Saman Ghoddos @ Brentford FC | 2021-22

[Ali Doust]

Ando was effectively a DM, even if he played striker.

That is true. Even Ansarifard was used in this position in some of our friendlies leading up to the World Cup.

[Leicester City]

https://www.tribalfootball.com/artic...anyone-4390097

Brentford forward Ghoddos: Frank sets us up to beat anyone

Brentford forward Saman Ghoddos says Thomas Frank gives his players the belief that they can beat any team.

The Bees were excellent against Chelsea on Saturday despite going down 2-1.

Speaking after the game, Ghoddos said: "The crazy thing is whoever we play we go out to win - we don't go out hoping for a draw because it is a hard game to play.

"It is crazy to hear the coach really motivate us and make us believe it - that gives us energy to really win every game, no matter who we are playing against."

Frank's side have amassed 12 points from 8 games this season.

[Sepehr9]

CQ hardly played with 2 DMs. His favourite formation was 4-3-3 holding. With Nekounam as the DM and Ando and Haji playing in front of him as the 2 CMs.

Yeah man Teymourian and Hajsafi were regular fantasistas, Teymourian reminded me of Iniesta and Hajsafi reminded me of Kaka. The amount of chances they created and assists they gave was truly incredible.

Teymourian and Hajsafi did most of the defensive work, in fact Nekounam was a bit more offensive minded than the two.

[Sepehr9]

Bro no one is asking him to play CDM. The only CDM on the team is Ezatolahi.

I like Skocic, but he needs to get his head out of his a** and realize that he can't play 4-4-2 for the rest of his career. It's too predictable. He needs to switch things up to allow for his best talents to play. Ghoddos is one of those talents and he fits perfectly as a CAM underneath Taremi, Azmoun, and ARJ/Gholi

Dadash, Ezatolahi is a great player, his passing, vision. positioning, physical presence, heading etc but the man is as slow as a turtle. What do you think will happen if Ezatolahi is the only CDM? Playing with the likes of Ghoddos in midfield we will be overrun like there is no tomorrow. He needs guys like Amiri and Nourollahi beside him so that he can maximize his game while they do all the dirty work.

I agree that 4-3-3 is a much better formation than 4-4-2. But given the weaknesses we have our three midfielders should be physical players who have to do alot of defensive work. In my opinion the three best guys for the job at the moment are Ezza, Vahid and Nour. The three up front should be Azmoun as a striker and Taremi (free role) and either one of Ghoddos/Gholi/Alireza also in a free role and as the creative force. To play with a CAM underneath Taremi, Azmoun and ARJ/Gholi against strong opponent is suicide. However, in the second half of the second half depending on the scoreline or situation a creative CAM should be an option.

[Iranianarsenal11]

Dadash, Ezatolahi is a great player, his passing, vision. positioning, physical presence, heading etc but the man is as slow as a turtle. What do you think will happen if Ezatolahi is the only CDM? Playing with the likes of Ghoddos in midfield we will be overrun like there is no tomorrow. He needs guys like Amiri and Nourollahi beside him so that he can maximize his game while they do all the dirty work.

I agree that 4-3-3 is a much better formation than 4-4-2. But given the weaknesses we have our three midfielders should be physical players who have to do alot of defensive work. In my opinion the three best guys for the job at the moment are Ezza, Vahid and Nour. The three up front should be Azmoun as a striker and Taremi (free role) and either one of Ghoddos/Gholi/Alireza also in a free role and as the creative force. To play with a CAM underneath Taremi, Azmoun and ARJ/Gholi against strong opponent is suicide. However, in the second half of the second half depending on the scoreline or situation a creative CAM should be an option.

I agree that Ezatolahi is slow for top teams as much as I agree Nourollahi won't cut it against top teams as well. Ezatolahi is still our most technically gifted DM and arguably the only player who can truly play DM for us, as Nourollahi is more of a CM/CAM.

We can play Nourollahi next to Ezatolahi with Ghoddos slightly above them and I don't see why that would be "suicide" against a strong opponent? Rather, I think it would provide us more opportunities to create chances. I just don't see how a player like Ghoddos can play against the reigning world champions in Chelsea yet sit on the bench for team melli...

[Sepehr9]

I agree that Ezatolahi is slow for top teams as much as I agree Nourollahi won't cut it against top teams as well. Ezatolahi is still our most technically gifted DM and arguably the only player who can truly play DM for us, as Nourollahi is more of a CM/CAM.
We can play Nourollahi next to Ezatolahi with Ghoddos slightly above them and I don't see why that would be "suicide" against a strong opponent? Rather, I think it would provide us more opportunities to create chances. I just don't see how a player like Ghoddos can play against the reigning world champions in Chelsea yet sit on the bench for team melli...

I disagree, Nourollahi for example is a better and more physical player than Hajsafi who played as CM/DM during WC 2014 in his prime. Nour is not a CAM by any means, he's not a creative midfielder, he's a hardworking player with good stamina and physical strength, he's good at intercepting the ball and engaging in duels, therefore he is well suited to play as DM/CM. Ghoddos is a highly technical and creative player who is good at feeding other forwards but not suited to defend, engage in physical duels etc. basically not suited to play as DM and CM in a team which defensively falls short against strong teams from Europe, South America and Africa.

So far, none of our TM coaches not Talebi, not Branko, not Queiroz, not Skocic etc. have played with 2 DM/CM and with one CAM. There is a reason for this which you fail to understand namely that we fall short defensively against top teams outside of Asia. Ghoddos plays in a different team, Brentford is not TM and TM is not Brentford, this is not playstation, in reality you play the formation that is best suited for the players that you have at your disposal. You can't compare apples with oranges my friend. Ghoddos can definitely start for TM but that means that he has to do better than Gholizadeh and Jahanbakhsh and thus far JB is preferred by Skocic. In my opinion Ghoddos and Gholizadeh are our best creative players, JB is not creative but he is an intelligent player.

[Iranianarsenal11]

I disagree, Nourollahi for example is a better and more physical player than Hajsafi who played as CM/DM during WC 2014 in his prime. Nour is not a CAM by any means, he's not a creative midfielder, he's a hardworking player with good stamina and physical strength, he's good at intercepting the ball and engaging in duels, therefore he is well suited to play as DM/CM. Ghoddos is a highly technical and creative player who is good at feeding other forwards but not suited to defend, engage in physical duels etc. basically not suited to play as DM and CM in a team which defensively falls short against strong teams from Europe, South America and Africa.

So far, none of our TM coaches not Talebi, not Branko, not Queiroz, not Skocic etc. have played with 2 DM/CM and with one CAM. There is a reason for this which you fail to understand namely that we fall short defensively against top teams outside of Asia. Ghoddos plays in a different team, Brentford is not TM and TM is not Brentford, this is not playstation, in reality you play the formation that is best suited for the players that you have at your disposal. You can't compare apples with oranges my friend. Ghoddos can definitely start for TM but that means that he has to do better than Gholizadeh and Jahanbakhsh and thus far JB is preferred by Skocic. In my opinion Ghoddos and Gholizadeh are our best creative players, JB is not creative but he is an intelligent player.

Sepehr jan, I agree with your first paragraph mostly. I think Nourollahi is best off at the CM position, and better off at DM than CAM due to lack of creativity and dribbling, but besides his good hustle, energy, and occasional interceptions, he isn't really a DM by trade

As for Hajsafi, he wasn't a DM in 2014 at all. He was a left attacking midfielder or a left midfielder. It was in the 2018 WCQ that Hajsafi tried his trade at DM and was not very good.

Ghoddos can play on the wing, but it's clear to me that Gholi/ARJ and Taremi would work best off at the wing positions with Ghoddos playing underneath Azmoun as a CAM. I know having a four attacker system of Ghoddos, Taremi, Azmoun, and ARJ/Gholi sounds like it would leave Team Melli in danger on defense, but we would still have a CM in Nourollahi to cover for Ghoddos in defense, and then Ezatolahi to cover Nourollahi.

[Farzadfarhangni]

Sepehr jan, I agree with your first paragraph mostly. I think Nourollahi is best off at the CM position, and better off at DM than CAM due to lack of creativity and dribbling, but besides his good hustle, energy, and occasional interceptions, he isn't really a DM by trade

As for Hajsafi, he wasn't a DM in 2014 at all. He was a left attacking midfielder or a left midfielder. It was in the 2018 WCQ that Hajsafi tried his trade at DM and was not very good.

Ghoddos can play on the wing, but it's clear to me that Gholi/ARJ and Taremi would work best off at the wing positions with Ghoddos playing underneath Azmoun as a CAM. I know having a four attacker system of Ghoddos, Taremi, Azmoun, and ARJ/Gholi sounds like it would leave Team Melli in danger on defense, but we would still have a CM in Nourollahi to cover for Ghoddos in defense, and then Ezatolahi to cover Nourollahi.

Skocic wants to take advantage of Taremi and Azmoun partnership so he wants Taremi close to Azmoun, maybe not on top of each other but close enough to link up. In that case in your setup, our left side will sort of struggle as Nourafkan or Mohammadi will have no one to link up to move the ball up the field. It is better to have one CDM (Ezatollahi) and two CMs, left and right. That way both flanks are symmetrical and productive and Ghoddos can play with either Amiri or Nourollahi as the CMs.

Skocic would probably consider this as too offensive and why will only use it if we are behind or if we are tied with 20 minutes to go against one of the weaker teams in our group.

[Medzdidz]

The link up play to Azmoun and Taremi has been average at best so far. It needs changing up.

[Farzadfarhangni]

The link up play to Azmoun and Taremi has been average at best so far. It needs changing up.

But don't we get upset when Taremi moves away from goal and has to come back to pick up the ball?

[inarsenewetrust]

Skocic wants to take advantage of Taremi and Azmoun partnership so he wants Taremi close to Azmoun, maybe not on top of each other but close enough to link up. In that case in your setup, our left side will sort of struggle as Nourafkan or Mohammadi will have no one to link up to move the ball up the field. It is better to have one CDM (Ezatollahi) and two CMs, left and right. That way both flanks are symmetrical and productive and Ghoddos can play with either Amiri or Nourollahi as the CMs.
Skocic would probably consider this as too offensive and why will only use it if we are behind or if we are tied with 20 minutes to go against one of the weaker teams in our group.

He wants taremi close to azmoun. What a load of BS if thats his thinking . This is what will make us one dimensional and unable to achieve anything in WC. If we are just relying on our whole offense being taremi and azmoun...We need other offensive weapons, creative players, players who can actually formulate a few good passing sequences to actually get the best out of those guys. Or else it is just way to predictable.

Ghoddos, Nourollahi, Ezatolahi is not a very offensive midfield. One player is good enough to get minutes as a #8 for a very solid PL outfit. One is a defensive specialist and the other covers a lot of ground. ITs not like we are playing gholizadeh and ghayedi next to ezatolahi lol.

Our best passages of play have come with Taremi on the left, you can check the tape on that. Taremi picking up spot on the LW vs IRaq early in game, making good run forward, getting fed by noorafkan and crossing brilliantly for ARJ. Vs Bahrain first half was atrocious, we actually went to 433 in second half and both goals came from Taremi dropping to left side, collecting the ball, and feeding in Sardar from there.

He plays very well there and it doesnt hamper team at all, it actually helps the spacing between him and sardar, we dont want them to suffocate each other and make it easier for defenders to mark them (what happens when they stand 5 meters apart). This allows us to incorporate ghoddos without giving up defensive structure, as we are essentially swapping gholi for ghoddos in the lineup.

Really not as revolutionary as some of you are making it seem.

[Farzadfarhangni]

He wants to taremi close to azmoun. What a load of BS. This is what will make us one dimensional and unable to achieve anything in WC. If we are just relying on our whole offense being taremi and azmoun...We need other offensive weapons, creative players, players who can actually formulate a few good passing sequences to actually get the best out of those guys. Or else it is just way to predictable.
Ghoddos, Nourollahi, Ezatolahi is not a very offensive midfield. One player is good enough to get minutes as a #8 for a very solid PL outfit. One is a defensive specialist and the other covers a lot of ground. ITs not like we are playing gholizadeh and ghayedi next to ezatolahi lol.
Our best passages of play have come with Taremi on the left, you can check the tape on that. Taremi picking up spot on the LW vs IRaq early in game, making good run forward, getting fed by noorafkan and crossing brilliantly for ARJ. Vs Bahrain first half was atrocious, we actually went to 433 in second half and both goals came from Taremi dropping to left side, collecting the ball, and feeding in Sardar from there.
He plays very well there and it doesnt hamper team at all, it actually helps the spacing between him and sardar, we dont want them to suffocate each other and make it easier for defenders to mark them (what happens when they stand 5 meters apart). This allows us to incorporate ghoddos without giving up defensive structure, as we are essentially swapping gholi for ghoddos in the lineup.
Really not as revolutionary as some of you are making it seem.

Don't want to go back and forth. I hear you and I think you misunderstood me. First of all, I am in favor of a DM with two CM one of which is Ghoddos. Read again. I said Ezatollahi as CDM and Ghoddos and one of Amiri/Nour as CM. I just don't think Skocic will employ that strategy thinking that it is too offensive.
My other point was that if we go with two CDM of Nour and Ezz like Iranarsenal11 was suggesting and Ghoddos as CAM, our left side will be weakened. Nour runs more than Ezz and comes to the touchline quite a bit to facilitate triangles between Moharrami and Jahanbakhsh, but we don't want Ezz to leave the center of the pitch. Hence, our left side will not be as productive. We can play 4-4-1-1 with Taremi playing left half and Ghoddos playing behind Azmoun, but I think that may be too far back for Taremi, don't you think?
Anyways, it is all too fluid and during the game everyone moves around so nothing is hard and fast. Also, we are always talking about our offensive set up, our defensive set up is a whole different story.

[inarsenewetrust]

Don't want to go back and forth. I hear you and I think you misunderstood me. First of all, I am in favor of a DM with two CM one of which is Ghoddos. Read again. I said Ezatollahi as CDM and Ghoddos and one of Amiri/Nour as CM. I just don't think Skocic will employ that strategy thinking that it is too offensive.
My other point was that if we go with two CDM of Nour and Ezz like Iranarsenal11 was suggesting and Ghoddos as CAM, our left side will be weakened. Nour runs more than Ezz and comes to the touchline quite a bit to facilitate triangles between Moharrami and Jahanbakhsh, but we don't want Ezz to leave the center of the pitch. Hence, our left side will not be as productive. We can play 4-4-1-1 with Taremi playing left half and Ghoddos playing behind Azmoun, but I think that may be too far back for Taremi, don't you think?
Anyways, it is all too fluid and during the game everyone moves around so nothing is hard and fast. Also, we are always talking about our offensive set up, our defensive set up is a whole different story.

I dont want to keep going back and forth either but this fear that somehow ghoddos will render us into a defensively shit side is just too much. Its not the case. The guy as he showed vs an excellent aston villa side can put in his share of hard yards and is actually strong in pressing, tackling (helped by his stocky physique). Can he make a 30 yard defensive recovery run like kante or makalele? No, but then again neither can anybody in our current midfield.

The upside is just so huge to ghoddos. I know some people like to just point to results but you need to have vision! This team is going to a WC, can they win games there when the connection between defense and attack is as weak as it currently is? A midfield of just nour and ezatolahi and no 3rd guy is really weak, these players are already not super high level ones (like the two Cfs), most teams we play will have not only better midfielders but also 1 additional midfielder. We wont be able to advance balls through to actually feed our CFs.

It makes sense to play regular 3 man midfield, with 3 different profile players who can give you best possible combo of defensive cover and also actual technical ability (this doesnt mean dribbling btw, this is in itself a defensive mechanism bc with ghoddos in there you give less turnovers, fast breaks than without him).

Our left side being weak isnt a valid excuse either. ARJ started on left vs SK and was horrible, truly awful until his goal. Gholi started on other wing and most people forgot he was even playing. We only need one of those guys to start and it should be in their main strong position which is RW.

Putting ghoddos in for gholizadeh and changing to a 433 will not limit your defensive stability, it will actually improve it.

[ParthianDE]

If Ghoddos is smart he'll keep on developing his fitness (which in all fairness he already has, but keep on building!) and his bite (thankfully the EPL is probably the best league to develop that).

I'm sure his time time will come for TM.

[Leicester City]

Lowkey these red Brentford jerseys would look pretty decent with a pair of blue denim jeans.