IRAN - Azerbaijan ( a preview of KSA game ?????? )

[Doctor DOOM]

according to the TM staff, this is a preview of the ksa game and the roster will be selected from the present players.
in one word, khoda be dademoon bereseh.

1-
I dont know if we shd acknowledge the opponents pitiful 138 ranking or not. in a friendly, ranking doesnt matter. but when I see how a 138th ranked team, comes to AZADI and pushes us around and in some periods, plays far better than us, I start to worry.

granted we were missing some high profile players and legionnaires like shojaei, nekunam, kia, karimi, ando, ... .
but wait a sec .... we know kia and karimi arent going to be there anyway. and shojaei has just been inducted as a euro legionnaire. so all we are left with is neku and ando.
given ando's level of performances, I dont really see much of a difference between him and kiyanous Rahmati, who has been doing very well.

also given the fact that this team has been playing under daei for months now, makes one saying this IS NOT our TM a bit more difficult.


--------------------
2-
now, I think we have given the staff enough time and games to start expecting TEAMWORK and STRATEGIES from the team.

did we have teamwork ?
to what level?
it sure as hell wasnt a fluid team, even if they've been playing together for quite a series of games.


did we see much of a strategy and tactics ?
apart from long lobs from defense which has been the persistant tactics at TM, I struggled to see much planning in attacks.

when are we going to be "mofakhar" and actually witness the needed teamwork and tactical display that an international team shd show?


-------------------

3- just as predicted, playing shiri and alnemeh in WAFF was mere "eye wash" and a rouse to keep the fans and media off their backs for their consistently wrong choices in selection and line ups.

yes, sattar zareh was dropped for the meaningless waff games and both shiri and alnemeh were given some games. ..... which to my pleasant surprise, they did FAR BETTER than our sattar zero. But as we get close to the crucial WCQ games, we see the old faces back into the fold !!!!

did dropping zareh have its required effect on fans and media?
maybe some bought it. some didnt.

did dropping zareh have its required effect on zareh and his efficiency ?
NO.
here's his stats for this game:

NEGATIVES :
1- TURN-OVERS - 12
2- getting dribbled, out-run and missing in position - 15

TOTAL - 27

Positives:
1- Correct forward passes - 10-11


It took Beti Vogts only 12-13 minutes to find out which zone is the weakest and concentrated his attacks on that zone. that's why we saw the majority of their attacks down zareh's side and majority of corners taken from our left side is another proof for this.


now, this is not only this game.
the guy has been playing this bad, especially with high number of turn overs IN EACH AND EVERY GAME he's played.
( yet, some ppl in denial or in their zeal to toe the official line here, keep turning a blind eye to such horrible stats and deny the truth. well, I wish them luck. I just hope such character doesnt rear its head in their normal lives as well )




while we are delving on failures , lets not forget the ever-present Sadeghi.
I wish I had counted HIS turn-overs too ... coz boy, there were quite a few of them too !
what about his constant fouling ?
as the right mid would his numerous turn-overs and fouls be good or even average stats ?
HELL NO.
this is why I asked some of you why you accept such a terrible choice for such a crucial post when we clearly have far better than him ( even in IPL, there are countless players who can do as much as sadeghi and quite a few who do better .... and yet, arent called ! )

WHAT exactly keeps sadeghi and zareh in daei's starting line ups ( I'm asking all you "defenders of the policy" here ) ??
it certainly cant be their technical performances.
what is it? plz enlighten us so we also will know the reason why a couple of CONSISTENTLY ( key word here ) inferior players always get the call and worse, start games ?

all you, who defend , must know something the rest of us dont.
plz enlighten us.
share the secret.

---------------------------

I also dont understand this obssession with saipa.
( while you ppl are enlightening us about sadeghi's and zareh's cases, plz do so about this unhealthy obssession with saipa players as well )
when a saipa player is subbed out, more often than not, another saipa player (or recent saipa favorite - gholamnejad ) takes his place !!!

someone ought to make a huge banner and keep it in front of the bench so daei can see :
"agha, ghorbaan, we got it now. you made truck-load of magnificent and fantastic and extraordinary players at saipa when you were there. we got the point. we give credit also. so, from now on, lets make TM priority. ok ? "


Are we to understand in all of Iran and outside it, there are NO right midfield players that our dear coach is FORCED to play a defensive mid ( sadeghi ) there ? and if this fellow is to be subbed, a right DEFENDER is to take that post ?
really ?
in all of IPL and lower league and uae and europe we dont have a RIGHT MIDFIELDER ?
is that even possible?

then why the f**k MAHDAVIKIA is dropped ?

oh wait. becoz he is a sub?
( isnt ando ? isnt ahmadi ? .... aaahhh forget it . no use )


---------------------------

I'm even more intrigued and amused by the choice of subs as well.

we saw Jabbari, who had some great passing and forways and assists get subbed with Nouri ... while sadeghi was kept in to continue his .... whatever you want to call his turn-overs and fouls and mistakes ?????

where is the sense in that ?
jabbari played worse than sadeghi ?
really ?
in which dimension ?

-------------------------


on a positive note:
I think Kyanoush Rahmati deserves to stay at TM.
the guy is proving to be a very good investment ( surprisingly from saipa ... although he was this good at Paas also ).
I'd even say if ando isnt in top form and if we are DOOMED to use two defnsive minded mids, I'd rather see the nekunam-rahmati duo than ando-neku one.


I'm also encouraged by the return of Madanchi.
he was active and fighting.
he seems to have built good upper body physique as well which is helpful in sprints and tussles.
some very nice crosses came off him and that's promising ( UNLIKE the right side where we have pathetic crossing - nonexistant in long periods - due to the horrible choice for the right mid . a zone that with kia was our STRONGEST point !!! thank you very much TM staff )

[Martin-Reza]

A typically one-sided view by someone eager to support his own points no matter what. And that in more words than necessary

Starts with the rating of the opposition. FIFA ranking is always considered shit when not needed to make a point, now suddenly the strength of the opposition is solely measured by the FIFA ranking position.

[The-Red]

we have not been seriously challenged by any team lately and I am afraid we will experience that for the first time against KSA in 10 days time after such a long time that might hurt us big time...losing to KSA away is not the end of the world, but depending on how prepared they are, we are going into that game as underdogs it seems, considering our lack of preparations.

[Doctor DOOM]

I'm putting this question to those who dont like anyone to criticise daei and dont see any reason to find issues:

does the following make ANY SENSE whatsoever ?

"Daei ; I am satisfied with the current players in Mahdavikia's post and there is no reason to invite him.

post azerbaijan game conference

such absurdly delusional bogus claims only remind me of another set of delusional rubbish claims by branko who used to say : "My defense has no problems"

Deja Vu all over again !!!

[Martin-Reza]

Not a very clever comment by Daei after Sadeghi's very poor display today. However, other than a shocking majority I refuse to simply declare a professional experienced football expert and his team insane on stuff I don't agree on which might as well have been wrongly delivered by some Iranian reporters.

He also might have referred to Shojaei more than Sadeghi.

Let's wait for the KSA list and match before discussing the Kia issue further.

[Doctor DOOM]

ok. lets give the benefit of the doubt and say maybe he was including shojaei next to the two fellows who in all their TM games, havent done a fraction of what kia can do in ONE game.

anyone remembers shojaei's corner kicks, which consistently ended up low and to the opponent's first man in defense?
anyone remember the sad state of his crosses ?
anyone remember his inability to cross on the run from the right side ?


maybe he meant ando. coz he's tried ando as right mid also.
and we all know what a mistake that one was too. we know ando is NOT suited for such roles and he cant deliver quarter of the duties expected from that post.


so WHO ELSE ?
we dealt with gholamnejad, sadeghi, ando and shojaei and if we're fair we'd know NONE of them would be half of an out of form Kia.

next name, plz?


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

quite IRONICALLY, I'd suggest trying sattar zareh as right mid.
serious.
he's familiar with the role and his prominence in the league is becoz he plays RIGHT MID in bargh. as was his post during branko's dark era.

so lets try zareh as RB , if daei wants to take his personal agenda to the hilt. and at least that frees us from zareh's constant fumbles and failures as LB.

[zzgloo]

The players ,whom were missing, are the ones, he has not wanted , all along,,,,so, according to Ali Daei, with the addition of Nekonam, and Ando, this is the best he offers for the Saudis game..

How ever, the best player in the game, Madanchi,was also a player who daei did not want, and as he said, had to ask to come to TM, so to respond to criticisms.

Why this team, did not know how to cross from corners ,and could not finish ,did not have center forward,,and why there was no apparant game plan ?
.................................................. .................................................

Here is my total assesment on Daei..........

He,like ahmadinejad, is trying to change the subjects, and take the attention of people, away from his lack of qualification....by, fighting with media, by ignoreing legioners, brining new players, etc.....
We are dealing with an highly incompetant coach alike,whom has lots of well-wishers behind him,because of his past,and innocent nationalism....,and misguieded wishful thinkers.

Lets just hope, our Class of football be high enough to beat the Saudis without the element of coaching !

[yashar_fasihnia]

The players ,whom were missing, are the ones, he has not wanted , all along,,,,so, according to Ali Daei, with the addition of Nekonam, and Ando, this is the best he offers for the Saudis game..
How ever, the best player in the game, Madanchi,was also a player who daei did not want, and as he said, had to ask to come to TM, so to respond to criticisms.
Why this team, did not know how to cross from corners ,and could not finish ,did not have center forward,,and why there was no apparant game plan ?
.................................................. .................................................
Here is my total assesment on Daei..........
He,like ahmadinejad, is trying to change the subjects, and take the attention of people, away from his lack of qualification....by, fighting with media, by ignoreing legioners, brining new players, etc.....
We are dealing with an highly incompetant coach alike,whom has lots of well-wishers behind him,because of his past,and innocent nationalism....,and misguieded wishful thinkers.
Lets just hope, our Class of football be high enough to beat the Saudis without the element of coaching !

zandi and shojaei too. he always wanted them.
but not hashemian.

[shayan20]

i dont agree azebaijan is a weak team by just looking at their fifa rankings. they constantly play with european sountries despite losing, they are tough physically and it was a decent prep. match ahead of saudi.

[Doctor DOOM]

then we have the other absurd statement:
kia doesnt fit into our tactics.
ok. fine.
but did sadeghi ? what was the tactic? disappear from the game? was that the so called tactic?
was the tactic "turn over the ball to opposition as much as possible. and then foul on them immediately"
that tactic ?

aaahh. now I understand how kia doesnt fit into this tactic.
the guy fights and plays his heart out and delivers ( at least he doesnt disappear from the field for 15-20 minutes ).
he also doesnt cause so many turn overs.
so I can see how kia doesnt fit into daei's tactics for the right mid.

[Ali Chicago]

I still haven't got a chance to watch the game online. So refrain from any comments about the game. Just a comment, IMO neither of Shojai, Sadeghi or Ando do what Kia on his hay days did for us.

Shojai at his best days might be able to fill Karimi's void, although I beleive both of them on the field adds amazing fire power to our team. Ando and Nekoo play much the same. For some odd reason, even GN tries to fit Ando to the starting line up and used him on the right which wasn't effective and hence we haven't seen a great game from Ando since 2006.

Sadeghi on his best day is like a 50% Nekoonam (hussles and stuff) but doesn't have the vision and long range passing or shooting dimensions that Nekoonam has. Point is none of these three players (Shojai, Ando or Sadeghi) fill the void of Kia.

Had Daie invited Kazemian and give him time to settle in the TM in several games and gain confidecen (what he did with Khalili, who had a few lackluster games in the TM until he eventually gained more confidecne), I could have seen how Kazemian can fill the void of Kia.

Guess it is too late now, all we can do is wish the best and pray, that Daie has a card in his sleevs that we fail to see, I guess.

[Doctor DOOM]

Had Daie invited Kazemian and give him time to settle in the TM in several games and gain confidecen (what he did with Khalili, who had a few lackluster games in the TM until he eventually gained more confidecne), I could have seen how Kazemian can fill the void of Kia.

this is what many others say too.
why kia is dropped ? from all the excuses fabricated none make much sense and hold no water.
ok. lets say no kia.
why not the player who plays the right mid and is familiar and has been performing well in quite a few years now?
why try the "patch-up" job of bringing a def mid or right defender to play the right midfield when you have a proper right midfielder present and ready in front of you?

it certainly looks absurd if one picks a chunk of coal to write something on a paper when he has a pen sitting right in front of him, doesnt it?


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

then we have the matter of "giving time to settle in" which is another subject matter that is and has been VERY controversial due to double standards practiced.

[zzgloo]

then we have the other absurd statement:
kia doesnt fit into our tactics.
ok. fine.
but did sadeghi ? what was the tactic? disappear from the game? was that the so called tactic?
was the tactic "turn over the ball to opposition as much as possible. and then foul on them immediately"
that tactic ?

aaahh. now I understand how kia doesnt fit into this tactic.
the guy fights and plays his heart out and delivers ( at least he doesnt disappear from the field for 15-20 minutes ).
he also doesnt cause so many turn overs.
so I can see how kia doesnt fit into daei's tactics for the right mid.

Payman Jaan............I have a theory as reasons for such developements..

1- Ali Daei, does not have whole set of different game plans,and divercified player assignements........
2-The one or two he knows, ..were practiced and designed around Sadegi,and some other saipa players.
3-He is not strong enough coach to be able to improvise other players withing his ,few tactices.
4-hence, he does not know how to use, or appreciate players such as hashemian or Kia,or even karimi....as utilizing such players reguires big bag of tricks !
5-More over, some older legioners may know exactly were those few tricks and tactics come from !

[Doctor DOOM]

Payman Jaan............I have a theory as reasons for such developments..
1- Ali Daei, does not have whole set of different game plans,and diversified player assignments........
2-The one or two he knows, ..were practiced and designed around Sadegi,and some other saipa players.
3-He is not strong enough coach to be able to improvise other players withing his ,few tactics.
4-hence, he does not know how to use, or appreciate players such as hashemian or Kia,or even karimi....as utilizing such players requires big bag of tricks !
5-More over, some older legioners may know exactly were those few tricks and tactics come from !

bahram jan, I gotta admit, your remarks do make a lot of sense and checks with a lot of what's been going on in the past few months.


for example building around your club players applies to when the coach is NEWLY promoted to TM and it makes sense to use the known and familiar ingredients than unknown ones. but daei has been the coach for some time now and I think that's enough to .... lets say "discover" ( ) sadeghi's abilities are rather limited and there ARE plenty of options available who are far better than him.

also the inexperience does show itself in meager and limited variety of tactics and handling of team strategies. that's why we need Muller sitting next to him ASAP. the present TM bench is EXTREMELY FEATHER-WEIGHT. which is worrying when we know we're gonna face the likes of korea, ksa, ...

[purple_haze]

...that's why we need Muller sitting next to him ASAP. the present TM bench is EXTREMELY FEATHER-WEIGHT. which is worrying when we know we're gonna face the likes of korea, ksa, ...

Sorry to break it to you and others, but that seems to be another of his "eye washes" too. Last thing I heard the guy has a contract with the german federation and was seeking a contract renewal with them.

We'd better somehow come to terms with E.Sadeghi being Mr. Daei's "sogoli". He has to play regardless, be it in the center, right, left, you name it!
I mean look at it, he's one of the few who has been played constantly in every game and every tournament so far.
He is at best an ok IPL midfielder, but that's where it ends. He was nothing to brag about before, but suddenly looked a bit better facing Qatar's C-team, Palestine and such teams who barely had anything to offer. Then in yesterday's match he again was facing opponents who weren't the confident booster, easy push overs those other team's players were and everyone could see him exposed and for who he really is.
I don't need to repeat how aweful he was and as you said yourself, the amount of times he lost the ball and fauled the opponents was ridiculous!
Both him and Kaebi were accountable for around 75-80% of our side's commited fauls!
But yet again, by now we know for a fact that he is in going to play. So let's keep our fingers crossed and hope for a miracle like performance from the team. As it stands now, our team as a unit, has to put on a 200% effort to make up for some of the starters' inferiourity!