Ghotbi wants to face ...?

[maij]

In todays post Korea DPR Press conference.. Ghotbi answering a question by a reporter on which teams he wishes to meet at the next round , he said I am sure you all like to play India in the next round ! of course he was sarcastic and pretty much fed up from some of the routine questions. However , he did say that he has lots of respect for the Indian team and wishes them success.

Ghotbi is very well spoken and hardly struggles or stumbles in answering any question. He is quite confident and although doiplomatic in some of the answers , he seems to have no fear in spelling it out.

My question to him" In the recent matches , you seem to pack the midfield with defensive midfiled players , Mobali being the exception. What is your take on that? is it your preference to play defensive football or is it because of lack of offesnive midfiledres in the Iranian league? Do you prefer a defensive style.?"


GHOTBI'S response in brief " I personally like an attacking style. Any good who has aspiration to win championship needs to have a solid defense, though. I belive that without good defensive team , it is difficult to go through a tournament and achieve success. I also beleive that a good coach should plan his game according to the capabailties of his players. "

So , to sum it up. It is half of this and half of thjat. It seems that Ghotbi likes to watch attacking football but when he is the coach of a team , he prefers to play a solid defense and beives that all players should be able to defend well. But he also says that he is playing with whatever qualities of players he has at his dispsals or in another word , there are NOT to many talented offesnive midfield player available to him.

[Hajagha]

I am watching S. Korea vs Australia now. Just one advice, get out of Korean way. They are in shape to win the whole tournament with ease.

Cheers,

[zzgloo]

In todays post Korea DPR Press conference.. Ghotbi answering a question by a reporter on which teams he wishes to meet at the next round , he said I am sure you all like to play India in the next round ! of course he was sarcastic and pretty much fed up from some of the routine questions. However , he did say that he has lots of respect for the Indian team and wishes them success.

Ghotbi is very well spoken and hardly struggles or stumbles in answering any question. He is quite confident and although doiplomatic in some of the answers , he seems to have no fear in spelling it out.

My question to him" In the recent matches , you seem to pack the midfield with defensive midfiled players , Mobali being the exception. What is your take on that? is it your preference to play defensive football or is it because of lack of offesnive midfiledres in the Iranian league? Do you prefer a defensive style.?"


GHOTBI'S response in brief " I personally like an attacking style. Any good who has aspiration to win championship needs to have a solid defense, though. I belive that without good defensive team , it is difficult to go through a tournament and achieve success. I also beleive that a good coach should plan his game according to the capabailties of his players. "

So , to sum it up. It is half of this and half of thjat. It seems that Ghotbi likes to watch attacking football but when he is the coach of a team , he prefers to play a solid defense and beives that all players should be able to defend well. But he also says that he is playing with whatever qualities of players he has at his dispsals or in another word , there are NOT to many talented offesnive midfield player available to him.

majid jaan.....I did not know, you were among the reporters..and attend media conferences.....

You are so right...about Ghotbi's abilities in media conferences.....he has learned that from his American culture back ground....in which, one stays humble and respectful ( at least pretend to ) of others......

[Ali Chicago]

I am watching S. Korea vs Australia now. Just one advice, get out of Korean way. They are in shape to win the whole tournament with ease.
Cheers,

Haji;

I didn't see the game, but it seems (based on the stats) Korea was the better team. I was looking at the game stats for the Korea Australia game, Korea team ran 109KM collectively. Our team against Iraq ran 105. I looked at the stats for Korean players (2 midfielders ran 11.28 adn 11.28 and their ave speed of 7.6/7.7). Comparing that to our team stats agaisnt Iraq, our team keeps up as far as running, ave speed. This post by no means is to undermine strength of Korea but to give credit to TM playes and coaching staff that worked hard to keep the condiitoning and motivation very hight. In retrospect now I understand why Ghotbi didn't include Ali Karimi and Farhad Majidi. He wants people to be in the team that work super hard. This team has it.

In summary, I think our team from physical stamina, ave speed, and pressing match up very closely agaisnt Koreans.

[maij]

majid jaan.....I did not know, you were among the reporters..and attend media conferences.....

You are so right...about Ghotbi's abilities in media conferences.....he has learned that from his American culture back ground....in which, one stays humble and respectful ( at least pretend to ) of others......

Yes , I am , Bahram jan. In fact this is the 3rd Asian Cup that I attend as a reporter. Apart from football , I really enjoy the re-union with my friends in the media particularly American - Iranians and the Iranians. They are a great bunch and lots of fun. The days are hectic as we start from the morning and end up in the hotel around midnight ....


I also met an old friend from PFDC at last. He goes by the name "insider" , an American Iranian who works for AFC now. I am sure many old timers here remember him. Nice guy.

I watched Ghotbi leading the practice session today . It is quite difficult to make any firm conclusion or form any opinion in such a short time (Media are only allowed to attend the session for 15 minutes only before they are ushered out of training ground) but what encouraged me about Ghotbi was his mastery in speech and his persuasion skills I just hope that this is reflected on the players during the match.

I think it is going to be a touch match against North Korea tomorrow. Their defenses are built like stainless steel , very difficult to penetrate specially the way Team Melli plays. It actually could turn out to be a dull game if both teams insist on their conservative defense enforcement strategies. Hopefully and for the fans sake , I hope that both teams take a few risks,

[Ali Chicago]

Yes , I am , Bahram jan. In fact this is the 3rd Asian Cup that I attend as a reporter. Apart from football , I really enjoy the re-union with my friends in the media particularly American - Iranians and the Iranians. They are a great bunch and lots of fun. The days are hectic as we start from the morning and end up in the hotel around midnight ....


I also met an old friend from PFDC at last. He goes by the name "insider" , an American Iranian who works for AFC now. I am sure many old timers here remember him. Nice guy.

I watched Ghotbi leading the practice session today . It is quite difficult to make any firm conclusion or form any opinion in such a short time (Media are only allowed to attend the session for 15 minutes only before they are ushered out of training ground) but what encouraged me about Ghotbi was his mastery in speech and his [/FONT] persuasion skills I just hope that this is reflected on the players during the match.

I think it is going to be a touch match against North Korea tomorrow. Their defenses are built like stainless steel , very difficult to penetrate specially the way Team Melli plays. It actually could turn out to be a dull game if both teams insist on their conservative defense enforcement strategies. Hopefully and for the fans sake , I hope that both teams take a few risks,

Thanks for sharing your observations. Agha Majid, I can't share the pessimisem you mentioned in this post about our offensive abilities. It is true that we play with two defensive mids, but both Nekoo and Ando at least in the Iraq game were adding up very well to offense. Top of my head I remember Ando's pass to Rezaie for the goal, and Nekoo mishit the shot on a pass back to Gholami I think. Add to this the set pieces threat we have, speed on the wings by Rezaie and Khalatbari and dribbling power of Shojaie. It is like 4 different style of offense. TM at least in Iraq game plays very compact, our midfield (kudos to their amazing amount of running), adds up ver well as the second wave of attack (in Asian standards of course), see how many balls we won back in the Iraq's offensive third, when Rezaie or Shojaie lost the ball.

For some reason, I think Iran will do very well against N. Korea. It is a must win game for N. Korea, whereas it isn't a life or death for us, so less pressure on us. Maybe I am really naive. Time will show.

[Hajagha]

Say Hi to Insider please for me and tell him "khoneh Kamran beh kheir".

Majid jan, Korea played like Barca/Spain today. The result doesn't reflect the match. This Korean team is by far the best team of the tournament and maybe the best Korean team ever even better than the World Cup 2002.

They are very technical, strong and fit. It's not easy to get the ball back from them.

On the other hand, Ausies are aged and couldn't coup after minute 70. Besides their center D are slow and lack of confidence in regard of ball handeling.

It's much easier to handle Ausies than Korean. Saying that, I don't give much chances to Iranian team against either of them.

Enjoy the moment,

Cheers,

[maij]

Ali Jan....I am not pessimistic about Iran's defensive midfileders. I was merely explaining the status. I am in the school of "Do-what-you-can-to-win" , so playing even with 6 defensive midfielders does not bother me a bit as long as we win. Where 5 or 6 defensive midfielders is a farce is when you play the likes of Thailand and Singapore , now that is an entirely different story that I shall not go into details at this time.

Like Ghotbi , I also like offensive teams ( helll , virtually every fan on earth likes an offensive team) but that is not necessarily the only means of winning.

Of course , the entertainment value suffers quite a bit and many fans would not like it....but , what is the priority?

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Reza Jan... I will surely convey your regards to the Insider. Unfortunately both of us have a full schedule that makes it difficult for us to meet for dinner or something. I am flying home after the Korea game to take care of some business before flying back to Doha in time for the UAE match. Hope I get a chance to properly chat with him then.

[Martin-Reza]

AFC picked up the reply to your question and made it the major topic of their prematch report: http://www.persianfootball.com/live/...ews&Itemid=175

[persian-eagle-13]

hopefully all goes well

[Ali Chicago]

Ali Jan....I am not pessimistic about Iran's defensive midfileders. I was merely explaining the status. I am in the school of "Do-what-you-can-to-win" , so playing even with 6 defensive midfielders does not bother me a bit as long as we win. Where 5 or 6 defensive midfielders is a farce is when you play the likes of Thailand and Singapore , now that is an entirely different story that I shall not go into details at this time.

Like Ghotbi , I also like offensive teams ( helll , virtually every fan on earth likes an offensive team) but that is not necessarily the only means of winning.

Of course , the entertainment value suffers quite a bit and many fans would not like it....but , what is the priority?

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....

I said pessimisem about the offensive abilities. My point was despite playing with Nekoo and Ando, both of these guys participate in offese well (at least they did in Iraq game). Not being picky, just clarifying. I wish, you would have been able to talk in a more private environment with coaching staff in a less formal way, to get a better feel for their approach to the game and share it with us.

[Doctor DOOM]

finding the weak spots and countering the aussies is less of a hassle and comparatively more do-able than doing the same against the koreans.

the aussies dont have much in their armory. basically it is a very simple football tinged with wide play and crosses for their tall headers. and in the midfield, a lot of physical play.

they are hardly skillful with the ball and their tactics are quite rudimentary and basic (and yet effective).

so devising ways to counter them , as long as you have the physical players to head off their challenges, shd be possible.


koreans, on the other hand play a much more skillful, tactical and technical game. and their speed makes all that even tougher.
to this, you add their traditional strength of wide plays ... then you have a potent combination.

it's not as if it's impossible to counter them. aussies did it with brutal force and hard work. but it takes some doing.

to us an example to really put the scare into those who agree with ghotbi, just imagine how hajsafi deals with Cha Do Ree's attacks down our left flank!!!
that's enough to give one nightmares.

or the age-old problem of nekounam not retracting and marking central runners (usually park ... as seen in our last WCQ's game).



so I really dont know why ghotbi's saying this coz there's no evidence that supports this claim at all.
much like his baseless claim of "knowing skorea like the back of his hand" ... and still allowed acres of space on both flanks for them to attack, didnt put a marker for park (who eventually scored and eliminated us from the WC), and .... etc etc etc.

this claim could be just in line with other "khali bandi"s and "laaf"s ... solely based on his past relationship with skorea. (and it would look pretty stupid to suddenly say "oh, I dont know much about skorea's game and shd observe them or find out what works or what doesnt"!!!

[Ali Chicago]

I think at present for us it will be more dangerous to play Aussies compared to South Korea. The reason is weak defensive heading by Aghili and Hosseini. One thing I noticed for some reason despite having two tall central defenders, neither Hosseini or Aghili rule the air in front of our goals. They do a good job for offensive heading (corners and free kicks), but not defending as well in corners and free kicks against us. For old timers please remember when Rezaie was on his top form (game against S. Ireland in Dublin for example), that is the level I expect from Aghili and Hosseini.

Goal by Iraq for example, the ball went to the far side from a cross. Even on few threats Iraqis created against us, it was two instance on crosses. One who Nosrati barely cleared the ball and the other one, Rahmati in a funny way batted the ball out.

[Paradigm]

I am watching S. Korea vs Australia now. Just one advice, get out of Korean way. They are in shape to win the whole tournament with ease.
Cheers,

Hajagha, we can't control it well, it all comes down to the last matches which are played simultaneously. Buttom line is, if Iran wants to be the champs it must be able to beat teams like SKorea, Australia, and Japan at some stage of the tournament. We beat them on their own turf back in September of this year so it is not out of reach. If anything, we have to revenge the AC '07 elimination. We tend to beat them every other quarter final and this is our turn to win, so they should be the ones getting out of our way. But here is my thought: Let's just think this is an Asian footsal tournament and plan to go all the way like those footsal guys almost always do.

[maij]

3 players out due to flu

Ando, Masoud and Rezaei are out with a flu bug and will be doubtfull for the Korea match.
Ansarifard will start in the attack.