Speed of Game

[Martin-Reza]

I really think that is the biggest shortcoming in our football.

Whenever I see an Iranian team play, it is so much slower than even in the smaller European leagues.

The decision making is very slow, and even the passes are slow. But mainly it is the time between receiving the ball and playing it further (or taking any other action, like dribbling or shooting).

It's almost always controlling the ball, looking up, thinking shortly and then doing something.

How can that be improved? Is it solely a youth work issue, or can a player in his mid-twenties learn to play faster?

Do the Iranian coaches know about this problem, or aren't they really aware?

I couldn't imagine the second case, but in first case, why is barely any improvement visible?

[Doctor DOOM]

the MAIN remedy is youth development.

but I also think an intelligent & dedicated ( to bettering himself even at his peak form) player CAN learn it too.
the problem is we dont have that many players like that.

[Adesor Vafaseya]

again goes back to youth in first place.
+ on the pitches we have, its impossible to play fast.
3rdly the league slows down too. If you have a fast team playing every week against slow playing teams, then you become slow too....

thats a major issue, and can only be ficed if we have a proper youth programme in all clubs all over the country.

easy said, then done...


if we would have continued the pattern of 70ies, we would be there by now!

[Doctor DOOM]

I think we have to make a distinction between two very separate issues:
playing fast & running fast.

you could run at normal speed, but play fast football. This is what many experienced and wise coaches advicate:
dont tire yourself running after or with the ball. make the BALL do the running for you.

that means with good positioning and passing your team can display a very fast paced football even when your PLAYERS dont run at high speed.

this conserves their energy and allows them to sustain a higher level of performance for a longer period of the game as well.
not to mention making the ball run, makes the defending or chasing team extremely tired and your chances increase in gaining the advantage.


if our teams follow this simple rule, they could overcome many opponents in asia. even the quick footed east asians.

[Martin-Reza]

As DD pointed out, it is not about running fast. It's about playing fast.

I agree it's probably mainly a youth work issue. But as Farhad said, also if the grown up players are used to play faster football, it will help, not as much as youthwork though.

I think in order to make our league faster, we will need better legionnaires as well.

[zzgloo]

Something els, which is as important,or even more important ,while related to the speed,....in our short comeings......Is " The Urgency of the efforts " !
....Our players do not seem to understand or care what degree of Urgency and effort today's game requires !.....
When we see,European players,or south American, they seem to be playing the game as if the life of thier mothers is depended on the game......
May be that is why, " the Motivation " factor is more of an issue in our football than others !....

How could the passes be so slow, the recipeant of passes have to wait an extra secound for the ball to get to them?
how could there not be enough eurgencies in counter attacks ?
Why is there not a %110 effort ?
why the individuall battles , and one to one confrontations are not won ?
How could our player, prefer getting the referee to wistle for a faul ,over getting the benefit of the " Advantage , AAVAANTAAJ " ?
Why are there so many passes,with the intention of ,getting rid of the responsibilities ?

[zereshk-ali]

Surely the problem is rather that we don't play the players that have the attributes of quick decision making.

Zandi, Navidkia, Jabbari - none of them are currently in the team. Nekounam, despite having played in Europe now, for me is not looking the same player in terms of quick decision making and running the game as he was in 06 WCQ.

Instead we have relied on playmakers like Karimi in the past, and now Shojaei (don't get me wrong, both are very good players, but quick decision making is not part of their game).

And our fans cry out for players like Madanchi and Nikhbakht! Even when players come in to the team and impress in their ability to move the ball on quickly we don't tend to pick them again (Manei)Khalatbari, for me, has bucked the trend and impressed me in this respect.

I will say that quicker passing, along with a more youthful and hungry team, were some the aspects I think Daie had been concentrating on in trying to improve our team.

[Doctor DOOM]

Bahram also points to a correct matter: the speed of the passes are also slow!

now, I dont expect our players to pass like the EPL players, whose PASSES resemble our players' SHOTS !!! ... they're that hard and fast!

But we certainly can put a little more "joon" into our passes too.
which may bring up the question of "controlling/trapping" the ball for the recipient !! sighhh!!!

Generally speaking, I would give an arm to see Iranian players get rid of this curse ( dribbling ) and get their passing perfected.
with better passing you can do a million things that with dribbling you are unable.

[kaz]

Actually, playing faster can remedied even at the professional level. It can be coached. The secret to playing fast is being able to predict the next move of your teammates. Repetitive exercises and moves have to be made and principles put it place where all players must abide by - to keep some predictable element. Once you do those sort of things you can play faster.

Something that tangibly hinders us playing faster are our fields. Esteghlal's game vs Foolad is a prime example. No pass remained on the deck whilst passed. It would bobble up at least once, if not more times as it reached it's destination, forcing the player to exert an extra effort to control it again - thus slowing play in two ways: taking longer to get there and needing an extra touch for control.

Another issue is mentality. Iranian players have a very selfish mentality and it stems from our street-ball roots. Whilst that may have helped us in the past overcome opponents, in the modern game very few individuals can beat a whole team now. You need to build a team to beat another team. Once players realise that the best course of action is to pass the ball, quickly and at the right moment, then we can play fast.

[persianallstars]

But we certainly can put a little more "joon" into our passes too. which may bring up the question of "controlling/trapping" the ball for the recipient !! sighhh!!!

lol can you define "joon" to your guys, so they won't mess it up next time?

[faraz]

you don't HAVE to play fast to win (up to a certain level anyhow, we play far too slow to even be considered part of the slow vs fast argument).

as an example take argentina - they play pretty damn slow with each pass calculated to the millimeter - england though, uses their finesse in passing quickly, running after loose balls, etc. and that is the style that they have adopted.

these styles comes directly from the league. although i agree that we certainly need to make the RIGHT decisions FASTER, I don't think we are suited for a faster type of play due to naturally weak physical conditions and fatigue. the more our players can hold posession and work slower, the more energy they'll have when they need to run. as soon as we have one player who can run 120 minutes straight (Ando), we see he is snatched up by a premier league team.

in either case, it all stems from our league - you will be accustomed to the setting you are placed in and it is up to our league coaches to adopt faster training methods (see a man u training vid) to be used in our matches.

at the TM level, nothing can really be done - the fundamentals of the sport come from the league.

[zzgloo]

It all comes from lack of understanding the game !
When a pass is comenced, it should have a massage in it, and not just transfering the ball !.....by pass,the passer signals how the game should develop !,and by the speed of the pass, the urgency it requires !
Slow passes,short comeing passes,etc, have the massage that the sender has no Idea how he or the recipient should continue !,hence,passing the responsibilities,and hence, confusion and slow game.

There may be the stroy of the " Chicken & Egg ", as which causes which ?
fast directed passes give purpose,or the purpose gives speed ?

But,what is clear, our game has none.