The topic of managing our emotions and winning the game of psychology has been an issue for our TM. Here are my two cents and I welcome your response:
1- Obviously our TM maturity in managing the emotional aspect of the game is a reflection of how we handle this as a nation. Unfortunately, our record as a nation leaves a lot of room for improvement. At a macro (societal) level, 40 years ago we let our emotions run the show and we chose a path that has definitely left us behind in economic, social and political progress from the rest of Asia and the world. We paid a heavy price that we continue to pay everyday. We could have chosen a wiser less violent path for political, social and economic progress. Our sports in general and our football more specifically is a reflection of our situation at a meso (mid) level. Here is a point for reflection: the fact that we have huge challenges at the macro level does not mean that we are hopeless at the meso level. One analogy is that many of us have worked hard either inside or outside Iran to be successful financially, mentally and physically. In a sense, we did not allow the crisis at the macro level run the show for us at the micro or individual level. As a possibility, we could do this in football. The challenges at the societal level impact all aspects of life yet they do not mean that there is no chance of success at a mid-tier level like football. I for myself see a glimmer of hope in the federation with Taj from that perspective. Obviously, he is part of the system and he is not perfect, yet he has made multiple good decisions and somehow has managed to survive the melee so far. Future will tell whether he has the character to make progress without CQ.
2- Managing emotions is a huge area in science of medicine in general and neurology and neuroscience specifically. With the advent of technology (e.g. functional MRI), there have been tremendous breakthroughs in neuroscience in the past decade resulting in understanding of how our brain functions and what happens when our emotions arise and dominate our behavior. There is also a new marriage of science with more traditional methods of managing emotions (e.g. meditation and yoga) called mind-body medicine. In fact there are studies by NIH (National Institutes of Health) in the U.S. that demonstrated the constructive impact of meditation on the brain. Now a days, there is the whole area of sports psychology and teaching professional athletes about managing their emotions in the heath of the competition or in dealing with defeat or triumph. CQ did so much for our football and I am forever grateful. I am sure he paid attention to psychological aspect of the game. Yet, I wouldn't give him an A in this area. I think he himself at an individual level did not show a mastery of controlling his own emotions consistently. This was manifested in several specific cases where he just let his emotions run the show in press conferences. Now, he is human yet the requirements for a world class coach are higher. That could be the gap for him that is in the way of winning more silverware. For our TM, we definitely showed throughout this (AC 2019) tournament and WC that we do not manage our emotions well. The game against Japan was the one that costed us the most where our attitude of fighting with the ref finally costed us our concentration and the match. Faghani pointed to this in multiple interviews and said that many of the refs at WC talked to him about our players aggressive behavior toward the ref. Our federation and our future coach should pay attention to this matter at all levels of TM and make sure there is continuous and consistent training from younger levels up and there are sports psychologists in charge as part of the TM cadre. Our players could also do more by seeking training at the individual level. This will take time and effort and requires solid planning and execution. With competency at the meso level (federation and clubs) and commitment at individual level, we could bring about success in spite of the mess at the macro level.
1- Obviously our TM maturity in managing the emotional aspect of the game is a reflection of how we handle this as a nation. Unfortunately, our record as a nation leaves a lot of room for improvement. At a macro (societal) level, 40 years ago we let our emotions run the show and we chose a path that has definitely left us behind in economic, social and political progress from the rest of Asia and the world. We paid a heavy price that we continue to pay everyday. We could have chosen a wiser less violent path for political, social and economic progress. Our sports in general and our football more specifically is a reflection of our situation at a meso (mid) level. Here is a point for reflection: the fact that we have huge challenges at the macro level does not mean that we are hopeless at the meso level. One analogy is that many of us have worked hard either inside or outside Iran to be successful financially, mentally and physically. In a sense, we did not allow the crisis at the macro level run the show for us at the micro or individual level. As a possibility, we could do this in football. The challenges at the societal level impact all aspects of life yet they do not mean that there is no chance of success at a mid-tier level like football. I for myself see a glimmer of hope in the federation with Taj from that perspective. Obviously, he is part of the system and he is not perfect, yet he has made multiple good decisions and somehow has managed to survive the melee so far. Future will tell whether he has the character to make progress without CQ.
2- Managing emotions is a huge area in science of medicine in general and neurology and neuroscience specifically. With the advent of technology (e.g. functional MRI), there have been tremendous breakthroughs in neuroscience in the past decade resulting in understanding of how our brain functions and what happens when our emotions arise and dominate our behavior. There is also a new marriage of science with more traditional methods of managing emotions (e.g. meditation and yoga) called mind-body medicine. In fact there are studies by NIH (National Institutes of Health) in the U.S. that demonstrated the constructive impact of meditation on the brain. Now a days, there is the whole area of sports psychology and teaching professional athletes about managing their emotions in the heath of the competition or in dealing with defeat or triumph. CQ did so much for our football and I am forever grateful. I am sure he paid attention to psychological aspect of the game. Yet, I wouldn't give him an A in this area. I think he himself at an individual level did not show a mastery of controlling his own emotions consistently. This was manifested in several specific cases where he just let his emotions run the show in press conferences. Now, he is human yet the requirements for a world class coach are higher. That could be the gap for him that is in the way of winning more silverware. For our TM, we definitely showed throughout this (AC 2019) tournament and WC that we do not manage our emotions well. The game against Japan was the one that costed us the most where our attitude of fighting with the ref finally costed us our concentration and the match. Faghani pointed to this in multiple interviews and said that many of the refs at WC talked to him about our players aggressive behavior toward the ref. Our federation and our future coach should pay attention to this matter at all levels of TM and make sure there is continuous and consistent training from younger levels up and there are sports psychologists in charge as part of the TM cadre. Our players could also do more by seeking training at the individual level. This will take time and effort and requires solid planning and execution. With competency at the meso level (federation and clubs) and commitment at individual level, we could bring about success in spite of the mess at the macro level.