

Perhaps a bit off-topic, but I just have to say how much I love Hajsafi, easily one of my favorite TM players.

At his age, the number of caps, his experience, his composure on the ball, his versality, his passing, shooting, crossing, his technical ability and how great he is in the midfield..

Even the Swedish commentators were praising him saying he is a key player for Iran before the game, Simply an amazing guy!

[marouane]

just watched it again, agree with most of my original ratings. Except, I rated Sardar a 5 or 6, looking back he was more like a 7. Very dangerous, good link up, missed that one chance but didnt get a ton of service. Amiri, Beiranvand, Hajsafi, Cheshmi, Ebrahimi were the best though, really hard to pick a MOTM.

Ansarifard was good aerially and without the ball, but not with the ball, although didnt have a lot of opportunities. But, the way he pinched in was key to shutting down moroccan midfield, and this is why he played the entire match.

Also, very clear why hajsafi was LB instead of milad. In the stadium the only reason I could come up with was milad isnt that great when being pressed, while hajsafi is excellent on the ball for our standards. Im pretty sure this is why, hajsafi was very calm and handled moroccan high press excellently. He was dictating tempo of match from LB!

bravo, while for a neutral I could see how this was a boring performance, if you look closely we were tactically fantastic. After first 20 minutes, morocco had ONE CHANCE in the entire match. We closed their midfield so well, amiri was man marking belhanda, Azmoun was on defensive mid El Ahmadi, and the wingers and spare men would pressure boussofa. The moroccan players were very frustrated and it showed throughout the match, and in the late lapse in concentration. Amiri and Ebrahimi in the midfield were AWESOME.

I think taremi is our ace for portugal match. His physique, and the fact that portugal do not have top midfielders, means that we dont need him to pinch in as much, and he can find space in between lines and combine with sardar. I think ghoddos will play vs Spain, his play style is really suited for that match. So many options, its great!

Another observation, to those saying we didnt go for it at the end, THIS WASNT THE PLAN. With ebrahimis injury CQ's masterplan at the end got screwed, and he couldnt make the last sub he wanted (Dejagah possibly) to give us the final push. The offensive guys, legionairres, did not execute in this match. That is the reality, not the fault of coach or tactics. ARJ, Sardar, Karim were bright but needed to be mroe synchronized and clinical

LASTLY, cheshmi got a lot of hate from me included, and all unfairly. We were mad that Jalal was out and we found a scapegoat. Cheshmi was fantastic, great on the ball, a beast in the tackle, some crucial blocks, including two that denied goals. WOW.

Beira was so confident and cool, this guy made it from NOTHING. Where are the doubters now ???!?!?!? I have to say, I kept faith with this guy.
Again, cant split MOTM between Ebrahimi, Cheshmi, Beiranvand, and Amiri- ALL NON LEGIONAIRES.

1 chance in the entire game , are you crazy man?, look this competition is still not finished... we will see, as for us i think we will finish this group stage at maximum 1 points

[PEJ]

Azmoun is actually one of my favorite players, however he has a terrible first touch. He could be such a prolific scorer if he could improve in that one category. Russian football really hasn’t helped his attcking game at all.

The PFDC whipping boy, Amiri, actually had a real good game. His defensive work and hustle is unmatched.
Ibrahimi was a stud.

I thought ARJ was getting frustrated offensively and was trying to play too fast.

The back line was pretty solid. Hoping Ashkan is fit and can play instead of Masoud.

[OzzyOscy]

I had it on in the background rather than sitting watching intently, but from what I watched properly:

Beiranvand - Confident when called upon, kicks perhaps should've been a bit better, did his job.

Rezaeian - Questionable play and fouls

Cheshmi - Frantic and nervy at first but made up for it later

Jahanbakhsh - Wish they saw him when he was in loads of space, nice attempt at the awkward rebound from Azmoun's shot, forcing a great save

Azmoun - Did well to still force a save when the ball got under his feet, his target man role is what lead to the free kick that won it.

Taremi (sub) - With more time would've caused more problems in the area

Ghoddos (sub) - Didn't have time to win it for Iran himself, but won the free kick that lead to the own goal

Who was the defensive sub? When I was watching Montazeri had his kit on and it looked like he came on, but the (often incorrect) match reports say Hosseini (they can never tell which Hosseini is which though). Transfermarkt says Montazeri.

[NFL]

I think everyone did the best they could except Sardar and I also expected a bit more from ARJ and I am not a huge fan of Shojaie. for me Vahid Amiri was POM.

[Tehranto]

Insane how the players we criticized the most: Cheshmi, Beiranvand, Amiri and Ebrahimi (less than others) were our best players.

[ShirFarhad]

Insane how the players we criticized the most: Cheshmi, Beiranvand, Amiri and Ebrahimi (less than others) were our best players.

Similar to our previous world cup with Pouladi

[Payam_Ali]

Insane how the players we criticized the most: Cheshmi, Beiranvand, Amiri and Ebrahimi (less than others) were our best players.

Masoud gets a lot of criticism though and it turned out to be spot on.

[Payam_Ali]

Montazeri looked like he was going to be subbed in for Ebrahimi... and the stadium announced him as the sub. Then Hosseini was subbed in. Anyone know what happened there?

[inarsenewetrust]

1 chance in the entire game , are you crazy man?, look this competition is still not finished... we will see, as for us i think we will finish this group stage at maximum 1 points

Are you crazy !?!? Yes one chance , AFTER THE FIRST TWENTY MINUTES. This was the ziyech shit saved by berianvand

[OzzyOscy]

1 chance in the entire game , are you crazy man?, look this competition is still not finished... we will see, as for us i think we will finish this group stage at maximum 1 points

Iran gave Morocco the ball in areas where they couldn't threaten (after the first 20 minutes of nerves).

More underdog teams play this way ever since Barcelona destroyed everyone and no one knew how to counter it. Neil Lennon's Celtic found out the answer is to give them the ball, but in less effective areas. Barcelona had over 80% possession and 18 shots, but only scored a meaningless Messi goal after 90 minutes and lost 2-1. To Celtic.

Morocco will have felt like they had loads of chances, but they only ever had 2 real chances (1 due to a crazy 'pass' in the area at the start). This is not by accident, as it lulls opposition into a false sense of security - they think they're dominating and will score eventually and get overconfident and leave themselves open to a surprise goal...