WAFF Games Pros and Cons

[Ali Chicago]

I don't see the logic in playing a 4-3-3 with our current squad for many reasons:
1) We only have one stable, professional, and legtimiate forward in this team, and that is Hashemian. By playing a 3 striker formation, we are forced to play 2 more players in a position that we are already weak in.
2) TM has the most depth in midfield, thus it would be logical to use a midfield heavy formation. The 4-5-1 (4-2-3-1) would be ideal. In this case, we can exploit our strenght (midfield) and minimize our weakness (forward)
3) GN has stated that he will start Kia as RB. I was always against playing Kia in RB for TM for a few reasons. The only reason he was playing RB for HSV is because they were talented on the right and thats why Kia was benched. He gained his spot back in the starting lineup as a RB, not a RM. But Kia, naturally, is a right-wing. It is his best position. He was involved in a majority of TM goals in the 2004 AC and 2006 WCQ. He is still very a vital component of TM's attack. Putting him at RB in TM would lessen his involvement in Iran's attack. Rather, Enayati and Khatibi will gain more inolvement.
4) Zandi at LB? Is this a joke? Zandi's posotion is CAM. How would you figure playing him at LB? Just because he is a left-footed player does NOT mean that he can play on the left wing. Especially a left back position. That is like putting Karimi or Mobali at RB just because they are right footed.
5) If we play the 4-5-1, we can include Kaebi as RB. Kaebi has been a very important player for TM in that past few years. He was arguably our best player in the WC. The thing that you have to respect, is that he shines on the big stage. He did well in the WC, and the past AC. And thats what we need in TM, players who shine and perform under pressure. But by playing the 4-3-3, Kaebi will be a sub and Enayati/Khatibi will start instead. Not a smart move.
I think GN is trying to be different and innovative here. If he goes out with the 4-2-3-1 or 4-5-1, then he will be accussed of copying Branko.

In couple of occasions he mentioed TM will play with 2-3 systems during the game and it will be based on the opposition which system he will chosee. His goal is to be able to switch systems during the game (team should be tactically savvy enough to do this and this is his main duty to get the team there). Point is 4-3-3 and 4-5-1 in on of those systems I think, I don't think we play like this all the time (but of course this is my hunch).

As for Zandi in LB though, it seems that is GN is working on Zandi (I admit it is a bit strange to see him there). He doesn't seem to be a grind and tough type player. But I am sure, he can learn the ins and outs of the position. GN is working specifically with Zandi on this and in his interviews a few times mentioned that he is very pleased with Zandi and his work in this new position. Guess time will show, if he is right or it will be a big mistake.

[eshgheiran]

I do see one big CON in this and it is that we did not use our A team for the tournament. I agree that the teams were weak, but that was a good opportunity to play the A team players together to create some automatism.

Regarding GN and his principals, if he had even half of success that he was hoping he would have stick with his ideologies and would not integrate any player not corresponding to his inside and outside of Football world's views. But the pressure is on him and he cannot do everything that he wants.

I feel that after the Esteghlal-AFC fiasco, GN became more humble.

[Ali Chicago]

I do see one big CON in this and it is that we did not use our A team for the tournament. I agree that the teams were weak, but that was a good opportunity to play the A team players together to create some automatism.

Regarding GN and his principals, if he had even half of success that he was hoping he would have stick with his ideologies and would not integrate any player not corresponding in his inside and outside of Football world's views. But the pressure is on him and he cannot do everything that he wants.

I feel that after the Esteghlal-AFC fiasco, GN became more humble.

You will see how much this 3 weeks of conditioning will pay off. Mark off my words. We will kick bootie if we are fit conditioning wise. I am so glad, GN didn't send the team to WAFF. The team for most part 8-9 players have played together for the most part. They dont' need that much time to gel. Couple of friendlies is good enough.

[eshgheiran]

I hope you are right Ali jaan.

But for example now there is talks about Zandi playing LB, if this is true, then 2 games will not allow him to create automatism of playing with the other defenders who are used to play together. Other thing is that more games they have, better GN would figure out its 11 principal. There is always the risk of one getting injured but i think the risk worth the outcome.

[Ali Chicago]

I hope you are right Ali jaan.

But for example now there is talks about Zandi playing LB, if this is true, then 2 games will not allow him to create automatism of playing with the other defenders who are used to play together. Other thing is that more games they have, better GN would figure out its 11 principal. There is always the risk of one getting injured but i think the risk worth the outcome.

Well ideally if they had the 4 weeks of conditioning and then could go to WAFF it would have been ideal. As for Zandi playing LB is just one of the formations Iran might play. Worst comes to worst, we have defenders like Aghili that can play left (if push comes to shove or even Hosseini, it is not idea but doable).

Soccer is a simple game, it is not like American football that a coach needs very sophesticated schemes like Statue of liberty and such an such play. A coach can have the team prepared and overall the team coordinated, the rest will be to player's improvisation and degree of self execuation the player has reached. Zandi used to play in Bundesliga, so one think, playing for all those warm up games in the camp and stuff allows a pro player in his caliber to catch up.

[yashar_fasihnia]

It is not important what I said, or what you said in the past. I think the important point is getting to know GN's personality.

and like i said, i think he came on real hard and arrogant (cant blame him, afterall he is young and quite inexperienced as a coach specially on national level).
he thought he could do many things different but realized that most of the things had to be done the same way it was done previously before him.

and kazem jan,
ghalenoi later only came up with the excuse of not inviting zandi cos of him not having a stable club. he was in a way khoshans to have a kind of alibi or excuse to not invite zandi.
he clearly said zandi did not fit into his plans which is very different from saying zandi isnt invited because he doesnt have a club or he is not on form.

he didnt invite kaabi either (who branko first discovered, nor did he bring shojaei who was another one of the croats discovery). like i said, i think he was trying to prove he is different from his predecessor but soon realized that these guys indeed were better than some others ghalenoi had invited instead.

[yashar_fasihnia]

damn..i cant edit my own post

wat im trying to say is that branko was criticized for many things, some right, some wrong.
i think wat ghalenoi tried to do is to prove branko wrong in all the criticisms and in a way prove he and his criticisms were right and also side with the media, fans who blamed branko.

however, some of these criticisms were wrong and it was proven over time that branko was right in certain situations and ghalenoi quietly accepted them which is a good sign as it shows he is a flexible person and accepts mistakes.

in his first interview, when ghalenoi said zandi has no place in his plans, he also mentioned that TM will be playing either 3-5-2 or 3-4-3, but today, u see he is also implementing 4 back system and is ready to play with 1 striker (hashemian) in his 4-3-3/4-5-1 system, something branko also did in his 4-2-3-1 system.

just to let u know kazem jan,
unlike some ghalenoi (& branko bashers), i have given credit to both coaches where ever i felt they deserved it. however, this zandi,kaabi,shojaei story is not one of those which i can accept. it has nothing to do with racism, but his mentality, his approach and his to an extent lajbazi (for claiming zandi is not even in the top 40 players of iran and has no place in his plans!!! )

[kaz]

I know you didn't Yashar jan, I was making a general statement.

What I dislike with "him trying other options" doesn't mean he is proving Branko right at all. Using a 4-4-2 and using different players in it, is totally different to what Branko did. And as said before, the team is essentially going to have a base of 6-7 players regardless who the coach is.

I mean, the fact that Zandi is back isn't as much of an issue as the fact that Zandi is going to be played at left-back. Changing his mind about Zandi being a top 40 player isn't an issue, I never heard Zandi singled out by GN when Branko was in charge. It has really no connection. If GN had brought back Daei, then that would have been something.

Branko was criticised for a lot of things and GN has come in and changed them. He's invited Mobali back and continues to try other youths. He isn't rigid like Branko was and is trying different formations. There really are only two formations Iran can play and they are 3-5-2 and 4-4-2. It has nothing to do with Branko.

Kaabi was discovered by Vinko and Shojaei was used as an excuse to put Mobali aside. Shojaei didn't warrant a place in the WC by any standard. Branko said that whilst Navidkia and Jabbari were in the team they were ahead of Mobali and when those two were injured and couldn't make it, instead of inviting Mobali he invited Masoud. I mean, Shojaei wasn't even in his plans uptil the WC, nowhere in his 4-5 year tenure. And the only reason he got a game was because of Karimi. What I am getting at is that you're mistaken if you think just because Branko invited X or Y, then that is his plan and anyone else that uses it are resorting to his plan. Two artists can both paint a picture of a tree, but it will still be a different vision and it will come out on the canvas.

[Ali Chicago]

Yashr jaan,


About Zandi issue. I think you might (and I say might), be missing a key issue. Just consider this. Dont mean come here and act wise and give naseehat dada. But as a friend I would like to share something with you. This will help you in all aspects of life.

Nothing is constant and things are changing (in Philospehy they call this dialectic). Hegel German philosepher said this back in 18th century. Every phonomenon (you, I, KAZ, GN, X, Y). So just consider that maybe Zandi is changing too. Zandi in 2006 may not deserve to be invited based on his performance and (same way Beckham wasn't invited to National team does that mean Beckham is a shitty player). Now, if Zandi has changed, it is quite natural to be invited. Zandi at one point can be among top 40 among top 10 and at times out of top 40 it is all based on his performance. Now if you say, you know for sure GN didn't ivnite him for other reasons, it is just speculation at best until we have a hard core reason (rather than a hunch).

To be honest, that is what I admire (yes I admire about GN). When he subbed Kia in the Jordan's game. He sent a shockwave to TM. That if a player doesn't matter who he is, isnt' playing well, he will be subbed. This was a total reverasal of certain former coach that during his regin, that we all knew who were starting elven and even subs were totally predictable (despite how the starting 11 were performing). This attitude killed the spirit of cometition in TM during former coach IMHO.

I dont' see this as GN lajbazi or trying to prove Branko right or wrong. Shojaii for a while not doing good in UAE even. So him not being invited make sense. Maybe GN used that as an incentive to push him further, how do you know that Shojai not being invited has somethign to do with "khoordeh hesab" with Branko? So if a coach doesn't invite a player it doesn't mean he/she has an ultramotivation with him. GN swallowed his pride and invited Samereh despite having doubt about him (Samereh doesn't participate in pressuring defesne and all) but he still invited him. That shows to me, that GN is pragmatic enough to pact with devil if he has to, to make sure his team performs well.

Despite the image you have from GN, he is a very shrewed political guy. Look at the how he is dealing with the Fattollahzadeh leadership in Esteghlal. He clearly said, he has different piont of view from him, but won't do anything to hurt Esteghlal. GN isn't an angle and has quite a few shortcoming (we all do). But despite what you think of him, he is very pragmatic and easily change positions if he feels in the long run benefits him. Comapre that to Hejazi and how it has to be his way or highway ( I respect Hejazi for he being principaled btw a lot).


You and I aren't in GN heart or head to knwo if inviting X or Y is due to personal reasons or other issues. So we have to give them the benefit of doubt. You see this is my attitude, everyone is innocent until proven guilty. It seems for you GN is guilty until proven innocent (Zandi not being invited in your book is because he wants to prove Branko wrong).

To be honest, Branko is gone, so the whole Daie in TM issue. GN's todays action ( I am ready to bet) has more to do with saving his skin in AFC rather than Branko, Daie, X or Y. We as fans are better off to look at things in todays perspective not Branko era.

[Doctor DOOM]

I don't see the logic in playing a 4-3-3 with our current squad for many reasons:
1) We only have one stable, professional, and legtimiate forward in this team, and that is Hashemian. By playing a 3 striker formation, we are forced to play 2 more players in a position that we are already weak in.
2) TM has the most depth in midfield, thus it would be logical to use a midfield heavy formation. The 4-5-1 (4-2-3-1) would be ideal. In this case, we can exploit our strenght (midfield) and minimize our weakness (forward)
3) GN has stated that he will start Kia as RB. I was always against playing Kia in RB for TM for a few reasons. The only reason he was playing RB for HSV is because they were talented on the right and thats why Kia was benched. He gained his spot back in the starting lineup as a RB, not a RM. But Kia, naturally, is a right-wing. It is his best position. He was involved in a majority of TM goals in the 2004 AC and 2006 WCQ. He is still very a vital component of TM's attack. Putting him at RB in TM would lessen his involvement in Iran's attack. Rather, Enayati and Khatibi will gain more inolvement.
4) Zandi at LB? Is this a joke? Zandi's posotion is CAM. How would you figure playing him at LB? Just because he is a left-footed player does NOT mean that he can play on the left wing. Especially a left back position. That is like putting Karimi or Mobali at RB just because they are right footed.
5) If we play the 4-5-1, we can include Kaebi as RB. Kaebi has been a very important player for TM in that past few years. He was arguably our best player in the WC. The thing that you have to respect, is that he shines on the big stage. He did well in the WC, and the past AC. And thats what we need in TM, players who shine and perform under pressure. But by playing the 4-3-3, Kaebi will be a sub and Enayati/Khatibi will start instead. Not a smart move.
I think GN is trying to be different and innovative here. If he goes out with the 4-2-3-1 or 4-5-1, then he will be accussed of copying Branko.

yeah. what valderama said.
saved me time .

however, can I request everyone to not refer to the game as "soccer" plz ?
it's FOOTBALL.

That american one can go & call itself whatever it wants.
it cettainly isnt FOOT-ball, when the only contact of their feet & the ball is their rare kicks!
brutal- hand ball, violent ball, mutated-rugby, testosterone-ball, .... whatever the eff, BUT. NOT. FOOTBALL.
thanx