Doha Memoir

[maij]

Ghotbi is going for a gamble against Korea with Rezaei and khalatbary both playing to support Ansarifard in the forward line.

[maij]

Thanks,for all your hard workks Majid jaan.....

Here are some questions,that might interest you or him !

1- Is he willing,and contractualy able,to stay with TM,if asked by IFF ?

2- Who is his top 3 faivorit young prospects , of TM ?

3- IRAN is playing the best football among ,the Asian teams who are not Strong Economicaly /poleticaly Stable countries....can they ever pass this stage,without poletical economic improvements ?

Bahram Jan ,,, I asked Ghotbi after the Korea Match , a slightly amended version of your question for a potential return to management in Iran somewhere down the line, Here is what he said

[Doctor DOOM]

I certainly wouldnt qualify all 4 TM games as "best football in asia cup".

even if we leave out the latest disaster, among the first 3 games, the first was a decent game , the second was absolutely dysmal and ONLY in the third game (where the coach wasnt scared like a little cornered mouse) did we play good quality football on par with the likes of japan.

at the moment, the best football is being played by JAPAN (yes, even when they narrowly escaped defeat against syria)

[maij]

I have returned back home from Doha today after witnessing the elimination of team Melli in the quarter finals vs. South Korea .
My flight departure coincided around the same time with Team Melli's squad (without Ghotbi) flight to Tehran.

All the boyz were in the airport. Shojaei's arm was in a sling and looked bad. I asked him if it was broken but he said that it is only a torn muscle. He really looked jaded, though. The rest of the lads did not look so bad. Most were busy browsing the duty free shop.

The majority of the Iranian media has left Doha with only a few who remained until the finals.

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

My impression about the match against the Koreans was that it was simply a momentarily poor defensive error (how many times we have said that in the past ????) which lead to the goal and the opposition winning this match.
I never thought that the Koreans in any stage were superior to our boyz despite their plethora of European or foreign based players. The first half was not brilliant but even then the margin between the two teams was tight.

I said before the match that Ghotbi took a gamble in playing both Rezaei and khalatbari in support of the lone striker Karim Ansarifard. The former was one of the best players for the team while the latter was a huge disappointment. It was a good gamble to take although it did not work but at least it showed that Ghotbi , at least , took....a gamble.



I asked Ghotbi , what in his opinion is lacking in Iran's football that prevents it from winning major trophy such as this for over three decades. He said that my question is philosophical ( II Hmmmm )) perhaps he meant , controversial and not politically correct ..it certainly was not philosophical.


Anyway ., his response was that other nations like Japan and Korea progressed due to facilities and having players playing in European league. He continued to say that non of the West Asian teams had made it to the semi at which . I reminded that Uzbekistan has made it , but interestingly enough , Ghotbi does not think that Uzbekistan is located in West Asia !!!!! Anyway ....
Ghotbi focused on the abilities of the other nations while he refrained from talking about Iran's shortcoming..... basically , he dodged

[Hajagha]

Thanks Majid jan for wonderful report.

Cheers,

[maij]

Thanks Majid jan for wonderful report.

Cheers,

Mokhlis Reza Agha.

[zzgloo]

Majid jaan..thanks ...for helping us to see things from within !!
Korean Coach seem to agree with you,based on his after the match interview....as he showed His frustration againt Iranian defense.....,and saw only thier midfield players as the difference makers...where Nekonam was playing........
Also, jallali, the Foolad coach, asserted that ,TM left side,specialy after coming of shojaee was the TM's weak point,which was where TM recieved the Goal eventualy.....
.................................................. ........
It seems,from Iranian media, and interviews with different coaches, No one is blaming Qotbi for the Loss, which is very different from usual bashing of the coach we always get....
.................................................. .......

PS.,
Geographicaly/and poleticaly speaking...Uzbakistan belongs to central Asia.
..................................................
Once again, Thanks for the job well done...and looking forward to read your final analysis of the whole tournement.

[Ali Chicago]

Agha majid;

Thanks for the report. Totally agree about Javad Nekoonam and Shojaie. In tournaments you need big players play like Superstars and other players feed off them. In this tournament, only Ando and funny to say Arash Afshin were two players who seemed like other players can feed off their energy and hunger.

Java and Masoud not only didn't come big, but they performed even below average. This doesn't mean they didnt' try by any means. To defense of Java and Masoud, they were good players but never superstars.

I hope from this tournament at least we get rise of the stars like Arash Afshin, Karim Ansarifard and establishement of Ghasem Hadadifar in midfield and Farshid Talebi in center midfield, Khosro Haydari as starters.

[maij]

Bahram Jan... you are welcome , I am glad you enjoyed reading my notes.
As for blaming Ghotbi , it seems that many Iranian coaches are blaming him for such defeat. One of them even said " Any other coach apart from Ghotbi , would have win the cup for Iran" ...!!!! To me that is trash talk , nothing but trash.

Yes..Ghotbi was hardly the perfect candidate for Team Melli's job. His CV and background was, in my opinion , short of inspiration , aspiration and capability added to that was the unscrupulous means of his appointment. But Ghotbi was certainly NOT the only Team Melli coach who has got the job under dodgy circumstances in the last few years. His predecessors were not much better positioned/qualified either.
That put aside, I personally believe that Ghotbi overcame even himself and exceeded expectation by getting a perfect record in the group stage and losing in the quarter finals in the extra time. It is by no means a disgrace nor is it a disaster. I doubt that anyone of those trash talkers in Iran would have done any better.

[maij]

[Ali Chicago]

In professional sport in US at least, in NBA, NHL, NFL, MLB one of the criteria they use to determine player's contract value is whether the guy is so called "CLUTH player" or not. A clutch player is the one who over acheive in a crucial games Micheal Jordan was a clutch player, so is Kobi. In Kockey Detroit Red Wings had a player called Sergi Federov, the man was an amazing hocky player and he even became Red Wings Capitan, but he wasn't outperforming during the key games even during the supermacy years of the Red Wings in Hocky. Now it is the story of Nekoo and Masoud.

[Keano]

Dear Maij, many thanks for your wonderful reports and updates. Enjoyed reading every bit of it. BTW I believe Uzbekistan is a Central Asian country, not West Asian!

[maij]

Dear Maij, many thanks for your wonderful reports and updates. Enjoyed reading every bit of it. BTW I believe Uzbekistan is a Central Asian country, not West Asian!

You are most welcome. I am glad you enjoyed it.

When Ghotbi was talking about the subject , he was not concerned with geography or politics,he was referring to regions east and west and culture.
Uzbek , Kyrgyzstan , Tajikistan were are part of West Asian Football Federation on its formation.

[maij]

Why is Khiabani so hated??

I said in an earlier post that I was surprised by the anti-Khiabani sentiment in Doha amongst the Iranian media. As I have known Javad for some time now and he has helped me quite a bit by providing information about Iran's football , I was determined to know why is he unpopular?

The first journalist I asked ( he works for TV station) said that Khiabani by his comments that glorifies official Iranians , in particular the government personnel like Aliabadi & Ahmadinejad and a load of others , is doing a disservice to the football in Iran. He is supporting the very people that are ruining Iran's football.

The next journalist thinks Khibani in nothing but a "Khaye mal" (!) He did not wish to elaborate except repeating the same word.

Another one thinks that he is not very truthful in his reporting and paints the wrong picture of a match or an event. He also said that he is a staunch supporter of the regime and will never says anything to upset his bosses. He is completely different to Adel Ferdowsipour.

The last one , an influential editor, dismissed him as a serious media personality without much explanation. However , a few days later , I noticed that the same editor writing something negative about Khiabani in his editorial after losing to Korea.



I don't really know if this sample is a true representative of Javad Khibani or just a simply a few who do not like him , in any case it was quite interesting and a bit disturbing to hear.

[zzgloo]

I said in an earlier post that I was surprised by the anti-Khiabani sentiment in Doha amongst the Iranian media. As I have known Javad for some time now and he has helped me quite a bit by providing information about Iran's football , I was determined to know why is he unpopular?

The first journalist I asked ( he works for TV station) said that Khiabani by his comments that glorifies official Iranians , in particular the government personnel like Aliabadi & Ahmadinejad and a load of others , is doing a disservice to the football in Iran. He is supporting the very people that are ruining Iran's football.

The next journalist thinks Khibani in nothing but a "Khaye mal" (!) He did not wish to elaborate except repeating the same word.

Another one thinks that he is not very truthful in his reporting and paints the wrong picture of a match or an event. He also said that he is a staunch supporter of the regime and will never says anything to upset his bosses. He is completely different to Adel Ferdowsipour.

The last one , an influential editor, dismissed him as a serious media personality without much explanation. However , a few days later , I noticed that the same editor writing something negative about Khiabani in his editorial after losing to Korea.



I don't really know if this sample is a true representative of Javad Khibani or just a simply a few who do not like him , in any case it was quite interesting and a bit disturbing to hear.

I have a theory about your friend , khiabani ,....
When ever , I go to IRAN,I try to stay away from poletical discussions,as I trust no one.......
Deep in my mind, I know I hate the system, and I know I am at a shaky ground compare to the locals, and at any moment my future could be in trouble !!........
I some how, felt how Ghotbi must have felt when he attended a meeting with Ahmadinejad,and tried to stay away from poletics.....
It is possible, Khiabaani,who is so open minded and has developed a friendship with some one like you,out side IRAN, has more poletical insecurities,like Me,or Ghotbi....and watches what he says more than most other local media.