with departure of Kia, our right flank that was traditionally our strength, has become an unknown, unreliable side that hardly pays off and we see with madanchi's displays lately, our left has gained prominence in our attacks.
given khalatbari's style and best performances, it is obvious his best comes out when he's placed more centrally than on the flanks.
... which brings us to shojaei;
I watched his game against hercules club in spain's copa-delray and if I divide my observations into two sections of offensive and defensive, I must say he impressed me with some of his offensive moves down the right flank.
1- offensive:
he was impressive in some of the tasks, especially his crosses that I think were of high quality. not too high or too slow to allow the defense to regroup or anticipate.
a couple of them were done on the run which took the defense by surprise.
he also didnt try to dribble too much and clearly have been told not to overdo this. which is a huge plus for me.
however, the area covered by him wasnt enough, especially he didnt show any runs down the line and wasnt able to provide the width to the team, near the opponent's flag.
but nevertheless, a good offensive performance.
2- defensively, however, he was just abysmal!
he still doesnt know how to tackle.
he doesnt participate in the defense. and the couple of times he half-heartedly tried to mark or block an opponent, he fouled the fellow!
he was also not able to come on top in physical clashes and body-checks, and usually lost to the opponent. but seeing his upper body shape, I'd say that's natural, coz he doesnt have the optimal shape nor the bulk to win such confrontations.
he needs to work on this.
so what do we do with such a player?
he seems to be refining his offensive game and raises the hope of him being a good offensive midfielder, even on the flank (although a little more wide plays are needed) but in more than a year he still hasnt learned how to defend! and any midfielder needs and MUST participate in defense.
a team whose mids dont take part in defense will be exposed. and if it's on the flanks, then it'll put extraodinary amount of pressure on the RB.
now, if you have someone like kaabi as RB, who's very good in offensive duties but suspect in defense, than that's double the trouble!
I'd say even Haydari is not defensive enough to ensure us of a safe right flank.
so if we do use shojaie on the right, would it serve us to place an out-n-out defender (nosrati perhaps?) behind him t ensure a sort of insurance for his defensive lapses?
or do we start cultivating a NEW pair for our right flank:
Kaabi - haydari, with kaabi as the midfielder who has the pace, the crosses, the wide game, and defensively better than shojaei. while haydari as the RB who is a better defender than kaabi but also with great offensive capabilities and style.
(I'd also add kazemian as the RM. but that' my personal opinion)
having such a pair, given their age, we pretty much enure our right flank for MANY YEARS to come and with each passing year it beocmes more refined and perfect.
given khalatbari's style and best performances, it is obvious his best comes out when he's placed more centrally than on the flanks.
... which brings us to shojaei;
I watched his game against hercules club in spain's copa-delray and if I divide my observations into two sections of offensive and defensive, I must say he impressed me with some of his offensive moves down the right flank.
1- offensive:
he was impressive in some of the tasks, especially his crosses that I think were of high quality. not too high or too slow to allow the defense to regroup or anticipate.
a couple of them were done on the run which took the defense by surprise.
he also didnt try to dribble too much and clearly have been told not to overdo this. which is a huge plus for me.
however, the area covered by him wasnt enough, especially he didnt show any runs down the line and wasnt able to provide the width to the team, near the opponent's flag.
but nevertheless, a good offensive performance.
2- defensively, however, he was just abysmal!
he still doesnt know how to tackle.
he doesnt participate in the defense. and the couple of times he half-heartedly tried to mark or block an opponent, he fouled the fellow!
he was also not able to come on top in physical clashes and body-checks, and usually lost to the opponent. but seeing his upper body shape, I'd say that's natural, coz he doesnt have the optimal shape nor the bulk to win such confrontations.
he needs to work on this.
so what do we do with such a player?
he seems to be refining his offensive game and raises the hope of him being a good offensive midfielder, even on the flank (although a little more wide plays are needed) but in more than a year he still hasnt learned how to defend! and any midfielder needs and MUST participate in defense.
a team whose mids dont take part in defense will be exposed. and if it's on the flanks, then it'll put extraodinary amount of pressure on the RB.
now, if you have someone like kaabi as RB, who's very good in offensive duties but suspect in defense, than that's double the trouble!
I'd say even Haydari is not defensive enough to ensure us of a safe right flank.
so if we do use shojaie on the right, would it serve us to place an out-n-out defender (nosrati perhaps?) behind him t ensure a sort of insurance for his defensive lapses?
or do we start cultivating a NEW pair for our right flank:
Kaabi - haydari, with kaabi as the midfielder who has the pace, the crosses, the wide game, and defensively better than shojaei. while haydari as the RB who is a better defender than kaabi but also with great offensive capabilities and style.
(I'd also add kazemian as the RM. but that' my personal opinion)
having such a pair, given their age, we pretty much enure our right flank for MANY YEARS to come and with each passing year it beocmes more refined and perfect.
.
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