Defensive or Offensive strategy for today's game?

[Doctor DOOM]

would ghotbi try to draw NKoreans out and implement counterattacking tactics ?
SHOULD he do that?

from what he's been saying all along that this game is not a do or die game ( and I strongly disagree ), and from his selections and the most probable line up it may seem he may be happy with a draw also!

yes, a draw , mathematically, may not be the end of the world for us, but it brings many hazards and scenarios where we can easily be eliminated . one of the most possibilities is a draw between NK and KSA and that's it for us!
coz I'm under no dis-illusions that we can beat SKorea at their home, and see a maximum of 1 point for us off that game.
I dont subscribe to this simplistic view that SKorea will not care about their last game even if they qualify beforehand.

I just read Mr. Mohasess saying:

نیمه اول دیدار کره شمالی - ایران مهم است
وی نیمه اول دیدار کره شمالی - ایران را با اهمیت خواند و افزود: اگر نیمه اول را با پیروزی پشت سربگذاریم که چه بهتر اما اگر این نیمه با نتیجه مساوی به پایان برسد شانس برای پیروزی ما بیشتر می شود زیرا کره شمالی که یک بازی بیشتر از ایران دارد و بازی آخرش را باید درعربستان برگزار کند می خواهد برای قطعی کردن صعود خود به جام جهانی در این دیدار پیروز شود و هر چه از زمان بازی سپری شود آنها بیش از گذشته تحت فشار روانی قرار می گیرند و همین موضوع به ما کمک می کند به پیروزی نزدیک*تر شویم و حداقل با پیروزی یک یا 2 بر صفر میزبان خود را شکست داده و از این مهلکه نجات یابیم.

( correction : NK has a game LESS than ours, not more )

going by ghotbi's advisor's remarks, a defensive plan may be on the cards, and relying on counters and mounting pressure on the opposition to make mistakes ... .

by itself, this is a fine and practical strategy for any team having our points and going away and ... etc etc etc.

BUT here's where our situation takes a step out of normalcy.
our team doesnt have a good goal scoring record and our strikers arent scoring goals as they shd. and the above strategy relies heavily on a team's strikers to have a HIGH CONVERSION RATE, who'd capitalize on those couple of chances they get.
our strikers do NOT have high or even average conversion rate!!! and have shown to need unusually high number of opportunities to score one goal!

so what if we implement the above strategy to the tee and defend perfectly ( something we have been unable to do and needs to be considered too ) under tremendous and mounting pressure and as is the norm, rely on & get 2-3 counterattacking opportunities for our strikers.
will OUR strikers ( dont mistake it w the general strikers of the world ... as ppl do here ) ... OUR STRIKERS WITH THEIR LOW CONVERSION RATE be able to score on those 2-3 chances ?

have we seen such a game where we've used such a strategy and have scored goals on 2-3 opportunities?

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and will our defense hold up against that amount of pressure by playing a defensive game?
we've seen they cant and usually conceded a goal or two.
what if the koreans somehow get lucky and score?

then wouldnt our task be 10 times more difficult, to change tactics and players and positions and .... and still be stuck with LOW converting strikers?
remember ksa in azadi ?

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and finally, even in case of a draw, given the amount of travel and mounting pressure to collect points, would our players be able to WIN at SOUTH korea ?
something that we've never been able to do, even when we had a fit daei and azizi or better, more proficient squads in yesteryears.

what are the chances of this, when we're unable to beat the NORTH koreans ( our perennial losers ) at their home?
more than 5% ?

[Doctor DOOM]

added: so let us not feed into our fears , as we did against ksa.
as they say the brave die once, while the coward die a 1000 deaths

over-reliance on our porous and unreliable defense has never fared well for us. and I doubt this time's going to be a miraculous one either

[BehzadB]

My prediction is that NK will be playing defensive game and will wait for counters. they are not going to change their plan. So, we have to be patient and smart.

We have to be strong in the midfield, keep the space between the defensive line and midfield to a minimum. if we can do that, our skillful midfielders will create enough chances for us to take advantage of.

[zzgloo]

My prediction is that NK will be playing defensive game and will wait for counters. they are not going to change their plan. So, we have to be patient and smart.

We have to be strong in the midfield, keep the space between the defensive line and midfield to a minimum. if we can do that, our skillful midfielders will create enough chances for us to take advantage of.

You got it right,Bahzad jaan......
I also have been saying the same thing, and used the BOXING terminology of the match between Mohammad Ali vs George Forman, in which, the desfensive, counter attacking style of Ali paid off, and Forman should have stayed in the middle of the ring, instead of going to Ali's corner !
....................
To answer, to Payman's question, about which strategy !, it is a must, to firgure the strategy of the opponant first,before decieding on our strategy !
NK, and bahzad just said, has no choice but to continue playing defensive.......for more reasons than one.......and if we go to the match,desperate to win ( As payman beleieves ), it will hurt our chances,considering the NK's defensive strategy.......
........................

We are better off, going slow in the first half, and wait for our chances, useing the system, Bahzad & I suggest, keeping our defensive & midfield lines close, and keeping the game in the middle of the field, instead of thier side of the field........., It is absolutly imparetive, That we should not play thier game ! ..and try to get them out of thier system.

[Doctor DOOM]

I think the team that scores first has far more chances of coming off victorious than the other.

[Martin-Reza]

Playing more offensive doesn't mean you score first. It actually also increases the chances of your opponent to score first.

I guess playing more offensive comes down to taking more risks, like defending further upfront, players going forward more often (exposing our defense with that), etc.

We must be clever and not think we must decide the game in first half. But we surely aren't a team famous for counter attacking nor will the Koreans take too many risks, so we certainly need to try winning the dominance in midfield and to make the play. At the same time we must not do them the favour running forward with 6 or 7 players constantly, allowing them to score an early goal.

Dominance, controlled risk and patience will be what we need. And a stable defense is no lesser a key to a win than a sparkling offense. We are not the team able to score several goals from a few chances as correctly pointed out, so we cannot afford to concede (m)any goals.

[Martin-Reza]

And, on a sidenote, interesting to finally find out that Dr. Doom is Australia based .

[BehzadB]

DD, North Korea does have one more game than us. meaning that they have played 1 more game. We have one more game to play than they do.

[Doctor DOOM]

^ depends on how one reads "yek baazi beeshtar az iran darad" .
the folly of our bastardized farsi through irresponsible colloquial-ization !!!

it could mean BOTH things , having had played a game more or having a game remaining


the point is they have 2 games left, while we have 3.
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I dont think anyone is advocating a reckless all-out attacking formation & strategy ... despite what you all want to portray it as.

But given many factors below, I think we shd try to get ahead in the first half or at least go for it, even if we dont get it.

1- traditionally, our players are prone to get stressed and emotional as the game wears on and resort to useless balls and lobs and hardambili tactics.

2- as mentioned , we simply dont have great forwards who could turn the game around with one or two opportunities , in case we fall behind or in case we try a strategy like SKorea's push near the last quarter of the game!

we have to constantly give these players chances so perhaps after 4-5 or 6 opportunities, they'd do something. and I dont think leaving "the thrust" for the final 15 minutes is going to give us this many!!!

3- again, our defense is simply not reliable, so we cant rest on a luxury of taking the game to the last 15 minutes assured of not conceding ! we've conceded some very basic and rudimentary goals through very simple attacks.


but by going ahead in the first half, we can control the game in the second with ball possession and rely on the likes of khalatbari, madanchi, kazemian, borhani, ... in counters ... which if it doesnt bear more fruit, at least it would mean keeping 2-3 of the korean defenders at bay , from joining their attacking players , thus, less pressure on our defense.

[zzgloo]

1- Our Strategy :
.......................

We Should be patient, Collected, and upportunistic,and have the time of possession...and try to get NK out of its defensive mood.and try to dominate through technical/Tactical means.

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2-Our Tactics :
.....................

A= We should, attack more from the center,and use our technical players to play man to man.

B= We need to create, set pieces, By provoking them to commit fouls. ( kabei !!!!,Karimi,Khaltbari,style ).

C= keep our midfielders and defensive line close.

D= we should attack through the middle, because not only it gives us more time, to return back to deffense,but also gives our technical players better chances,as well as provoking them to commit fouls.

F= we need to be More physical, up front, again, for provokations.

G= Keeping the time of possession,in the midfield.

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3-Our Techniques :
......................

We need to use our superior dribleing,and set pieces specialists,and taller player heading, better concentrations on goal chances,preplans on set pieces.

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[persianallstars]

as ghotbi once said, if you lose, lose like a man, if you win, win like a team!

offense is the best defense

[yashar_fasihnia]

1- Our Strategy :
.......................
We Should be patient, Collected, and upportunistic,and have the time of possession...and try to get NK out of its defensive mood.and try to dominate through technical/Tactical means.
.................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .......
2-Our Tactics :
.....................
A= We should, attack more from the center,and use our technical players to play man to man.
B= We need to create, set pieces, By provoking them to commit fouls. ( kabei !!!!,Karimi,Khaltbari,style ).
C= keep our midfielders and defensive line close.
D= we should attack through the middle, because not only it gives us more time, to return back to deffense,but also gives our technical players better chances,as well as provoking them to commit fouls.
F= we need to be More physical, up front, again, for provokations.
G= Keeping the time of possession,in the midfield.
.................................................. .................................................. .................................................. ........
3-Our Techniques :
......................
We need to use our superior dribleing,and set pieces specialists,and taller player heading, better concentrations on goal chances,preplans on set pieces.
.................................................. .................................................. .................................................. ........

BAHRAME CASSIUS CLAY!
BAHRAME CASSIUS CLAY!

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