With the AC out of the way and out of reach for us once again, once again we stand where we have stood so many times before when we have the chance to think, learn from our mistakes, admit our shortcomings and plan ahead but unfortunately more often than not, we have let the occasion pass without doing any of the above mentioned!
Maybe I should not expect anything to happen this time around either and should instead lower my expectations to a very minimum, just as I did about our football around three years ago ( I had a post here in the forum about lowering our expectations after our first game against Kuwait in the first WCQ stage which ended 2-2) which helped me not to get shocked or hurt by TM results since and I can honestly say I watched my first relaxed Iran-S.Korea game ever. I had lowered my expectations to a degree that every decent result TM got this time was a bonus or an over-achievement in my book.
We are simply what we are due to many reasons, most of which are obvious to most of us and I'm not gonna try to get into that area.
What on the other hand can be changed from today is: 1- Coach 2- Players.
On the first subject, the coach, it falls somewhat under the fuzzy category of false hope and it will probably be like many times before with this IFF. Too much time is wasted without anything happening, then a lot of big names are mentioned just to cover and silence criticism and in the end either a low ranked foreign coach or someone from the usual cycle of iranian coaches (or should I call it recycle?) will be hired.
On the players subject we should see what we have and what we can bring in. Martin has made a thread in the main forum which I mostly agree with but I thought go deeper on trying to analyze with the help of F+. Players in black bolded letters are the current players and those in Red are the prospects that we should start blending in when building the future TM.
In the goal we have:
Rahmati - Undoubtedly the best we have and was his usual self at AC.
Gordan - Good GK who's almost the same age as Rahmati but not as skilled. Got 1 game, started very shaky but then had a good 2nd half.
Mirzapour - Hopefully it was his last tournament as he has no future and IMO wasted a spot.
Haghighi - Good GK that has played at all TM-levels from youth to seniors and who should have been included instead of Mirza to gain even more experience. He's only 22 and is the future.
In defence we have:
Aghili - Played better than I had expected and was one of the better players we had in AC. The negative side is his age, his ball handling abilities and his football IQ (something modern players should have a relatively high amount of, enabling them to take intelligent decisions in the fastest amount of time).
Hosseini - Pretty much the exact same qualities and disadvantages as Aghili. Keeping them both, at least as starters when building a TM for future is a big mistake IMO. We can keep one in the starting 11 for experience but we desperately need a younger fast, energetic complement who should have decent technique and football IQ to even things out in the back line and to enable us to start attacks from the back, instead of just blasting every ball away and give back possession in harder games.
Nosrati - Another aging one which shares the same technique and IQ as the above with better speed and able to play anywhere in a 4-man defense, but has concentration problems sometimes even though he's more experienced.
Bengar - Simply has no place in TM and proved it once again vs UAE. Has all the disadvantages of the former players plus some more!
Talebi - Was pretty solid in the game he played and all the Zobahan games he's played, but he's 29 unfortunately, so it wouldn't be wise to keep so many 30ish players when building a team for future.
Hajsafi - The revelation of TM in this tournament! He has finally settled and shown signs of maturity and confidence in his role. His biggest advantages for the future is his age and the ability to play in midfield too.
Heydari - Started poorly but got better. This is a tough call for me, he used to rock in IPL and is someone I always expected more of in TM, but unfortunately has had more lows than highs. Don't know what to think about him honestly.
Kaebi - This one I don't know about either. On one hand his age (if it's his real age which is questionable) combined with his experience makes him a sure candidate. On the other hand his total stop in progressing since 2005 and his deteriorating form in both clubs and country ever since (which I would like to blame on motivation) makes it unclear.
Mahini - Another player who like Haghighi has played at all TM levels and has done good in arguably the best iranian team at the moment.
Ali Asgari - Again same as Haghighi and Mahini regarding TM career and is a bright prospect who has kept progressing so far. An ability he shares with Hajsafi is his ability to play both in defence and midfiled.
Montazeri - Good, calm defender with decent technique and IQ which is something lacking among our CD's. He's 27 and at a quite fair age.
Omranzadeh - Very good and energetic in defense and is 25 which is good. The downside is his overaggressive style of play which goes back to possessing the same qualities he shares with Aghili, Hosseini and Nosrati, being excellent in the air, good at stopping the opponents physically but lacking in speed, technique and football IQ.
In midfield we have:
Teymourian - Arguably our best player at AC. Fantastic at what he does and with work ethics rarely seen in iranians. A true rolde model in all aspects plus possessing great leadership qualities. A prime candidate for team captaincy!
Nekounam - God this one can get really long! Don't know what to say about our current captain other than him failing in almost any aspect of his TM role. Unfortunately the Neku of recent 2 years has been slowly deteriorating but it became even faster in this AC where he went from bad to worse for each game he played. He failed miserably in his game but what hurts more is that he failed as the captain of the team. When things go tough players need someone to push them on the field, someone to look up to. Look how Park as S.Korean captain behaved and played making Javad look like an amateur junior player! Heck, why go far? Look how Anderanik played and compare that to Javad! Ali Daei got a lot of criticism and a lot of verbal abuse because of staying too long in TM, but even at 37, he was more of a use as the captain as poor Javad was this AC!
I'm not saying he should quit right away, but he should start thinking about it. Park Ji Sung is younger and at his peak, but had already announced this AC to be his last competition. Maybe Javad should do the same and concentrate on his club career for the last remaining years. In Sweden, Olof Melberg was the national team captain some years ago, but after losing form and having had a bad tournament in which he failed his duties, he voluntarily gave up the captaincy and asked to be removed as the captain. Not only was this a good gesture from his part, showing courage in admitting when he was not up for the task, it also took the pressure off him and helped him bounce back and pick up his game for the national team. Maybe Javad should do the same and help himself bounce back?
Pejman Nouri - Another work horse like Ando, but he's 30 and can hardly keep up the pace 4 more years. Haddadifar can do what he does and more at 27!
Haddadifar - Is in great shape and has shown his qualities all year long at club level and now recently at TM vs UAE.
Iman Mobali - Once a bright prospect, but one who never bloomed all the way. He is almost the same age as M.Nouri, they both had a game and a half at this AC and they both scored once, but that's where the similarities end. While M.Nouri still seems vibrant, is in much better shape, besides trying to speed up the game by fast passing and being good in the air, all that remains of Iman now is his dead ball abilities. Other than that he kills the speed of the game when having the ball and is easily muscled out by the opponent! Such a shame as I had much high hopes for him once.
M Nouri - After failing to deliver for quite some time, he had a good tournament when he got playing time. Specially vs UAE, he together with Haddadifar and Ando had a great combo in the midfield which displayed a flowing football rarely seen in TM. With Jabbari and Navidkia so fragile and injured and other somewhat creative midfielders lacking in our football, he's one to keep for now.
Sina Ashouri - A bright prospect who's a regular starter for Iran's best team. Someone to keep an eye on.
Bakhtiar Rahmani - One of Foolad's revelations together with Arash Afshin. Already a midfield leader for his club at the age of 19!
For the Forward line we have those who also Martin suggested:
Rezaei - Had a decent AC. His advantages are his speed and high work rate. What he lacks is unfortunately decently high football IQ which he shares with most TM players.
Khalatbari - A slightly better version of Rezaei, but hasn't got as much playing time as Rezaei and therefore has delivered much less so far.
Gholami - A fighter with good work rate. Has lost a bit of form in the recent months, but is reliable for future.
Ansarifard - A bright future prospect that still has a lot of work to do.
Shojaei - Apart from being totally out of shape and form and having a disastrous AC, he shares something else with Nekounam and that's his deteriorating form in TM starting around the same time as Javad. Maybe we have a new term called the Osasuna syndrome?
Arash Afshin - Took his chance and showed great signs for the future.
Mehrzad Madanchi - If he gets back in the form he was some years back then he can be an asset.
Mehrdad Oladi - Was surprisingly dropped for this AC, but is one of the best in his position.
Milad Meydavodi - Hopefully he can recover well from the very same injury that has made many of our TM prospects (Jabbari, Navidkia, Ravankhah, Khalili) to slowly fade away and not able to be the same player they once were. I really hope for a complete recovery and that he gets back into the same shape.
Maybe I should not expect anything to happen this time around either and should instead lower my expectations to a very minimum, just as I did about our football around three years ago ( I had a post here in the forum about lowering our expectations after our first game against Kuwait in the first WCQ stage which ended 2-2) which helped me not to get shocked or hurt by TM results since and I can honestly say I watched my first relaxed Iran-S.Korea game ever. I had lowered my expectations to a degree that every decent result TM got this time was a bonus or an over-achievement in my book.
We are simply what we are due to many reasons, most of which are obvious to most of us and I'm not gonna try to get into that area.
What on the other hand can be changed from today is: 1- Coach 2- Players.
On the first subject, the coach, it falls somewhat under the fuzzy category of false hope and it will probably be like many times before with this IFF. Too much time is wasted without anything happening, then a lot of big names are mentioned just to cover and silence criticism and in the end either a low ranked foreign coach or someone from the usual cycle of iranian coaches (or should I call it recycle?) will be hired.
On the players subject we should see what we have and what we can bring in. Martin has made a thread in the main forum which I mostly agree with but I thought go deeper on trying to analyze with the help of F+. Players in black bolded letters are the current players and those in Red are the prospects that we should start blending in when building the future TM.
In the goal we have:
Rahmati - Undoubtedly the best we have and was his usual self at AC.
Gordan - Good GK who's almost the same age as Rahmati but not as skilled. Got 1 game, started very shaky but then had a good 2nd half.
Mirzapour - Hopefully it was his last tournament as he has no future and IMO wasted a spot.
Haghighi - Good GK that has played at all TM-levels from youth to seniors and who should have been included instead of Mirza to gain even more experience. He's only 22 and is the future.
In defence we have:
Aghili - Played better than I had expected and was one of the better players we had in AC. The negative side is his age, his ball handling abilities and his football IQ (something modern players should have a relatively high amount of, enabling them to take intelligent decisions in the fastest amount of time).
Hosseini - Pretty much the exact same qualities and disadvantages as Aghili. Keeping them both, at least as starters when building a TM for future is a big mistake IMO. We can keep one in the starting 11 for experience but we desperately need a younger fast, energetic complement who should have decent technique and football IQ to even things out in the back line and to enable us to start attacks from the back, instead of just blasting every ball away and give back possession in harder games.
Nosrati - Another aging one which shares the same technique and IQ as the above with better speed and able to play anywhere in a 4-man defense, but has concentration problems sometimes even though he's more experienced.
Bengar - Simply has no place in TM and proved it once again vs UAE. Has all the disadvantages of the former players plus some more!
Talebi - Was pretty solid in the game he played and all the Zobahan games he's played, but he's 29 unfortunately, so it wouldn't be wise to keep so many 30ish players when building a team for future.
Hajsafi - The revelation of TM in this tournament! He has finally settled and shown signs of maturity and confidence in his role. His biggest advantages for the future is his age and the ability to play in midfield too.
Heydari - Started poorly but got better. This is a tough call for me, he used to rock in IPL and is someone I always expected more of in TM, but unfortunately has had more lows than highs. Don't know what to think about him honestly.
Kaebi - This one I don't know about either. On one hand his age (if it's his real age which is questionable) combined with his experience makes him a sure candidate. On the other hand his total stop in progressing since 2005 and his deteriorating form in both clubs and country ever since (which I would like to blame on motivation) makes it unclear.
Mahini - Another player who like Haghighi has played at all TM levels and has done good in arguably the best iranian team at the moment.
Ali Asgari - Again same as Haghighi and Mahini regarding TM career and is a bright prospect who has kept progressing so far. An ability he shares with Hajsafi is his ability to play both in defence and midfiled.
Montazeri - Good, calm defender with decent technique and IQ which is something lacking among our CD's. He's 27 and at a quite fair age.
Omranzadeh - Very good and energetic in defense and is 25 which is good. The downside is his overaggressive style of play which goes back to possessing the same qualities he shares with Aghili, Hosseini and Nosrati, being excellent in the air, good at stopping the opponents physically but lacking in speed, technique and football IQ.
In midfield we have:
Teymourian - Arguably our best player at AC. Fantastic at what he does and with work ethics rarely seen in iranians. A true rolde model in all aspects plus possessing great leadership qualities. A prime candidate for team captaincy!
Nekounam - God this one can get really long! Don't know what to say about our current captain other than him failing in almost any aspect of his TM role. Unfortunately the Neku of recent 2 years has been slowly deteriorating but it became even faster in this AC where he went from bad to worse for each game he played. He failed miserably in his game but what hurts more is that he failed as the captain of the team. When things go tough players need someone to push them on the field, someone to look up to. Look how Park as S.Korean captain behaved and played making Javad look like an amateur junior player! Heck, why go far? Look how Anderanik played and compare that to Javad! Ali Daei got a lot of criticism and a lot of verbal abuse because of staying too long in TM, but even at 37, he was more of a use as the captain as poor Javad was this AC!
I'm not saying he should quit right away, but he should start thinking about it. Park Ji Sung is younger and at his peak, but had already announced this AC to be his last competition. Maybe Javad should do the same and concentrate on his club career for the last remaining years. In Sweden, Olof Melberg was the national team captain some years ago, but after losing form and having had a bad tournament in which he failed his duties, he voluntarily gave up the captaincy and asked to be removed as the captain. Not only was this a good gesture from his part, showing courage in admitting when he was not up for the task, it also took the pressure off him and helped him bounce back and pick up his game for the national team. Maybe Javad should do the same and help himself bounce back?
Pejman Nouri - Another work horse like Ando, but he's 30 and can hardly keep up the pace 4 more years. Haddadifar can do what he does and more at 27!
Haddadifar - Is in great shape and has shown his qualities all year long at club level and now recently at TM vs UAE.
Iman Mobali - Once a bright prospect, but one who never bloomed all the way. He is almost the same age as M.Nouri, they both had a game and a half at this AC and they both scored once, but that's where the similarities end. While M.Nouri still seems vibrant, is in much better shape, besides trying to speed up the game by fast passing and being good in the air, all that remains of Iman now is his dead ball abilities. Other than that he kills the speed of the game when having the ball and is easily muscled out by the opponent! Such a shame as I had much high hopes for him once.
M Nouri - After failing to deliver for quite some time, he had a good tournament when he got playing time. Specially vs UAE, he together with Haddadifar and Ando had a great combo in the midfield which displayed a flowing football rarely seen in TM. With Jabbari and Navidkia so fragile and injured and other somewhat creative midfielders lacking in our football, he's one to keep for now.
Sina Ashouri - A bright prospect who's a regular starter for Iran's best team. Someone to keep an eye on.
Bakhtiar Rahmani - One of Foolad's revelations together with Arash Afshin. Already a midfield leader for his club at the age of 19!
For the Forward line we have those who also Martin suggested:
Rezaei - Had a decent AC. His advantages are his speed and high work rate. What he lacks is unfortunately decently high football IQ which he shares with most TM players.
Khalatbari - A slightly better version of Rezaei, but hasn't got as much playing time as Rezaei and therefore has delivered much less so far.
Gholami - A fighter with good work rate. Has lost a bit of form in the recent months, but is reliable for future.
Ansarifard - A bright future prospect that still has a lot of work to do.
Shojaei - Apart from being totally out of shape and form and having a disastrous AC, he shares something else with Nekounam and that's his deteriorating form in TM starting around the same time as Javad. Maybe we have a new term called the Osasuna syndrome?
Arash Afshin - Took his chance and showed great signs for the future.
Mehrzad Madanchi - If he gets back in the form he was some years back then he can be an asset.
Mehrdad Oladi - Was surprisingly dropped for this AC, but is one of the best in his position.
Milad Meydavodi - Hopefully he can recover well from the very same injury that has made many of our TM prospects (Jabbari, Navidkia, Ravankhah, Khalili) to slowly fade away and not able to be the same player they once were. I really hope for a complete recovery and that he gets back into the same shape.
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