Iran vs UAE post match ratings

[Philosophy_King]

regarding pure talent, i think right after Ali Karimi, Taremi is physically/technically speaking the most gifted TM player. I just wished he could have moved earlier to Europe.

[Sepehr9]

Beiranvand: 8 solid as a rock
Moharami: 7 did his job
Kanaanizadegan: 7.5 the man is a strong as an ox, looks like he has taken Pouraliganji's position. Forms a solid partnership with Shoja.
Khalilzadeh: 8 what a beast, along with Seyed Jalal Hosseini the best central defender we've had by far.
Noorafkan: 6.5 he was shaky but he has all the skills and physique to become a solid left back, he needs more games to gain experience and lose his nervousness.
Ezatolahi 8.5 like i said many times, we only have one Ezza, the man is unique for us and can become a leader in the near future if he keeps this up.
Amiri: 6 worked hard as always, covered alot of space, not his best game but he is a must for TM given his experience and input.
Nourollahi: 6.5 solid, closed down attacks, worked hard as always and was good in possession.
Jahanbakhsh: 4 needs to step up his game, i believe in him, he can do alot better than this. In time we will see the old AZ Jahanbakhsh become important for TM as well. But right now Ghoddos, Torabi or Gholizadeh should start ahead of him until he can challenge them.
Taremi: 8 what can we say about this magnificent player, he needs to be a little les selfish and he is just perfect.
Azmoun: 7.5 too bad he missed the penalty otherwise he would have gotten an 8 as well. We are very lucky to have him.

Gholizadeh: 8 TM was much better when he came on, creative, great dribbles, creates lots of space. I don't understand when TM is blessed with 4 creative players in Gholizadeh, Ghoddos, Ghaedi and Torabi at least on of them should play, we all saw what happens when TM plays without a fantasista (creative player). In fact, one of Queiroz's flaws was that he did not play with creative players. Skocic so far plays with creative midfielders except in this game, i hope it does not become a trend with him. I'm more than pleased with Skocic, the man is fast becoming a legend and silencing all his haters. A man who wins is always right. Next in line is South Korea!

[inarsenewetrust]

He is much more heavier compare to the last year, i am not saying it is fat, but i find his mobility not as sharp as before.

maybe but I also find he is not pushed around as easily.

Compared to match vs Leipzig's upamecano a couple years ago (Thought he bullied sardar) vs chelsea I thought from physical perspective he was not dominated by rudiger, christensen, still found the moment to show the speed he has in behind.

I agree with you, his body has changed, but he is by no means slow, and has improved physical power for sure which will aid him in bigger leagues.

I just dont think he looked as sharp as usual today, and having watched him a couple games recently in zenit that was not the case so I give him benefit of the doubt.

[Iran_19]

He should have been subbed 10-15 mins earlier, but overall he is totally fit. just think it wasnt his best match. still when it mattered he made crucial contribution and showed his class.

He is much more heavier compare to the last year, i am not saying it is fat, but i find his mobility not as sharp as before.

[inarsenewetrust]

Sardar to me added some weight, and wasn't as fast as before. He usually is very sharp around the net, which wasn't the case in the last few games. Maybe i am expecting too much from him, i don't know..

He should have been subbed 10-15 mins earlier, but overall he is totally fit. just think it wasnt his best match. still when it mattered he made crucial contribution and showed his class.

[Iran_19]

Sardar to me added some weight, and wasn't as fast as before. He usually is very sharp around the net, which wasn't the case in the last few games. Maybe i am expecting too much from him, i don't know..

[Iran_19]

Skocic actually was sharp to take Norafkan out, not that he played bad, but he was going to get the red for sure. Same situation happened when Wilmots was there with Masoud, and we all saw what happened.
His subs were Ok considering the circumstances, subbed Norafkan out, Amiri as LB, then to protect the lead brought Hajsafi to move Amiri up, as he is more defensive winger than JB. and Sarlak, who is more defensive for Nour.
people like to see fancy sub, but at the end coaches think about 3 points and how to protect an away lead.

[Farzadfarhangni]

I have seen a lot of negative posts about Skocic and it all boils down to three points... 1) Team has no strategy 2) He depends too much on individual's abilities
and 3) Poor substitutions. I'd like to address or question all three.

1) Team has no strategy

Briefly, today we played 4-4-2 first half and 4-2-2-2 second half. We emphasized the right side in the first half as ARJ/Moharami/Nour were constantly switching positions and making triangles and moved the ball up to the corner flag to cross. On the left, Nourafkan and Amiri could not do the same as Ezzatolahi was to stay back at all times so they did not drive to corner flag but instead moved infield to partner up with Taremi to move the ball up.... I think they were emphasizing the right side because UAE's left back was injured and they were trying to put pressure on his back up... All this sort of thing to me is strategy. The fact that ARJ did not have a good game and Nour's passes were going stray is not coach's fault or lack of strategy. And Skocic adjusted to 4-2-2-2 in second half and performance did get better.

I'd like to ask people who feel Skocic has no strategy, what did they see as France's strategy in the last world cup? This may help me understand what their point is. There are coaches that have a defensive bias, like CQ and Mourinho, who rely on counterattacks and set pieces to score. And there are some coaches that don't care much about defense and try to outscore their opponents. But most coaches have a more neutral bias and adjust it more offensively or defensively depending on their opponent. Skocic is in this camp and today he adjusted it to be more offensive. There are coaches that build from the back religiously (Graham Potter) and others that use bekesh ziresh... But again, most coaches use a combination of the two and Skocic does too. So I am confused on what people would like to see to say that this team/coach has a strategy.


2) Skocic depends too much on individuals

This really gets me. Of course, he depends on individuals. Give Brazil's coach some Bangladeshi soccer players and have him win the world cup with them players!!! Please elaborate on what you mean here... (I know we have been weak offensively on set pieces, but hard to blame Skocic on this given so little time to prepare for these games)

3) Poor substitutions

We can have our opinions on this but I tried to come up with an unbiased test and checked the number of goals scored in the first halves and the second halves during Skocic's 10 game history. Logic being that if he makes good substitutions in second half, adjusting for the opponent's weaknesses, we should score more in second half. In his 10 games, we have scored 10 goals in first halves and 19 goals in the second halves. This by no mean is scientific proof but seems to indicate that his substitutions and strategy adjustments at half time are affective.

[Iranianarsenal11]

Goes to show that sometimes you have slightly above average players like ARJ grind their ass off and make it to the premier league while guys like PAG who are (no offense to ARJ) naturally better football players, waste their careers playing in the Chinese league...

I love ARJ and he was my MOTM against Iraq but today's game showed that his game is quite limited...

[Iran_19]

ARJ's problem isn't that he plays poorly one game and well another. He honestly plays pretty consistently. The problem is that he is extremely limited physically and technically. He's not very fast. He's not very technical with the ball. His passing and spacial awareness is average at best. He has a good shot and he's a very hard working player. But thats it. So against some teams these issues come up while against others they dont. That fools you into thinking hes inconsistent. He's not. He's just not that good.

True, JB played beyond his talent level, his last season in Holland set the bar high, but the reality is as you said he is not gifted player or excellent or very good in anything. He is just a hard working player with a great work ethic.

[The Farbod]

ARJ's problem isn't that he plays poorly one game and well another. He honestly plays pretty consistently. The problem is that he is extremely limited physically and technically. He's not very fast. He's not very technical with the ball. His passing and spacial awareness is average at best. He has a good shot and he's a very hard working player. But thats it. So against some teams these issues come up while against others they dont. That fools you into thinking hes inconsistent. He's not. He's just not that good.

[Kavian]

on the contrary. Iranians should be proud of Iran’s advancements in sports with all the sanctions placed on the country.

Any talk about advancements of any kind in light of the sanctions, gives legitimacy to the akhoud regime who in the first place brought us the sanctions and pushed a 3000 years civilization to be the worse of worse!

There is nothing here to be proud of .. period!

Pride is when we free our nation from akhound and dark religion.

[Leicester City]

I think he is not that good that we might think. He had an excellent season in AZ (over performed maybe). But I think he don't have the natural technical talents that some others player have. He is maybe too scholar, so I guess it works out when everything around you goes well but may not be enough if the opponent is stronger or your team don't do too well.

Bro this has been a recurring theme, not just one game...

I know for a fact we would fared better with 10 players today. Kept on giving the ball away freely to the opposition you would've thought he was playing for UAE. Couldn't beat his man... couldn't even beat his own shadow if we are being honest. AND DON'T EVEN GET ME STARTED ON SET-PIECES/DELIVERY. What even was that? I and half the people on PFDC could have sent a better ball in than that, I kid you not bro. Even a little baby could send in better quality than that. As a winger, if that's what you call a delivery then legit you have no business being anywhere near a football pitch.

[OFFSIDE_1]

The point I’m making is that Iranians should stop being proud of Iran’s advancements, including sports, despite sanctions. We are not competing at the level we should be with global powers. Not with the resources Iran has, both human and natural resources.

on the contrary. Iranians should be proud of Iran’s advancements in sports with all the sanctions placed on the country.

[somebuffguy]

Amiri had a poor game on the ball with those continuous slips in advanced positions but also taking him out of the midfield in the second half showed how exposed the cm of Ezza and Nourallahi is without his energy and closing of the passing lanes.

Ezzatolahi is an excellent defensive midfielder when he has the right player alongside him and that player is definitely not Nourallahi. And certainly not in a 2. People are praising Nourallahi’s
high press but there are too many occasions that he gets caught in between pressing and sitting and doesn’t close off the forward pass in behind him and this exposes Ezza’s lack of mobility. There’s no way we’re starting va Korea without Amiri in central midfield after Skocic analyses that second half defensively.

This is an astute analysis I must say