As WC approaches and more and more teams play friendlies, the issue of
having one becomes more important, if for no other reason that every other
country is having them.
What are the reasons to have friendlies:
1-To get a group of players who don't otherwise get to play together
practice as a team and become comfortable/very familiar with each others
style of play.
2-To implement coaches offensive/defensive over all plans in games
without worrying about results
3-To further test promising players that are not currently part of the team.
4-To play against teams that are similar to our opponents to be better
prepared.
5-To get exposed to a variety of 'looks' that a team may not ordinary see.
6-To identify good chemistry between players and come up with schemes to best utilize them.
Obviously to address some of the above we need strong opponents, but
not for all.
Although the ultimate goal is to have the best players with the best possible
plan and conditioning on the field, some of the reasons to have friendlies are
contradicatory in nature:
That's why the best pro teams in the world in their off-season do not play
just the best teams, rather they may play 2nd or 3rd ranked teams as
well as tough opponents.
At this point TM clearly has a number of openings for new faces. Frankly,
other than Mehdi and Rahman who play the whole 90 minutes and are needed
regardless of the score, as we have seen players like Karimi and Hashemian
may necessarily be substituded depending on the score and team tactic
and we have already seen this both with their current clubs as well as when
they played for TM. Other players should also be on the table with no
guaranteed spot.
So between now and WC, there is plenty that a TM without legioners can
learn and achieve by playing teams that may not be the best in the world.
Negative fan reaction that we witnessed after QPR loss and then later
against macedonia (although unjustified) must not cause IFF and TM
coaching staff to become cool to the idea of friendlies. It is true that Iran
is isolated among *some* countries, but this should not be used as a reason
not to play against teams and countries we know we can benefit from
playing against and will accept our offer if approached.
We just watch a great African cup, with many good teams to choose from
provided we act quickly. There are also very capable South American teams
that have not qulified to WC. We can and we must get our TM without our
intenational players to play friendlies against such teams (on none FIFA
dates). Because these dates are outside FIFA dates and our intentaional stars absent, the team will not be held accountable to a sub-par result.
Yet this will greatly encourage players (who have shown high motivation so far in IPL) and prepare them more adaquately for the bigger test ahead.
WC is the international spotlight no one can deny Iran, provided the team
is adaquately prepared to capture it.
having one becomes more important, if for no other reason that every other
country is having them.
What are the reasons to have friendlies:
1-To get a group of players who don't otherwise get to play together
practice as a team and become comfortable/very familiar with each others
style of play.
2-To implement coaches offensive/defensive over all plans in games
without worrying about results
3-To further test promising players that are not currently part of the team.
4-To play against teams that are similar to our opponents to be better
prepared.
5-To get exposed to a variety of 'looks' that a team may not ordinary see.
6-To identify good chemistry between players and come up with schemes to best utilize them.
Obviously to address some of the above we need strong opponents, but
not for all.
Although the ultimate goal is to have the best players with the best possible
plan and conditioning on the field, some of the reasons to have friendlies are
contradicatory in nature:
That's why the best pro teams in the world in their off-season do not play
just the best teams, rather they may play 2nd or 3rd ranked teams as
well as tough opponents.
At this point TM clearly has a number of openings for new faces. Frankly,
other than Mehdi and Rahman who play the whole 90 minutes and are needed
regardless of the score, as we have seen players like Karimi and Hashemian
may necessarily be substituded depending on the score and team tactic
and we have already seen this both with their current clubs as well as when
they played for TM. Other players should also be on the table with no
guaranteed spot.
So between now and WC, there is plenty that a TM without legioners can
learn and achieve by playing teams that may not be the best in the world.
Negative fan reaction that we witnessed after QPR loss and then later
against macedonia (although unjustified) must not cause IFF and TM
coaching staff to become cool to the idea of friendlies. It is true that Iran
is isolated among *some* countries, but this should not be used as a reason
not to play against teams and countries we know we can benefit from
playing against and will accept our offer if approached.
We just watch a great African cup, with many good teams to choose from
provided we act quickly. There are also very capable South American teams
that have not qulified to WC. We can and we must get our TM without our
intenational players to play friendlies against such teams (on none FIFA
dates). Because these dates are outside FIFA dates and our intentaional stars absent, the team will not be held accountable to a sub-par result.
Yet this will greatly encourage players (who have shown high motivation so far in IPL) and prepare them more adaquately for the bigger test ahead.
WC is the international spotlight no one can deny Iran, provided the team
is adaquately prepared to capture it.