Iran vs Iraq Post Match Ratings

[TM4LIFE]

especially if the semifinal opponent had to go through some rough games in 1/4 finals. (Japan vs Korea? or Japan vs Saudis? … dont remember the bracket). A 120 minute 1/4 final may not be too improbable for them. Which increases our advantage further.

You're definitely right in the fitness advantage, but I think that advantage diminishes when considering Japan and Korea. They have much more modern levels of fitness and stamina compared to other asian countries like the Saudi's. I remember at the world cup everybody was writing off Croatia because they kept having knockout games that dragged into penalties. But then you would see them again in a couple days, still sprinting the full 90. And while I do think Croatia were the exception rather than the rule, I don't think Japan would be very far off in that respect.

[beevee]

At last got to watch the game. Congrats to our boys for finishing on top of the group. Also congrats to the Iraqi team for putting up a hell of a fight.
My take on this game was we were just a bit off, every shot was a foot short or long a bit right or left, tackles were a bit off, everything was a bit off, however we still were able to control the game and reach our goal for the group stages. I know everyone is disappointed for not winning as I am but it's like playing poker some days no matter what cards you draw it's always one short, you get 2 aces someone has a pair, you get a pair some has 3 of a kind so forth and so on. on those days you should just play your cards really close to the chest and your goal should be not to lose. Anyways, I kind of learned what it must have felt like for Morocco, Spain and Portugal fans in the WC. I felt like our boys kind of started to fade as the game went on, that might be a serious issue in the up coming games. If the chance had been scored by Sardar early on, it would have been a totally different game. sorry for the long post. I'm proud as a peacock of our TM love those boys everyone of them.

[ramingeles2000]

just the prospect of having two comparatively less deadly games for our 1/8 and 1/4 finals is something of a gift.

we can afford to still use some squad players off and on, allowing some minutes to our main players to keep them fit. But not so much to tire them.
That would mean far more fresh legs for th big Semifinal game where our hardest test will be. And having a fit, ready and rested main team is a tremendous advantage.

especially if the semifinal opponent had to go through some rough games in 1/4 finals. (Japan vs Korea? or Japan vs Saudis? … dont remember the bracket). A 120 minute 1/4 final may not be too improbable for them. Which increases our advantage further.

All in all I hope CQ makes use of this advantage properly and finishes our opponents off in the 1st half itself, so we dont have to worry about extra time and … , and keep some deciding players fresh.

Knowing CQ, there's no way this "cycling players for the sake of keeping them fresh" thing continues into the knockout stages. He's going to field the best 11 that are most capable of winning the game in regulation. He won't "save" players for hypothetical later matches.

Do coaches in the world cup rest players during knockout rounds?

[naderb94]

Through the group stage, its safe to say our best players have been Azmoun and Torabi.

[Doctor DOOM]

Very interesting the divide we have about Mohammadi.
Some of us (like me, Dr Doom and a few others) think he was good, others seem bemused by his performance. I just think his defensive abilities gets underappreciated as everyone thinks he is a speedy overlapping wing-back by default.
I think he was the most confident and competent defender and just controlled the play on his side both through positioning and through his interceptions. His off-the-ball play was solid. I agree with people that his build-up play is worse than Hajsafi but feel in our system it's more useful for a defender to defend for the system and for the team's confidence, and Milad is a better defender than Hajsafi and I think any other iranian full-back. I don't think we would have conceded that goal in the world cup were it not for Hajsafi's poor defensive decision-making.
(BTW For a shorter player he also has a very good aerial game, though he didn't get a chance to show it today)

spot on.
with a defenders, defending is the #1 duty. everything else comes after that.

and for all his speed and pace, it was MilMo's defending & shutting down not one, but TWO pacey Iraqis was the highlight of his game today.
Have we forgotten how we pull our hair when Hajsafi fumbles or misses his mark or just falls behind in a quick transition?


Yes, Milmo has room for improvement. And perhaps going forward, he wasn't as complete as we want him to be.
but then again, perhaps part of it is CQ's tactics for today's game that dictated different things.

[KC McElroy]

Iran is first in the group. End of story.
You don't like it go support Arogh.

I wouldn't put much stock in what he says about our game with arogh given that he has declared himself a proud aroghi.

I have mentioned this so many times, I am quite proud of having Iraqi ancestry and being a Najafi for that matter and that why I have been proud of mentioning it everywhere and also proud to be a Muslim. Many Iranians for your matter have Iraqi ancestry and have absorbed in to the normal Iranian population. Btw is Shahin Najafi is not Iranian according to you because of his surname, and I thought you would have been a big fan of the Salman Rushdie of Music and his anti-Islamic rhetoric. That's a shame.

[sirvan]

We had a tough and difficult match against Iraq, as they had nothing to lose and everything to gain. This carelessness made them very dangerous. Nevertheless we got the result we needed to top the group in order to get an easier path until the semi finals. And that's the most important thing.

The thing which made me really upset was the incredibly stupid move of Ghoddos! What the hell was he thinking? Very unprofessional, and we got lucky he didn't get send off! It's exactly these stupid moves that may cost us! Losing games in this manner are way to familiar for us. If i was Queiroz i would bench him the entire next game, so that hopefully he learns his lesson. All the hard work of the team and the coaching staff will be reversed by stupid moves such as these. Ali Daei with his bicycle kick trying to clear the ball against Korea in 2000, Rezaei and Badavi against Oman in 2004, Sattar Zare and Golmohamadi both against China in 2004, and Pouladi in 2015 have shown that these stupid mistakes cost us dearly. Especially when VAR will be used, we cannot make mistakes like these lads! They need to learn how to control their emotions, they're way to nervous despite all the experience they have.

Beiranvand 8
Ghafouri 6
Hosseini 6
Kanaani 5
Mohamadi 6
Cheshmii 6
Ebrahimi 7
Amiri 6
Jahanbakhsh 3
Ghoddos 2
Azmoun 6

Subs:
Taremi 6
Torabi 6
Dejagah NA

My line-up for the next game would be:

Beiranvand

Rezaeian Pouraliganji Hosseini Mohamadi

Hajsafi Cheshmi

Jahanbakhsh Torabi Taremi

Azmoun

* Ebrahimi and Amiri should be rested imo untill the quarter finals

[Doctor DOOM]

just the prospect of having two comparatively less deadly games for our 1/8 and 1/4 finals is something of a gift.

we can afford to still use some squad players off and on, allowing some minutes to our main players to keep them fit. But not so much to tire them.
That would mean far more fresh legs for th big Semifinal game where our hardest test will be. And having a fit, ready and rested main team is a tremendous advantage.

especially if the semifinal opponent had to go through some rough games in 1/4 finals. (Japan vs Korea? or Japan vs Saudis? … dont remember the bracket). A 120 minute 1/4 final may not be too improbable for them. Which increases our advantage further.

All in all I hope CQ makes use of this advantage properly and finishes our opponents off in the 1st half itself, so we dont have to worry about extra time and … , and keep some deciding players fresh.

[KasraKhan]

What did Ghoddos do? I didn't watch the full match, do you have a video by any chance?

https://twitter.com/beINSPORTS/statu...77984482799616

[tiesto]

Very interesting the divide we have about Mohammadi.

Some of us (like me, Dr Doom and a few others) think he was good, others seem bemused by his performance. I just think his defensive abilities gets underappreciated as everyone thinks he is a speedy overlapping wing-back by default.

I think he was the most confident and competent defender and just controlled the play on his side both through positioning and through his interceptions. His off-the-ball play was solid. I agree with people that his build-up play is worse than Hajsafi but feel in our system it's more useful for a defender to defend for the system and for the team's confidence, and Milad is a better defender than Hajsafi and I think any other iranian full-back. I don't think we would have conceded that goal in the world cup were it not for Hajsafi's poor defensive decision-making.

(BTW For a shorter player he also has a very good aerial game, though he didn't get a chance to show it today)

I agree ... MOTM in my opinion

[CAGE]

stop expecting too much from Jahanbakhsh, now people have stopped picking an Azmoun and JB is next in line I guess. He just got back!

I would rather pick on Ghoddos, what's up with that behavior? I hope he doesn't get suspended by AFC

Beiranvand 10!
Dejagah is needed in the game


Overall with the referee's UNINTENTIONAL missed penalties and a free kick in mind, with this lineup and our results, and Iraq not wanting to lose a game but us being okay with a draw with did good!

What did Ghoddos do? I didn't watch the full match, do you have a video by any chance?

[KasraKhan]

I can't trust the judgment of a guy who does a somersault throw-in, I'm sorry.

[Tehranto]

Very interesting the divide we have about Mohammadi.

Some of us (like me, Dr Doom and a few others) think he was good, others seem bemused by his performance. I just think his defensive abilities gets underappreciated as everyone thinks he is a speedy overlapping wing-back by default.

I think he was the most confident and competent defender and just controlled the play on his side both through positioning and through his interceptions. His off-the-ball play was solid.

(BTW For a shorter player he also has a very good aerial game, though he didn't get a chance to show it today)

The big pluses was that first-timers (for this tournament) Cheshmi, Milad and ARJ got a really good run in today.

[DR Strangemoosh]

Very interesting the divide we have about Mohammadi.

Some of us (like me, Dr Doom and a few others) think he was good, others seem bemused by his performance. I just think his defensive abilities gets underappreciated as everyone thinks he is a speedy overlapping wing-back by default.

I think he was the most confident and competent defender and just controlled the play on his side both through positioning and through his interceptions. His off-the-ball play was solid. I agree with people that his build-up play is worse than Hajsafi but feel in our system it's more useful for a defender to defend for the system and for the team's confidence, and Milad is a better defender than Hajsafi and I think any other iranian full-back. I don't think we would have conceded that goal in the world cup were it not for Hajsafi's poor defensive decision-making.

(BTW For a shorter player he also has a very good aerial game, though he didn't get a chance to show it today)

[Tehranto]

With all due respect, DD jan, I didn't think MilMo was great. I am starting to see why CQ prefers Ehsan.
MilMo is very fast, no doubt about that, and he's a pretty good defender. But he offers nothing else. I believe he's tactically inept, and he makes some very dangerous decisions with the ball at times. Although he streaks forward at times, his final touch in the final third always leaves something to be desired.
MilMo is not great at building up play from the back, which is essential for CQ's system. It seems like whenever he gets the ball in a tight circumstance, he just boots it up field, which we're trying to shy away from.

I kind of saw this as well, on why Carlos prefers Ehsan and I am a big Milad fan.