The goals conceded

[Martin-Reza]

First goalSecond goal

Even the corner should happen as Aghili had to block a good chance.

But what happens then is very disturbing. Watch the clips or the tape. Noone is marking the big guy Al Harbi at all. The cross goes straight at him. Nekounam waits behind him. Ashjari, not famous for his heading abilities, tries to challenge him unsuccessfully and loses the duel.

Then there is noone at the long post. There doesn't have to be somebody. Many coaches prefer to have an additional player upfront for counters and think that gives more goals to his team than it concedes by not having someone at the far post. Wanting to win at home is justification for such a decision, still it was very unfortunate and decisive.

But how noone is directly responsible for an opponent at the penalty spot during a corner is an absolut mystery to me!

Mistakes by: Nekounam, Ashjari, Daei

[mehdy]

I didn't watch that Nekounam mark and care strikers.

[Adesor Vafaseya]

Then there is noone at the long post. There doesn't have to be somebody. Many coaches prefer to have an additional player upfront for counters and think that gives more goals to his team than it concedes by not having someone at the far post. Wanting to win at home is justification for such a decision, still it was very unfortunate and decisive.

But how noone is directly responsible for an opponent at the penalty spot during a corner is an absolut mystery to me!

In todays football, really both 1st and 2nd posts have to be positioned with players.. too much risk.... and we also saw the game of today........ sadly.

[Martin-Reza]

In todays football, really both 1st and 2nd posts have to be positioned with players.. too much risk.... and we also saw the game of today.

Well, some German Bundesliga coaches claim that throughout a season they maybe concede 2 or 3 goals because of not positioning a player at the far post, but in the same season their teams score 5 or 6 goals thanks to the additional player helping with counter attacks upfront.

So it seems a subjective but legitimate decision, especially when the score is 1-1 at home.

[Adesor Vafaseya]

Well, some German Bundesliga coaches claim that throughout a season they maybe concede 2 or 3 goals because of not positioning a player at the far post, but in the same season their teams score 5 or 6 goals thanks to the additional player helping with counter attacks upfront.

So it seems a subjective but legitimate decision, especially when the score is 1-1 at home.

[Martin-Reza]

^ lol, yeah, we generally are really bad in counter attacking

[Doctor DOOM]

great post by martin.

on goal 1, isnt this ENOUGH reason not to persist with the second def mid, whose supposed inclusion is to gain the upper hand in the middle, disrupt the opposition's moves and bolster the middle of our defense?

doesnt this defeat the purpose of using 2 def mids?
and this isnt the first time such things happen.
says a lot about using this crummy formation.

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very correct on goal 2 also.
apart from noone covering the post ... , I must remind everyone we had very similar occasions until this goal also, where our defenders and def-mids fail to repel the ball off the corners.
in each of the saudi corners ( except maybe 1 ... or I may be mistaken about this one too ) the saudi attackers got to the ball first and on many occasions, had a FREE header, with hardly anyone challenging or marking them!!

sadly, this has happened not only in this game, but in previous games ALSO! as well as our ACL club games against saudi opposition where the very same "free header off a corner/set piece" has resulted in goals or danger.

now, when our esteemed and "intelligent" staff sees these ( I assume they have eyes to note such things ), what is to be their duty?
simply sit there and pray?
get fat and increase girth?
go for paid vacations and get free pass here & there?


or perhaps take NOTE of such matters that simple fans like me ( dont want to say "us" coz I dont want ppl saying I "think I represent a mass" ) have picked up and have discussed it?
in fact during the game everytime they had a corner, I told Ala, sitting beside me, these free headers are too dangerous to ignore and we'll get hurt.
lo & behold, we concede off one of them!


so aside from free travel, isnt it the job of these guys to remind and KEEP REMINDING/WARNING our defenders & def-mids to MARK A GUY & STICK TO HIM?

[faraz]

I don't particularly blame ashjari for the 2nd goal. he had no chance against that big ghoul of a player and that player should have been marked by someone else. he did his best, but against that guy, it certainly wasn't good enough. not directly his fault.

interesting post though. for the first goal, how the ball managed to get behind both neko and kazemi, only god knows. also, let's be fair here. it was a VERY swift play by the saudi's and a LOVELY move. it all happened so quickly and all the passes were precise within millimeters.

the bottom line is, our defense is simply not good enough. period.

[RaginG Inferno]

What a strange defensive mentality Iran has. On so many occasions, the Saudi players were not closed down, they were given so much space to operate. It's truly bizarre.

[Martin-Reza]

Second goal is really puzzling me. I can't imagine the coaching staff has not prepared the players for setpieces, it worked before. I think we lost our concentration and organization once we conceded the equalizer.

And the following lacking tactical discipline cost us.

[yashar_fasihnia]

the first goal, nekounam left mohammad nour free and didnt press him and he had all the time in the world to turn around and make that accurate pass to hazazi to score.

the second goal, if u guys look when the saudis want to take the corner kick, their number 2 defender, the guy who was most dangerous on all set pieces is all alone in the middle of our penalty area and the closest to him was nekounam who had left him alone. ashjari was the second closest to him and only approached him when he realized the ball was approaching.

im sorry but i think nekounam was majorly at fault for both goals, very disappointing!

[Martin-Reza]

^ On the first goal, the assist wasn't by Noor but by substitute striker number 9.

Noor passed the ball to number 9. I agree Nekounam was on fault, but only partially. Number 9 was upfront and dropped back and neither Aghili nor Hosseini kept on his toes and neither Nekounam nor Kazemi bothered to mark him, so he was between our centerbacks and our defensive midfield and noone cared. Amazing.

And then the half-hearted offside trap.

But still, we make such mistakes like 10 times each game. It depends on the strength of the opposition how often we get punished.

[yashar_fasihnia]

thanx for the correction martin.

kazemi was far from that scene, more towards the right of the field where his position is. nekounam was close to the number 9 but still was so passive about the whole thing and then ofcourse, ashjari filling the offside trap...

[Kasra.]

Also Kaebi wasn't awake on the first goal. how can you let that player go easy like that and also the ball?

[zereshk-ali]

I don't buy any excuse for Iran not having a defender on each post. We're not a counter-attacking team, certainly not in Azadi. And we certainly should not be relying on trying to score a second from a counter attack at thr risk of conceding a losing goal from a corner, bearing in mind the situation we were in at that stage and consequences around each goal. I blame that squarely on the coaching staff. Even if the players had been instructed to do so, it's the coaching staff's fault that this was not clear enough.

I agree, however, that the first goal was all about closing down. In particular the midfielder who fails to cut out the pass, I can't quite make out who it is? Nekounam or Kazemi? As a defensive midfielder they need to be aware of the number 9, who is in space and close them down. Not marking space, and trying to cut out the pass. They should never allow them be in a position to easily receive, turn and pick a pass in that situation. If the centre back marks this run he will be dragged out of position, and leaves the defence open to a runner from midfield.

This is a actually key problem in our defending, we simply do not adequately mark runners. Our players seem to mark space, and are often dragged out of position. Watch Aghili's defending before the corner, when he gets dragged out of position instead of marking the man at the far post. This is the key to why we conceded the second goal as well. Of all our defenders, Aghili in general looked very, very slow and poor. Kaebi was poor defensively too.