WCQ 2022: Iran - UAE (Info, Reports, and Live Updates)

[Futbaldoost]

Sajadi, minister of sports, said today at TM training that there will not be any fans at the stadium tomorrow due to the Omicron variant related surge. http://ffiri.ir/fa/news/11120/%D8%B3...AA%DB%8C%D9%85

Go TM!

[Futbaldoost]

Skocic said today in the pre-match on-line news conference that TM will appear with full power and our goal is to get the good result like Iraq match. He said Beiro is out due to COVID-19 and Shoja is out due to two yellow cards he picked up in previous round 3 matches. When asked about the Beiro losing his starting position, he said that it is a sweet headache to have and he has full confidence in all the TM keepers. He wished that COVID-19 again does not disrupt his plans for the match tomorrow. Gholizadeh was there with Skocic and said the same thing that we will be there with full power and our goal is to get three points and it will be a difficult match. The Merooj (Majid) wearables look cool

http://ffiri.ir/fa/news/11123/%D8%A7%D8%B3%DA%A9%D9%88%DA%86%DB%8C%DA%86%C2%A0%D8%AF%D8%B1-%D8%AF%DB%8C%D8%AF%D8%A7%D8%B1%D9%87%D8%A7%DB%8C-%D8%A2%D8%AA%DB%8C-%D8%A8%D8%A7-%D8%AA%D9%85%D8%A7%D9%85-%D9%82%D8%AF%D8%B1%D8%AA-%D8%A8%D9%87-%D9%85%DB%8C%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%86-%D9%85%DB%8C%E2%80%8C%D8%B1%D9%88%DB%8C%D9%85

http://ffiri.ir/fa/news/11124/%D9%82%D9%84%DB%8C%E2%80%8C%D8%B2%D8%A7%D8%AF%D9%87-%D8%A8%D8%A7%D8%B2%DB%8C-%D8%B3%D8%AE%D8%AA%DB%8C-%D8%A8%D8%A7-%D8%A7%D9%85%D8%A7%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA-%D8%AF%D8%A7%D8%B1%DB%8C%D9%85

Go TM!

[Philosophy_King]

That's exactly the point. The game plan against China was very simple. Lob the ball from the defensive line to theirs, attack it viciously with your forwards and just wait for their back line to screw up the first touch, which they repeatedly did. Now that plan can only work against defenders with a poor first touch. It would be absolutely futile and even a sign of a lack of creativity otherwise (basically bekesh ziresh with no apparent purpose). The point is that CQ studied China, identified this basic weakness, and pounded on it so hard that master tactician Lippi was at a loss for words in the post-game press conference, knowing he was absolutely schooled by CQ. Skocic hasn't shown anything remotely similar in terms of reading TM's opponents. It's the same approach to every single game.

To bank/speculate on these HUGE mistakes from your opponent, when you are the first rank Team in Asia and are expected to dominate an opponent like China ( no disrespect to them) is VERY poor. Totally unconvincing. By the way our first goal against Oman (AC 2019) came also from a blunder. In Chess it is not satisfying to win a game as a result of blunders by your opponent and most def. not a sign of Tactical Genius. If we stay for a minute on AC 2019: i would argue that CQ got outcoached from Katanec's Iraq, who kept pressuring us early , destroy our built up game and create some good chances.

I am a huge CQ-Fan and thank him for all he did for TM, but lets not develop a Cult of personality here and treat him like a God-like figure who never made mistakes and was just perfect.

Speaking about Skocic, i am at times critical with his decisions/Line-Ups (f.e. Shoja as CB or Nourollahi etc.) but he gets the results. I would also argue that we play more fluid football under him than under CQ reign. Skocic did also some good substitutions in crucial situations of the game, which helped us winning the game. In any case, our game in Seoul against Korea will tell us more about Skocic's abilities.

[Philosophy_King]

I will say that I love the guy's passion, but that does not mean that I am willing to turn a blind eye toward his many missteps, character defects, and other negative traits that are his own worst enemies, having prevented him from becoming one of the top 5 coaches in the world in his era.

So you would rank CQ in the Top 5 in the world in a List with Coaches like:

Pep Guardiola, Jürgen Klopp, Mourinho, Sir Alex Ferguson, Arsene Wenger, Mauricio Pottecino, Marcello Lippi, Joachim Löw, Diego Simenone, Carlo Ancelotti, Jupp Heynckes, Lois van Gaal, Vincente del Bosque, Antonio Conte etc. ???

[mbaizai]

Can someone share tomorrow game link plz

[Leicester City]

I have a feeling that we are gonna to perform exceptionally at this WC, the same way Japan and Korea ( with the help of the Ref.) did back in WC 2002 in Japan&Korea. Playing in Qatar is like a home game for us. With players like Taremi, Gholi, ARJ, Ezzi, Amiri,Ghoddus etc.
My dream Line-Up would be:

--------------Abedzadeh--------------
Rezaian--Kanaani---PAG--------MIMO
--------------Ezzi-----------------------
--------ARJ-----------Amiri-------------
-------------Ghoddus-------------------
--Sardar---------------Taremi-----------

If PAG, Rezaian and MIMO can reclaim their spot and perform like they did under CQ, i truly believe that this would be our best Line-Up. I am not a huge fan of Nourafkan, his movements are uncontrolled at times + he is not as fast as MIMO. With MiMo we are much more dynamic. Moharrami makes to many defensive errors IMO and his crosses are not as good as Rezaian's. And i think we can all agree that a fit and healthy PAG is WAY better than Shoja.

Philosophy_King, I am having the same optimism/feeling the same way about how we will perform at Qatar.

[mahestan]

To bank/speculate on these HUGE mistakes from your opponent, when you are the first rank Team in Asia and are expected to dominate an opponent like China ( no disrespect to them) is VERY poor. Totally unconvincing. By the way our first goal against Oman (AC 2019) came also from a blunder. In Chess it is not satisfying to win a game as a result of blunders by your opponent and most def. not a sign of Tactical Genius. If we stay for a minute on AC 2019: i would argue that CQ got outcoached from Katanec's Iraq, who kept pressuring us early , destroy our built up game and create some good chances.

I am a huge CQ-Fan and thank him for all he did for TM, but lets not develop a Cult of personality here and treat him like a God-like figure who never made mistakes and was just perfect.

Speaking about Skocic, i am at times critical with his decisions/Line-Ups (f.e. Shoja as CB or Nourollahi etc.) but he gets the results. I would also argue that we play more fluid football under him than under CQ reign. Skocic did also some good substitutions in crucial situations of the game, which helped us winning the game. In any case, our game in Seoul against Korea will tell us more about Skocic's abilities.

What's frustrating is some of the members on PFDC can't accept that we can appreciate what CQ did in addition to what Skocic is getting done. It doesn't have to be so black and white, we can appreciate both coaches and point out the flaws in both.

No one doubts the discipline that CQ infused in TM, in addition to get our players set on challenging themselves and pushing to go to bigger and better leagues. However, when his game plan/tactic didn't pan out, he was horrible on adjustments.

[Farzadfarhangni]

That's exactly the point. The game plan against China was very simple. Lob the ball from the defensive line to theirs, attack it viciously with your forwards and just wait for their back line to screw up the first touch, which they repeatedly did. Now that plan can only work against defenders with a poor first touch. It would be absolutely futile and even a sign of a lack of creativity otherwise (basically bekesh ziresh with no apparent purpose). The point is that CQ studied China, identified this basic weakness, and pounded on it so hard that master tactician Lippi was at a loss for words in the post-game press conference, knowing he was absolutely schooled by CQ. Skocic hasn't shown anything remotely similar in terms of reading TM's opponents. It's the same approach to every single game.

In terms of pressing, CQ's team did press hard. People criticized him in the group state of 2015 Asian Cup for the lack of possession against Bahrain, Qatar, and especially UAE. His willingness to forego possession, however -- and this is what his critics missed -- was because of his pressing style, usually organized by Ando, which was a concerted effort by the entire team (hence no distance between the lines), not individual players, as we now see under Skocic. CQ basically gave those three opponents enough rope (possession) to hang themselves and then exploited any mistakes viciously. Oh, how I miss him! There is nothing remotely similar to be expected from Skocic and I am not even blaming him. Dude his winning games left and right, but there is a ceiling to his capabilities. And we have reached it.

Excuse me. Were you in the locker room when CQ instructed his players to give the ball to China's central defenders, so that they can blunder it and we can score????!!!! How are you so sure that that was CQ's ingenious game plan? Do you have a copy of his game plans and this is plan 243xxyp3m: Don't pass to forwards, but give the ball to the opponents defenders???

So was our pass completion 0% that game, because we kept lobbing the ball to their defenders????

[diz]

[mbaizai]

Philosophy_King, I am having the same optimism/feeling the same way about how we will perform at Qatar.

I hope we have full house Irani crowds. Hope qatar will make it visa free for Iranians which I'm sure they will.

[Doctor DOOM]

No, I do not think my criticism could be leveled at CQ. I think the criticism I presented is very Skocic-specific. Let me explain why:
First, in terms of distance between lines, I disagree with you that it is very subjective. Distance is very prone to being measured, it is not a fuzzy concept by any means. Now, looking at CQ's TM, the interesting point is that no matter whether pressing or defending, all the lines were close to each other. Under no circumstances were there any gaps between them. It is a misconception that it was just "different tactics" under CQ, because defending started with Azmoun and Taremi, while pressing involved the back line just as much (rewatch some games and notice how even PAG and Hosseini moved up close to the midline when the team was pressing). With Skocic, pressing involves the attacking line only, if it happens at all, while defending is left to the four-back, with gaps between those lines and the others.
Second, talking game plans, my point was not that Skocic has no game plan but that he has only one! That's a big difference. My point is that unlike Skocic, CQ had different game plans for different opponents, adjusting and readjusting his strategies depending on who TM was facing. All the things you mentioned (wing play, passing & slicing) may be true, but they do not invalidate my point, because they are invariant under Skocic. It is always the same thing irrespective of who we are facing. We saw initial cracks of this approach against South Korea, and I am curious to see how the next game against them will pan out, but I fear Skocic is just too rigid in his tactical approach.
As for your last point, I am not sure why you would say that. Do CQ worshippers exist? Yes, for sure. Am I one of those? I don't think so. I will say that I love the guy's passion, but that does not mean that I am willing to turn a blind eye toward his many missteps, character defects, and other negative traits that are his own worst enemies, having prevented him from becoming one of the top 5 coaches in the world in his era.

1. Pressing
As far as I remember the team hardly pressed the opponent up the field.
Striker defending is different from pressing up the field, as I'm sure you'd know.
If any CQ's strikers defended, it was closer to the halfway line rather than the opponents' box.
I frankly can't remember seeing a high press under CQ.
Maybe against extremely weak opponents. Even that I can't remember


2. Tactics and game plans.
You're right that some coaches adopt their gameplans according to the opponents characteristics, weaknesses and strengths.
But some coaches have a differing philosophy: Do what you do best and keep at it. And if that bears fruit, why change?
You can't deny it has borne fruit so far.
It's just two different approaches.


3. I didn't say anything about worshipping CQ or X or Y.
I myself do admire and appreciate what he did for us, TM an how he brought the much needed discipline and order to a chaotic TM
What I said was many PPL allow the fame N name of then coach to cloud their judgement and act not based on performance but th name of the person. And tha is wrong

[Abtin]

Any changes besides Beiro compared to last game, due to Corona?

[Abtin]

Btw, what happened to the Lakers shorts in the latest training pics? 😂

And I'm glad to see Saman smiling in all pics, he's been seeming so happy with the team since first day! 🙌🏼

[Nokhodi]

Any changes besides Beiro compared to last game, due to Corona?

No Shoja due to yellow card accumulation.

[Futbaldoost]

Now that Noorollahi is back, it will be interesting what the lineup will be. The question is whether Saman will go back to the bench and Ahmad Noor will start. It's very likely but it is not a slam dunk. We know that Skocic really trusts Noorollahi and likes how he hustles and the fact that he could score (he scored the game winner in 90+5h minute in Lebanon) yet there are other factors in terms of what the overall lineup will be (I think without Sadar, Skocic will again go to one striker) and what works best when facing UAE. Also, I think Skocic will go with Yazdani in place of Shoja since he has been there in many of the camps and there is no Majid Hosseini (I heard he went back to Turkey after positive test results on day one or two of the camp). I only see those changes. The rest of line-up will stay the same as Iraq match (assuming there are no surprise COVID-19 positive cases tomorrow from the pre-match tests taken today). Here is my guess:

----------------Abedzadeh----------------
Moharrami--Kanani--Yazdani--Noorafkan
----------------Ezzatollahi----------------
Jahanbakhsh------Noorollahi--------Amiri
-----------------Gholizadeh-----------------
--------------------Taremi--------------------

Go TM!