Speed is the key to success.

[leviathan]

I have seen many good comments about need for playmakers,player selection, needed formations ,starters, good and bad substutitues and who is our best left back , right middle field etc...
I think if our players, think and pass faster they will be able to use their talent.(which has been latent)
Speed is the key thing.We need to play faster.

our players take too long to look for some one to pass to....yet there are multiple free players to pass to.

When they get the ball, they take so long so that they get pressured, once the get pressured they loose all tactics and just kick the ball any where!or their passes get inaccurate.(and you have seen what happens next 100 times)


When we have an available unmarked player in good position to score we take so long to pass that he gets marked.

SPEED IS THE KEY TO WINNING.

Only in occational counter attacks i have seen the right passing speed needed. we are playing and passing too slow and wonder why we can't keep possession?

[Martin-Reza]

Of course that is the key to improvement of our football, but it's nothing grown-up players can improve much anymore. Most of this is about youth work, but also about playing on high level regulary.

[Doctor DOOM]

Iraj is correct on the need for quick and intelligent passing, which over-rides how fast a player can sprint a 100 meters.

But there's a small section that I must remind everyone that once a player gets possession of the ball, the other players ought to free themselves of their markers also and this second part is not done frequently and adequately.

so quick passing is not only the player w the ball's responsibility. others have to make space or run into free spaces to create an opportunity to be passed to as well.

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one other thing about our passing is lackluster coverage the players behind the player w the ball provide to him!
many times they are too far behind or attached to their midfield markers that the player w the ball , especially those on the flanks, get stuck and have to pass back to the defenders in our half !!!

I noticed unless the RM or LM is totally stuck ( 1 vs 2 or 3 and pinned to the touchline by the crowd ), the RB or LB's dont come to assist! and that means taking the initiative away from the move and it becomes the rudimentary flank player passing back to defender who most often passes backwards to CB's or DM's !

are they saying "lets see what he'll do w the ball" ??? or "I'm sure he'll do something w it" ???? whatever it is, they arent providing sensible coverage when it matters the most !



perhaps this is one reason we have so many useless pass backs that dont help the team one bit!

[leviathan]

Martin,You are right about this being a task for younger players.

Passing faster also requires most players(for sure midfield ,hopefully all) to cover and sweep the pitch faster,kinda like how basketball players sweep the field in attack and deffence.

This requires stamina which can be attained by intense training.
It also involves risk taking, when a player thinks and passes faster there is a possiblity of giving the ball away.

So what?......what is wrong with taking risks and losing the ball?
Is it not better to take 10 intelligent fast runs on the goal and give the ball away 10 times in 18 yard box...than play a slow chess game for 15 minutes.. mostly passing back!!!! and then throwing a long lob to find 1 or 2 opportunities in the same area?

we can have our best players on the pitch on saturday but if we don't think and move faster we are asking for trouble.

I am kinda glad nekounam can't play as we must stop relying on his set pieces and direct free kicks to rescue our team.

[Martin-Reza]

Another thing which might be decisive will be aerial domination. Interestingly when we look at the three goals scored last time, two were headers and even the third came after a high ball, although the finish was with the foot by Nekounam.

[Mr.Good]

Speed was and still is the biggest shortcoming of our football. our Football always seems static. The players don't pass the ball unless they are out of options, and also other players don't free themselves to receive a pass. I think this problem has roots in the street football culture, and the bad infrastructure we have (i.e. bumpy fields). unless we fix those and bring coaches that stress this issue at youth level, I don't see any other solution.

[leviathan]

Doctor doom:
so quick passing is not only the player w the ball's responsibility. others have to make space or run into free spaces to create an opportunity to be passed to as well.

Mr Good.:
our Football always seems static. The players don't pass the ball unless they are out of options, and also other players don't free themselves to receive a pass

which means some of our players don't understand the concept of what is needed to advance in opponent's half (and our half)while passing and moving forward quickly.

Masoud ,Neko, mehdi ,khalatbari and even kabei in my oppinion are players who do try to find space fast to receive passes but often make a run to an empty spot for nothing.

[police in helicopter]

Good positionning can sometimes compensate for a lack of speed (Neko, Zandi...), but unfortunatly most of our players don't know what to do without the ball.

[maij]

Speed was and still is the biggest shortcoming of our football. our Football always seems static. The players don't pass the ball unless they are out of options, and also other players don't free themselves to receive a pass. I think this problem has roots in the street football culture, and the bad infrastructure we have (i.e. bumpy fields). unless we fix those and bring coaches that stress this issue at youth level, I don't see any other solution.

Full marks to you , you saved me writing that piece.

Of course Iraj is quite right about lack of speed , and in particular lack of speedy thinking but in all honesty I don't think for a second that the players will have a thing from heaven and will shift the gear a couple of notches....specially against the faster and more physical North Koreans.


SO...although speed has always been and probably will be for sometime to come , a serious shortcoming of Iranian football, I don't suggest that Team Melli do anything out of what they are used to in terms of rhythm and speed on Saturday.