Iran vs. UAE Game [merged]

[Doctor DOOM]

First Half: in one word ; BRAINLESS !!!!

absolutely horrible performance!
pitiful and extremely amateurish display!

------------------------
my view so far:

1- Ando cant pass to save his life.
get the guy OUT , NOW.

2- mind you, neither can Neku !

and our PATHETIC state is that we have to rely on these two to CREATE ( fat chance of that miracle happening ) chances for players up front !!

NOT ONE proper pass forward to 18 or near 18, to enayati !!!!!!!!
NOT ONE !
no wonder our strikers dont score enough goals!

3- my conclusion on Daei and set pieces:
DAEI HATES SET PIECES.
he just doesnt give a damn about these and no wonder we have had plenty of set pieces and absolutely NO PLANS !


4- this formation keeps a HUGE number of players too deep and too far from the opponent's goal.
no wonder we havent done anything worth mentioning.

by having TOO FEW players up front, we get crowded in the 18 !
the FEW balls that by fluke reach their 18, we have only ONE player , who obviously cant do much !


6- one whole half and only ONE measely, pissy shot ?
absolutely miserable !


7- shame on PP and SS fans , who tear their arses for these clubs , but stay away from TM games !
shame on them !
shame.

[Doctor DOOM]

Second half:

1- how many corners were OVER-SHOT and passed everyone ?
this shows absolutely NO PLANNING on set pieces !!!
94 minutes and ONLY ONE dangerous set piece???
is that the extent of daei's coaching ?
that's pathetic !
this, the coach is at fault.


2- the team was TOO SLOW to move up.
way too many lateral passes up to minutes 75-80.
hence NO counter-attacks!

too much dribbling by everyone!
that wastes too much time and takes away from pace and speed of the game.

3- Niki is talented, active and energetic, but cant USE HIS BRAIN !!
and that nullifies his activity.


4- khalili also didnt recieve passes. much like enayati.
why?
becoz the CORE PROBLEM os the team was NEVER addressed : WE DONT HAVE PLAYMAKERS IN THE LINE UP !
Neither nekunam nor ando are creative players and that's why that essential factor in success of a team is missing.
the WHOLE GAME was wasted with the USELESS selection & arrangement that took any chances of creating an opportunity for the team.

what little and few chances were created were sporadic and more individualistic than anything else. shojaei also, was pushed to the side time and time again, which reduced his efficiency. but even he insisted too much on dribbling than simple passing. that not only slowed down the game, it took away the chances from the team as well.


5- for all that time wasting and dropping like crow-sh*t, only 4 minutes ?
reminds me of pp's 7-minutes gift .


6- and finally we could have and even SHOULD have LOST the game.
first, that was a penalty taken away from uae.
many ref's would have given that as a penalty.
only becoz the ref was too far from scene that we escaped.

secondly, that dangerous header, shd have gone in the net.
this could have easily been 0-2 loss !

=================

Expect a very different uae in the away game.
this team, today, came for a draw. was highly organized and methodical in approaching their goal. although they did it the usual arab way with unsportsmanlike behavior and grass rolling, they stuck to a well laid plan.

they wanted to try their luck ONLY on counters and a couple of times they attempted to use the wing ... which naturally, having zareh as our left wing, was the choice of Metsy as well, and we saw how zareh was passed on a few occasions and his mark actually created a few dangerous chances for them with his crosses.


at home, this team will rape our left defense !
these are the warning signs to daei.
he, adamantly, has ignored the pitiful performance of zareh in the zambia game and stuck to him as LB choice. a choice that the whole world agrees was a bad choice.

if you use a SHORT player ( kaabi ) on the right side , who allows the whole world and their sisters to rise above him and head the crosses and balls, then you better make sure your LEFT defender is rock solid who wouldnt allow such crosses to happen.
where's the intelligence in using a suspect LB ?
why this stubbornness?


the next issue, obviously is the utterly USELESS and now, DESTRUCTIVE formation , with 2 def-mids ... both of whom were way below their own usual form !
another illogical insistence on this crappy formation.

reminds you all of someone ?
illogical insistence on a formation that has been PROVEN to be useless ?
insistence on playing NAMES, rather than players who would be actually useful to the team?
insisting on wrong choices for LB post?

reminds you of someone else?
what was the result under THAT philosophy?

=============================

On the other side, the best result for Iran would be a DRAW between kuwait & syria.

and the WORST result would be a syrian victory.
a kuwait victory wouldnt be as hard, since they have to play us in Iran in the last game.
but we have an AWAY game to syria.

[Martin-Reza]

I think Shojaei did well as OM today, Hajsafi and Rezaei who had impressed against Zambia were a total failure today.

Kaebi and Zare were much improved, but the biggest problem is that we lack a goalgetter and that we overall need too many chances to score.

I also personally think Aghili is not the ideal solution for central defense, I still prefer the faster Nosrati.

About Teymourian, his distribution of the ball was horrible, but defensively he was very good.

I agree setpieces need to be improved.

[zzgloo]

We were out coached ! big time...............thats all !!

Our Players did what little they were told...........

UAE's players over achived by great coaching ...........

[Doctor DOOM]

just got the news.
apparently syria beat kuwait.
now, they are on 5 points and the second team in the group at the halfway mark.

and more importantly, our game against them is in SYRIA !!!!

now, I'm not making syria into a giant like a european team or even anything like japan or korea.
but given how badly our team is playing and how the team is being handled, I think we are so WEAK that makes them formidable opponents for us!

if kuwait fails to get points off syria in 5 day's time, we'll be in a world of trouble!


I'm extremely interested to see how Daei will react to today's game(s) and what he'd do to rectify things.

seeing as how ando was INEFFECTUAL in the game, one would say he may be sitting out.
LOGIC dictates since we NEED a win in our next game, we shd have a more POSITIVE arrangement of the line up and players. and a playmaker , hopefully with the return of karimi, in place of ando, would be the right step.

but wait.
who's the coach?
so even IF daei goes against his intents and actually sits ando out, dont hold your breath for seeing a PLAYMAKER in his place.
we'll see sadeghi come in.
basically, back to square one: two def-mids in a team that lacks playmaking and cant score to save their lives !

-----------

I'd say the wrath of this mis-handling may fall on fringe players more than anyone else.
players like Hajsafi, Rezaei, enayati, khalili, shojaei !

and certainly the CORE OF OUR PROBLEM will not be addressed, that when you dont have the right players, why the F**K do you insist on this MF-ing formation & line up?

==================

set pieces:
since Daei's attention is not directed ( I'm being extremely KIND. I have quite a few choice words and adjectives on this matter ) towards planning for set pieces , then I suggest one thing:

Khalili takes all the DIRECT kicks around the 18.
he shd START the game.
in last few weeks of the league, I saw some real nice kicks by him. and I must say in the players daei's left in the camp ( if he continues to be stupid and not call up kazemian & mobaali ) , khalili may be our choice for the direct ones.
zandi would be good too. but since he isnt in form, I cant suggest for him to start.
at least lets have some hope of getting something out of direct kicks.


=============

........ aaannnnd as usual, ppl will pick on the strikers for not seeing goals !!!!
HAH !
.... ignoring what is REALLY behind this failure.

I ask everyone who picks on the poor strikers to tell me upto the minute 75 ( after which our team became headless children who played emotionally and not based on anything logical ) HOW MANY DIRECT balls were fed to the striker(s) ?

notice, this is not saying they didnt touch the ball or the ball falling to them.
I'm talking about a purposeful, calculated and deliberate pass to the striker in order to put him in a dangerous situation.
how many?
but wait. there's more.
and please, while you're doing that, plz let us know HOW MANY DEFENDERS were around the said striker ?

THIS is the main reason we are not scoring:
not only we dont have players who CAN create such passes in the team.
we condemn our strikers to vie for any ball with 2 or 3 defenders all the time, becoz we are so BRAINLESS to use a single striker line up when we DONT HAVE THE RIGHT PLAYERS IN IRAN FOR SUCH A FORMATION !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[khabalood]

There is simply not enough movement in this team. Our players do not move enough to get into open positions or make runs to draw and stretch the opponent. Many times we will literally have a player behind the ball and the rest of team will be standing in place waiting, not moving into position to get a play going. Its absurd that these players actually think they will get any sort of offense. They are simply to easy to mark and maintain pressure on because of the lack of team movement.

At this point I think we may have to considering handing the team over to Ghalenoei, who despite his faults had the team playing a faster game as a result of the decreased space between players and use of short passes. He also has a record of getting results away and against arabs. Finally he has far more experience than Daei and a great record.

Finally, I have said it before and I maintain that we will have a much better chance of getting out of the group if we use fast players who will get fouled and have Zandi taking our free kicks from which we can score goal and inshallah win some games.

Also I agree with many of the issues addressed in Doctor Doom's posts in this thread.

[Martin-Reza]

We also must not forget the excellent tactical job of Metsu. UAE defended with 10 players in their own half, with the backline standing like 30 meters in front of their goal. This made the midfield extremely crowded and especially in first half when their tactical discipline was still high we of course had problems combining through that compact lineup. Our players simply are not used to having so little space to combine, so I was not surprised how the match developed.

I still think the players showed they can create chances anytime, now we simply have to take some of them and it will be enough. In order to really improve we need more time which we currently don't have.

[maij]

We also must not forget the excellent tactical job of Metsu. UAE defended with 10 players in their own half, with the backline standing like 30 meters in front of their goal. This made the midfield extremely crowded and especially in first half when their tactical discipline was still high we of course had problems combining through that compact lineup. Our players simply are not used to having so little space to combine, so I was not surprised how the match developed.

I still think the players showed they can create chances anytime, now we simply have to take some of them and it will be enough. In order to really improve we need more time which we currently don't have.

Is is by far , the best analysis I have seen all day.

No one here seems to have a clue that teams that are in the group have brains , stamina , plans , resolve and tactics. All those people who say that UAE league is crap , PLEASE STAND UP..... If this team is a product of a crappy league , then hell I want IPL to as crappy as the UAE league.

The fact of the matter , is that UAE outplayed TM in most departments. Tactically & defensively they were a head and shoulder above Team Melli but most important of all was in physical strength.

The credit goes to UAE team , the coach , players and federation for this good performance.

However , a look at our own players performance raises lots of questions.

If our best players cannot dribble a single defender around the penalty area, if the crosses are sent either too far or too low , if they are double teaming a player and the player has no clue what to do , if they are breathing over your neck all the time and you get confused and pass to them....what do you expect?

Frankly , Team Melli players individually speaking , were no better and sometimes inferior to those little nifty Arabs. Where are those with super claims of Iranian players supremacy over everyone else in Asia ???

Let's face it , this is the reality.

We have a bunch over over hyped players who cannot execute a simple footballing skill when they are required to and then expect us to conquer Asia !!!

No consistency , poor teamwork and real lack of pace in all departments.

No use blaming the federation , despite their shortcomings , the buck ends with the team players and the coach and they have not been too bright today.


Teymourian has no place in Team Melli at the present time , I don't understand Daei reasoning on selecting him , Nekounam is way way off form , Enayati time and again has failed to deliver (although he did not get much support from the midfield either) and in the whole , apart from some glimpses from Shojaei , none of the players were impressive.

You jsut can't walk on the field thinking that you can beat teams like UAE or Syria and even Kuwait.... This mentality is probably the worst attribute that players and the fans have...

[maij]

Comparing Bruno Metsu with Ali Daei is a NO contest. There is no doubt about the prowess of Metsu , a skillfull tacticians with tons of experience. However , Daei really needs to have a long thought about his players selection. I have never been critical of any coach when it comes to selection his player , I beleive that the coach knows best. But if a player consistently fails to deliver , yet he is a starter just because he is playing in Europe ( or bench warming to be precise) then he takes full responsibility on that selection. There is simply NO EXCUSE.

[Doctor DOOM]

^ kudos.


to be fair, I'd say the compact fixtures of the league that sapped all energy from our players now comes to haunt us.
many ppl warned against this fatigue and now we see is happen in real-time !

like majid, I'd say we shdnt take away from the organized and purpose-oriented football uae played ( I'd still add, with a huge dose of unsportsmanship ).

but also, that they have been a TEAM for a long time now.
they've had this very good coach for a long time too.
their league also didnt have such adverse effects on their players like ours did.
they also have had plenty of friendlies and preparations, as compared to our sorry-arse beggar-like one game , with absolutely non-existent TM before that.



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one thing is for certain.
even if ( and it is still possible ) we advance, I dont think Daei shd remain as the head coach.

if he's faltering so badly in this stage, I sudder to think how he'll succumb against aussies, japanese, koreans, saudis !

[zzgloo]

Our players simply are not used to having so little space to combine, so I was not surprised how the match developed.
.

Great point, but it should not be the matter of what players are used to or not...................Ofcourse, The opponant's coach always sets forward a game plan to not allow us what we are comfortable doing.....that part does not surprize any body.....and hence, THAT IS WHY THEY CALL THE SECOUND HALF THE COACH'S HALF ".................

I firmly believe, none of our players were at fault today.....we were just very nicely out coached.

Now here comes the most interesting juncture !!!
We are playing them in 5 days.................here is the chance, for Ali daei...........better chance than just 15 minute half time................, if any one wanted to give ali Daei a fair chance....here it is ...............He and TM will have the same faith in 5 days .

I am not a coach, nor an expert....but,even I think , for countering such high press by thier defense and mid,that kept us out side thier BOX........we need

1- Dribbling midfilers such as karimi to break free.
2-Long distance shots on the opponanats goal.
3-get results from set pieces.free kicks,and corners.
4-take the ball on the air more often and use our heights.
5-Be faster on counter attacks.
6-Take away the midfield more forcefuly.
7-Assign man to man defender for thier number one center forward.
8-we need not save our power for the secound half....we should go all out in the first half.because that makes them to go out of thier game plan.

[the-ali]

- The formation was troubling from the get go. I don't understand what Daei was thinking. We havent scored in so long (minus Zambia) and are in desperate need of a win, AND we are at home. Why play with 1 striker, and ENAYATI at that!!

- Does Daei hate set pieces?? Do we have any plan for corners, free kicks?? I can't remember one corner that didnt go past everyones head and out... maybe one corner was semi-good.

[Amin_]

........ aaannnnd as usual, ppl will pick on the strikers for not seeing goals !!!!
HAH !
.... ignoring what is REALLY behind this failure.

I ask everyone who picks on the poor strikers to tell me upto the minute 75 ( after which our team became headless children who played emotionally and not based on anything logical ) HOW MANY DIRECT balls were fed to the striker(s) ?

notice, this is not saying they didnt touch the ball or the ball falling to them.
I'm talking about a purposeful, calculated and deliberate pass to the striker in order to put him in a dangerous situation.
how many?
but wait. there's more.
and please, while you're doing that, plz let us know HOW MANY DEFENDERS were around the said striker ?

THIS is the main reason we are not scoring:
not only we dont have players who CAN create such passes in the team.
we condemn our strikers to vie for any ball with 2 or 3 defenders all the time, becoz we are so BRAINLESS to use a single striker line up when we DONT HAVE THE RIGHT PLAYERS IN IRAN FOR SUCH A FORMATION !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Exactly!

It's the formation/system that doesn't work/fit us and our players, not the players itself!

We lacked a playmaker...Shojaei tried, but was pushed to the sides too often and had to do too much.

Enayati was standing all alone inbetween 3-4 defenders; of course he couldn't do sh!t. I knew Khalili wouldn't be able to do anything either, cause it's not about who plays, it's the formation that's messed up!

When you play 4-2-3-1, the lonely striker needs to be fed with crosses constantly and there should be penetration from the sides and a playmaker who's able to find these spaces on the sides and who can add up at times.
We didn't have either today. And to play this formation with 2 newbies on the sides, in such an important match, even though 2 sideplayers are vital in this formation is too much of a risk and has proven not to be working!!!!

But how in world do you play with 2 DM's (who're both out of form btw) and only 1 striker AT HOME AGAINST UAE when you desperately need a win?!?!

Plus UAE was defending very compact and quite far from their goal, which put our lonely striker even more out of the game.

I think Zareh and Kaebi will cause us a lot of trouble in the away matches, specially against the physically stronger Syrians.

Ando is good in defense, but he can't give one decent pass to save his life. I read he's suspended for the next match, but knowing Daei, he'll probably use Sadeghi and stick to his 2 DM's

Btw, where was Jabbari? He wasn't even in the 18 men roster :-/

We really should play 4-4-2 with a playmaker, 3 men behind him with Nekounam in the middle and 2 strikers, 1 who's fast and techniqual who can dribble (like Meydavoodi) alongside Enayati or Khalili.

====

The set pieces, well enough has been said about them. We get a lot of them every match, but only 1 out of the 10 comes close to what is called "decent". With long strong players like Aghili, Hosseini, Enayati, Nikki, Khalili...you'd expect more from these valuable pieces, but instead all go to waste!


Btw, I still can't understand how Kazemian/Mobali/Madanchi didn't get invited. You really want to tell me that an out of form injured Zandi and an inexperienced Shahpourzadeh are better than an in form Madanchi/Kazemian/Mobali (even though he plays another position) who've been the stars of their teams all season?!

[Kavian]

[Doctor DOOM]

EXCELLENT suggestions bahram jan.
very good list, indeed.