IRAN - IRAQ (asia cup)

[Doctor DOOM]

First of all I must say iraq’s game plan is fully based on physicality and rough confrontation, plus use of our left side’s weakness in defending as well as balls over our central defense for their quick runners to get past hosseini & aghili.

Shows those Iraqi players playing in Iran have conveyed all the necessary info to their coach.

---------------------

Iraq goal - There’s nothing to say as this is just another example of the now, very long series of examples for hajsafi’s inability and unsuitability as a defender. The kid lost his mark and made things worse by his indecision to whether go after the mark or go back to the goal line, eventually got stuck in no man’s land.

Perhaps this is why surprisingly, Rahmati also made the same grave mistake by showing indecision to go after the ball or stay on the goal line, eventually stuck in between along with hajsafi!

But this was not all. Both our central defenders also made a mistake of becoming mere audience to this drama as they stood rooted to the ground while the ball came back and watched as not one, but two Iraqi players went past them to tap in the ball!!!!

Absolute horrendous defending by all 4 players. Nothing is expected from hajsafi, who even a freaking blind man agrees he doesn’t belong there. But the others? Very disappointing.

The thing is all Iraqis and their coach knew about hajsafi as the weak spot , but our esteemed international coach of 2 years STILL HASN’T FIGURED IT OUT!!!

Says volumes about game reading

-------------------------

Minute 30 – so far TM’s moves have been very erratic and without a plan or order. Seems we rely on only long throw-ins and mobaali’s freekicks!!!
I hope we do better, coz Iraq isn’t exactly impenetrable

-------------------

Signs of life and some nice combinations and passing between our lads from minute 30 onwards. Only the last shot/kick is what’s failing us. But an improvement over the headless chicken performance of the first half an hour.

If we maintain this, I am sure we can equalize, coz our lads are slowly getting into some rhythm. Especially down the right side.

----------------

We could have had a penalty (push on nekunam) on one of mobaali’s crosses, but it wasn’t really clear and maybe only 6 out of 10 refs would call that penalty. Unfortunately, irmatov wasn’t among them!

------------------

Aljazeera’s English commentators were full of praise for mobaali’s crossing ability and kept on saying “that right foot again”.

I agree. His freekicks and crosses have been creating major trouble for the Iraqi defense. Not to mention most of his ball distribution which has been in service of the team (although a couple of times he failed to control the ball which shd not happen at this level).

----------------

Rezaei’s goal – wonderful pass by ando and Rezaei caps a great game with a magnificent goal.

Loved how he composed himself before slotting the ball in the far corner. Absolutely clinical. Great pass and great shot. Now, we shd see a different Iran, with our tails up and getting some passes together.

----------------------

Min 69 - Again hajsafi’s inability to defend got us into soup and almost led to a goal!!

2 minutes after that, he does it again!! How many times shd he fumble and fail for ghotbi to understand it is W.R.O.N.G. to use him as left back? It’s so frustrating

----------------------

Gholami has been disappointing so far, but not becoz of his inaction, rather than the formation which leaves him stranded among the opponent defenders. He’s fought well and tried to get physical. But I guess this is not his day.

So has shojaei been a disappointment too. Not that it comes as a surprise, going by his recent TM performances. But at this stage, you expect more.

--------------------

Why is ghotbi taking so long to sub players? Both gholami and shojaei shd have been subbed by minute 55 – 60.

Khalatbari shd have come in much earlier as he brought life to a lifeless left side (no thanks to shojaei). Now, with rezaei and khalatbari creating havoc down BOTH flanks, we shd see more openings in iraq defense.

(does ghotbi have something against khalatbari to bench him or use him so sparingly? He did the same mistake during the WCQ’s too!!! )

-----------------

And khalatbari’s persistence and hard work pays off in getting a freekick which Iman puts into the net (thanks to the Iraqi keeper misreading his flighted ball)

Kudos to aghili also for jumping in the path of the ball to throw the keeper’s focus on the ball off.

Btw, this goal shd count as TWO goals … as it went between the legs of the keeper and as we know in football’s rulebook, : Gol-e laei, do ta hesaab misheh

Good to see Iman give a resounding slap in the face of all those fools who opposed him and merely regurgitated what that wimp branko came up with! (not only this one goal, but with his many assists in the IPL too, which have proved his worth)
not that he was a messi. No. but he certainly proved he deserved to be in the final 23 roster.

------------------

In my opinion, the man of the match was Gh. Rezaei. He really tortured the left side of Iraq, so much that they had to change their LB with someone younger to keep up with rezaei …. And still failed.
Marvelous game by rezaei.

Second M.O.M. would go to mobaali for his inch-perfect crosses and freekicks that had the Aljazeera commentators ooh-ing and aah-ing .

[TrueBlue]

^ and "game review of the month" should go to DD for inch-perfect review spot on as usual.

[yashar_fasihnia]

lol...

anyways, i think ando was a head and shoulder above the other players of both teams. he showed his class in both his defensive and offensive duties.
he deserves more than teraktor sazi or even IPL for that matter. wish him all the best!

[Doctor DOOM]

^ Ando was the epitome of a work horse and a team-man.

hopefully this tourney can be his return ticket to europe, coz the way he's been playing he deserves to be back there.

however, the way rezaei tormented and tortured the iraqi defenders and how he came so close to score his second goal was enough for me to put him above ando and the rest


I didnt listen to the iranian commentary and switched to aljazeera's english comm, which was clearly not biased towards certain TM players , except the 3 who played in europe. basically, they dont really know much about our players as long as they dont play in europe. but even they had to admire and praise mobaali's crosses and freekicks.

=============

I forgot to add one bit about hajsafi;

if ghotbi insists on using him as LB, thinking he could benefit from hajsafi's forward moves, then I think this game shd clarify any doubt that hajsafi as a defender will not have much use for the team, even in forward moves.

aside from abysmal defending scores he gets, his offensive scores arent exactly doing him any favors either.
so why persist with him?
it just boggles my mind.

use him as left wing or mid. fine. here hajsafi can perform quite well.
but not as a defender.

[persian-eagle-13]

i agree too, man of the match was Rezaei. his composure and calm before scoring is rare in iran. after he scored, if it was anyone else, they would have ran around like a crazy person, but he stood there very calm and was not surprised about scoring that goal. very classy i thought

[Paradigm]

First of all I must say iraq’s game plan is fully based on physicality and rough confrontation, plus use of our left side’s weakness in defending as well as balls over our central defense for their quick runners to get past hosseini & aghili.

Shows those Iraqi players playing in Iran have conveyed all the necessary info to their coach.

---------------------

Iraq goal - There’s nothing to say as this is just another example of the now, very long series of examples for hajsafi’s inability and unsuitability as a defender. The kid lost his mark and made things worse by his indecision to whether go after the mark or go back to the goal line, eventually got stuck in no man’s land.

Perhaps this is why surprisingly, Rahmati also made the same grave mistake by showing indecision to go after the ball or stay on the goal line, eventually stuck in between along with hajsafi!

But this was not all. Both our central defenders also made a mistake of becoming mere audience to this drama as they stood rooted to the ground while the ball came back and watched as not one, but two Iraqi players went past them to tap in the ball!!!!

Absolute horrendous defending by all 4 players. Nothing is expected from hajsafi, who even a freaking blind man agrees he doesn’t belong there. But the others? Very disappointing.

The thing is all Iraqis and their coach knew about hajsafi as the weak spot , but our esteemed international coach of 2 years STILL HASN’T FIGURED IT OUT!!!

Says volumes about game reading

-------------------------

Minute 30 – so far TM’s moves have been very erratic and without a plan or order. Seems we rely on only long throw-ins and mobaali’s freekicks!!!
I hope we do better, coz Iraq isn’t exactly impenetrable

-------------------

Signs of life and some nice combinations and passing between our lads from minute 30 onwards. Only the last shot/kick is what’s failing us. But an improvement over the headless chicken performance of the first half an hour.

If we maintain this, I am sure we can equalize, coz our lads are slowly getting into some rhythm. Especially down the right side.

----------------

We could have had a penalty (push on nekunam) on one of mobaali’s crosses, but it wasn’t really clear and maybe only 6 out of 10 refs would call that penalty. Unfortunately, irmatov wasn’t among them!

------------------

Aljazeera’s English commentators were full of praise for mobaali’s crossing ability and kept on saying “that right foot again”.

I agree. His freekicks and crosses have been creating major trouble for the Iraqi defense. Not to mention most of his ball distribution which has been in service of the team (although a couple of times he failed to control the ball which shd not happen at this level).

----------------

Rezaei’s goal – wonderful pass by ando and Rezaei caps a great game with a magnificent goal.

Loved how he composed himself before slotting the ball in the far corner. Absolutely clinical. Great pass and great shot. Now, we shd see a different Iran, with our tails up and getting some passes together.

----------------------

Min 69 - Again hajsafi’s inability to defend got us into soup and almost led to a goal!!

2 minutes after that, he does it again!! How many times shd he fumble and fail for ghotbi to understand it is W.R.O.N.G. to use him as left back? It’s so frustrating

----------------------

Gholami has been disappointing so far, but not becoz of his inaction, rather than the formation which leaves him stranded among the opponent defenders. He’s fought well and tried to get physical. But I guess this is not his day.

So has shojaei been a disappointment too. Not that it comes as a surprise, going by his recent TM performances. But at this stage, you expect more.

--------------------

Why is ghotbi taking so long to sub players? Both gholami and shojaei shd have been subbed by minute 55 – 60.

Khalatbari shd have come in much earlier as he brought life to a lifeless left side (no thanks to shojaei). Now, with rezaei and khalatbari creating havoc down BOTH flanks, we shd see more openings in iraq defense.

(does ghotbi have something against khalatbari to bench him or use him so sparingly? He did the same mistake during the WCQ’s too!!! )

-----------------

And khalatbari’s persistence and hard work pays off in getting a freekick which Iman puts into the net (thanks to the Iraqi keeper misreading his flighted ball)

Kudos to aghili also for jumping in the path of the ball to throw the keeper’s focus on the ball off.

Btw, this goal shd count as TWO goals … as it went between the legs of the keeper and as we know in football’s rulebook, : Gol-e laei, do ta hesaab misheh

Good to see Iman give a resounding slap in the face of all those fools who opposed him and merely regurgitated what that wimp branko came up with! (not only this one goal, but with his many assists in the IPL too, which have proved his worth)
not that he was a messi. No. but he certainly proved he deserved to be in the final 23 roster.

------------------

In my opinion, the man of the match was Gh. Rezaei. He really tortured the left side of Iraq, so much that they had to change their LB with someone younger to keep up with rezaei …. And still failed.
Marvelous game by rezaei.

Second M.O.M. would go to mobaali for his inch-perfect crosses and freekicks that had the Aljazeera commentators ooh-ing and aah-ing .

Doc, I am thinking Ghotbi should put Nosrati as LB and pick either Bengar or Talebi as RB. Not sure what Heydari's condition is. I agree that Hajsafi is the main weak link in the line up now and it doesn't take long for any good coach to watch some of the recent team melli match videos to figure that out. They really don't need inside informers to gather such sort of intelligence.

[Doctor DOOM]

^ Khosro heidari as RB is a must for the next game. here's why :

given the nature of NKorea's style and game, I think we may have to adjust and modify our tactics and roster from the iraq game.

NKorea played a very cynical, defensive and closed game against arguably the weakest team in the group, imagine how much more defensive they'd be against us.

so we MUST stretch their packed crowd as much as possible, especially along the width of the pitch.
which means using wingers and wide players who can either dribble in or cross well.
in fact I would have said mobaali could sit on the bench & be a sub only, for the iraq game but start for the nkorea.

as wingers, I think rezaei and kahlatbari would be perfect. they have the speed and more importantly, the ball skills to dribble/cut in and go through the defense themselves.
another bonus with these two is they can win freekicks and even penalties in and around the 18. this becomes even more important against teams that park the bus in front of the goal and play a dense game.

but at the same time, heidari's crossing ability will be an extremely important factor, especially if we have someone like gholami/nowroozi as center forward, with hopefully a more in-form nekounam coming up for headers.
trust me, heidari can be a decisive player in this game.


*****************

same thing on the left. whether we use hajsafi or anyone else, we shd be able to get service and crosses from them on that side too. so maybe sticking with hajsafi may help in our offense.


****************

the thing is we must make sure we are prepared for quick counters from the koreans, coz that's their only way to come at us.
also our CD's and rahmati shd make sure not to give too many freekicks outside our 18, or even allow koreans to take shots at rahmati.
which means nekounam has to step up his game and keep up with ando' work rate. otherwise, la-liga player or not, he may need to be replaced by Pejman, who's another work horse like ando.

coz the only ways I think nkorea may hurt us is in quick counters, long rangers and close freekicks.


*********************


speaking of long rangers, I must admit I am quite disappointed with all our players for their lack of shooting and those few who do, are hardly on target!

this is even more valid as we see there have been 7 out of the total 17 goals scored so far, have been from deflected shots.
7 out of 17 is too big to go unnoticed by any coach.
which means if you attempt to shoot, there is a high chance you may get a deflection and get a goal.
so why arent our player shooting more often?
we have nakounam, ando, mobaali, pejman, gholami , ... who can shoot. but there's hardly any attempt and accuracy!!!!

so I'd like to see more shots from our lads. I think they ought to put a lot of emphasis on this, as we'd be facing a layered defense which makes penetration from the middle very difficult, due to increased numbers of legs on the way.

but the same number of legs can come to good use when we take a shot that can get deflected and go into the goal.
.... long as our shots are ON TARGET & POWERFUL ENOUGH

[Nokhodi]

Dr. Doom, Heydari to me is a big no for the game against North Korea.
He simply is too slow for a speedy opponent like that. Yes, his crossing is great, but the North Koreans would run circles around him and he would be the potential weak link in our defense against Korea.

To me a guy like Nosrati is actually the ideal defender versus a team like NK. Speedy, yet tough.

[Hajagha]

This team is what we are and what we have. It is not like we left Messi on bench or at home.

The team arrangment showed that there is a thought behind every single position and player. However, if I were the coach, I would pick Khalatbari over Shojaei and Hadadifar or Pejman Nouri over Mobali.

I understand Shojaei has air advantge and Mobali has freekick advantage over my picks. So, I can live with that.

About Hajsafi, this game was the best game I have seen from him. He obviously has all the component to become a realiable left back for us for a long time. I wouldn't mind giving him time to flourish.

Cheers,

[Ali Chicago]

Payman/Doc jaan;

I hope your peers and managers don't judge your performance as harsh as you judge football players. We are dealing with humen not machines. Any goal is scored is due to a mistake by a defender (being slow, ball watching, missing his mark, etc.), judge a player based on his 90 minute performance not handpick this or that scene (Neda's method of reporting events). You are really picking on Hajsafi, if it wasn't due to his military service situation this kid has been in Europe already. He has pace, he has ball handling ability, great work ethic, plays within the system.

You really didn't have anything to say about how our team was pressing? Combo plays in the Iraqi's offensive third?

Team started in a good place, played good but not its best, this is how you want to start a tournament. Idealy they peak around quarter final.

Key is to win agasint N. Korea, so pressure is off against the UAE game and confidence surges even further. Addition of Haydari will super charges Rezai on the right, as if putting him on steroid. N. Koreans aren't know for their offensive abilities, they will sit back an d wait for counter. So we need to hit them hard adn bury them early with 1 or two goals. Mind you we have never lost to N. Korea in our footballing history.

[dvader6]

seeing how vulnerable the korean goalie was against uae, I think out boys must make sure we cross and send as many balls as possible into & near the goal mouth. this goalie showed highly indecisive and stayed on the line on many of the crosses that most goalies would come to claim them.
I think our boys must don their crossing boots and send as many balls into the area as possible, from as many angles.

[Doctor DOOM]

Payman/Doc jaan;
I hope your peers and managers don't judge your performance as harsh as you judge football players. We are dealing with humen not machines. Any goal is scored is due to a mistake by a defender (being slow, ball watching, missing his mark, etc.), judge a player based on his 90 minute performance not handpick this or that scene (Neda's method of reporting events). You are really picking on Hajsafi, if it wasn't due to his military service situation this kid has been in Europe already. He has pace, he has ball handling ability, great work ethic, plays within the system.
You really didn't have anything to say about how our team was pressing? Combo plays in the Iraqi's offensive third?
Team started in a good place, played good but not its best, this is how you want to start a tournament. Idealy they peak around quarter final.
Key is to win agasint N. Korea, so pressure is off against the UAE game and confidence surges even further. Addition of Haydari will super charges Rezai on the right, as if putting him on steroid. N. Koreans aren't know for their offensive abilities, they will sit back an d wait for counter. So we need to hit them hard adn bury them early with 1 or two goals. Mind you we have never lost to N. Korea in our footballing history.

ali jan, I think you must have forgotten my stance on hajsafi AS A PLAYER.

he is a good player . young, quick and with potential. and if he maintains his focus, he can go places.
but none of that makes me believe he can be such a talent in just about ANY post. you shd and I'm sure you do know the duties of a left back is quite different from a left winger.
hajsafi would be a very good winger and offensive player.

but as a defender? sorry. I hardly have seen many indications that he may make a good defender. (and this is also a reply to haji's points on this issue):
- his marking is way off and his marks usually escape without him even noticing it in time!
- his positioning in defense is another negative. so is his approach towards the opponents' attackers.
- I cant really say he is a good header of the ball either.
- neither is he a tough, physical guy, whose toughness makes up for his other defensive shortcomings
- he tends to stay behind or fail to track back after he's gone forward, which opens up large spaces for the attacking opponents.


so where do I see someone who can deliver the DEFENSIVE duties to make him a better option than the likes of mahini who have shown to fare better than hajsafi in defensive duties?

coz as a left BACK, his PRIMARY tasks are defending and only then, his secondary duties, which are offensive capabilities.


I'm not saying he's a bad player. I'm saying he is not the right choice for this post. that's all
it's like placing gh. rezaei as right back. I'd say the very same thing.

*******************

as for higher ups judging performance of others; well, if the aim is to rectify the shortcomings and deficiencies, then yes, these things shd be done to make sure they are not repeated.

I remember a marvelous advice that seems to sit on top of Hillary Clinton's desk, that has a world of value and meaning to it:
MAKE NEW MISTAKES

this is a wonderful advice to all of us. and says it is ok if we try to correct something, even if we make a mistake once in a while as long as it is not a REPEAT of the old mistakes.

but to make the SAME mistake, again and again, then that shows extremely poor judgment and decision making.

this is very valid in our football, unfortunately.

[Ali Chicago]

ali jan, I think you must have forgotten my stance on hajsafi AS A PLAYER.

he is a good player . young, quick and with potential. and if he maintains his focus, he can go places.
but none of that makes me believe he can be such a talent in just about ANY post. you shd and I'm sure you do know the duties of a left back is quite different from a left winger.
hajsafi would be a very good winger and offensive player.

but as a defender? sorry. I hardly have seen many indications that he may make a good defender. (and this is also a reply to haji's points on this issue):
- his marking is way off and his marks usually escape without him even noticing it in time!
- his positioning in defense is another negative. so is his approach towards the opponents' attackers.
- I cant really say he is a good header of the ball either.
- neither is he a tough, physical guy, whose toughness makes up for his other defensive shortcomings
- he tends to stay behind or fail to track back after he's gone forward, which opens up large spaces for the attacking opponents.


so where do I see someone who can deliver the DEFENSIVE duties to make him a better option than the likes of mahini who have shown to fare better than hajsafi in defensive duties?

coz as a left BACK, his PRIMARY tasks are defending and only then, his secondary duties, which are offensive capabilities.


I'm not saying he's a bad player. I'm saying he is not the right choice for this post. that's all
it's like placing gh. rezaei as right back. I'd say the very same thing.

*******************

as for higher ups judging performance of others; well, if the aim is to rectify the shortcomings and deficiencies, then yes, these things shd be done to make sure they are not repeated.

I remember a marvelous advice that seems to sit on top of Hillary Clinton's desk, that has a world of value and meaning to it:
MAKE NEW MISTAKES

this is a wonderful advice to all of us. and says it is ok if we try to correct something, even if we make a mistake once in a while as long as it is not a REPEAT of the old mistakes.

but to make the SAME mistake, again and again, then that shows extremely poor judgment and decision making.

this is very valid in our football, unfortunately.

I know how you feel about HajSafi as a defender, I was referring to your initial post in this thread when you gave him a low mark due to his not marking Redda on the first goal (judging based on that one instance, goal blame moslty falls on Rahmati's shoulders not HajSafi IMO (althought HaJsAFI made a mistake too).

You didnt' mention anything else about HajSafi. How Emmad Redda couldn't do anything else? How many one on ones he won agasitn Redda? How he was added from the left. How HajSafi was robbed by the ref on one of his beautiful runs (by a wrong hand ball).

If in the TM Hossein Kaabi can play right defense, HajSafi has much bigger size and fenec. I agree HajSafi can play other positions better, but this young man of 20 years of age is doing his best for the TM and Iran and instead of supporting a young talent like him, we only see and focus on his mistakes. Show me a single football player who hasn't made a mistake. A top forward if can convert on 30% of his chances is considered a hig caliber forward. This is soccer not Basketball that every shot must be netted.

[Doctor DOOM]

^ oh, but I did mention other instances too.
in fact I did say he made the mistake twice in a row in minute 69 and 2 minutes after that.

so you say he won a couple of confrontations with ridha. ok.
but as a DEFENDER, making 3 huge mistakes (plus a few others that were a part & parcel of his defending record in TM) is more than enough for any coach to doubt his decision.
remember defenders are not like strikers who can afford to make many mistakes during a game.
one big mistake by the defender is enough to damn the whole team, or even the whole tournament.

so he won a couple of confrontations and made quite a few mistakes, three of which were huge and one of them actually led to a goal.

I say almost ANY player in IPL can have such stats, whether at their clubs, they play at LB or not. the point is for the coach to pick someone who does not make this many mistakes and someone who can deliver the required tasks.


as for ridha not doing anything, well I think ridha gave a lot of hell to our team with his runs and passes. so I wouldnt exactly say "didnt do anything".
even sidka admitted to making the wrong sub by removing ridha in favor of a more defensive player (thinking he'd close the game with 1-1 with more defensive attitude)

surely the justification for hajsafi as LB can not be "he is a built bigger than kaabi".
rezazadeh also is bigger than 12 kaabis. but we dont put him on the pitch.

neither hajsafi's young age can be any reason for the coach's mistake of using the wrong player for the wrong post. so we put a 17 year old striker in the goal and after letting in a dozen goals, we say "it's ok. he's young"???


everybody makes mistakes.
but what distinguishes the more successful coaches from the lesser ones is that the former group makes sure there are LESS mistakes occurring and LESS bad decisions are made.


I fail to see the relevance & how we jumped to expecting a forward to score every chance. we both know there are different criteria and expectations from a forward than a defender.

[Martin-Reza]

Yeah yeah, a freekick accidently going in after a bad performance suddenly makes Mobali a new Maradona who should always have played. Everyone knows he can execute setpieces, so no newsflash here. He's still Homer Simpson and he's still overrated by some.

Now in order not to be come Dr. "Onesided" DOOM nr. 2, here the positive notes on him. First he is good on setpieces as already said, secondly he this time drew some fouls which helped emphasizing on his strength and finally this slightly deeper CM role (with 2 very strong DMs covering him too) suits him well, as he has more space and time and isn't so much under pressure as a real nr. 10, and therefore can do more, without having to make so many quick decisions.

Still, he's simply lacking what it takes to be a really good playmaker, anticipation and quick thinking.

Man of the match was Rezaei. Ando and Nekounam where great too. The rest was ok. Mobali and Shojaei were bad, but both will start against DPR as well.