I started to write and the first thing that I put down was to prescribe ‘vaseline’. But then decided aganst such things. I refuse to gloat over ppl who think too small as it is no achievement to prove small ppl wrong.
Then I wanted to exclaim how our infrastructure and football facilities have improved by 1000% since the asia cup (2 weeks back)!!!
…. but I thought maybe some ppl wont even understand that.
Then tried to paint the game if ghodbi was in charge and how different it would have been. And decided it’s a waste of time.
But I have a few comments to make;
1- Thank God Mansourian had the balls and spine to field a balanced side (as compared to the frightened mouse-like one of 2 weeks back). I am sure there must have been other small people who must have told him to keep it tight and heavy at the back, don’t dare attack the world’s 12th ranked team with shitload of legionnaires, and basically park the bus in front of the goal because by their “small” calculations we could concede 4-5 goals or 8 goals (like ksa) even.
Yes, there are small ppl everywhere.
But thank God he didn’t lack the balls (bebin che bad bakht shodim ke if the coach fields a “balanced” side, we attribute it to balls!!!! It’s just sad ) and put the right kind of players who could defend AS WELL AS ATTACK.
And as is the nature of the game, those who dare are usually rewarded for their daring. That’s why I used to say “Unless we try, we’ll never know what could have happened”. The difference is ghtbi didn’t have the spine to even try, but Mansourian did. Irrespective of the scoreline.
2- Let me say this showed the difference between using a person who has hardly played competitive football and using a person who was a proper player with years of experience in competitive football. (this is not a 100% law, but a large majority of cases prove it)
The difference was underlined today also.
3- I am happy to see the show of force by our team with the help of its offensive players (nouri, hadadifard, gholami, khalatbari, heidari, even ando) to go at the russians (despite the disparity in ranking and reputation) this way we didn’t allow too much time and space to the opponents defenders to freely and easily join their team’s attacks and compound the pressure on us (exactly what happened vs. korea by our Mr. “kaf-e dast”).
This was a very good strategy to hold back at least 3 russians. And our defense’s work was done easier by 3 players less to deal with.
4- The ONE thing I can attribute to ghtbi (I’m not as blind as some ppl) is the pressing game. The team pressed well, especially in midfield and I guess Russians didn’t expect to get such an irreverent (I say “fearless”) treatment from our lads. I’m happy to say our lads won quite a lot of balls in the middle of the park that “on paper” and by “fifa ranking numbers” had no business to even dream about. Good move by Mansourian again.
5- Again our defense showed some frailties as they allowed some really dangerous chances to the Russians including a couple of 1 on 1’s (I missed the first 8 minutes of second half. So I don’t know what happened then). But by the same token, they had some positive moments where either hosseini or aghili , heidari came to save our arses. So given the strength of the opponent players I say they did acceptably.
Although there were a couple of moments that any coach would pull his hair for: hajsafi dribbling in our 18? Aghili passing right next to 2 russians inside the 18? These are silly mistakes that must be remedied.
6- By second half, the more the game wore on the better we played and at times, we had the Russians pinned in their half. Now, this is the difference when you play a couple of CREATIVE midfielders in the team, who can play the ball and pass around and apply pressure offensively.
7- If you ask me I’d say if our lads were more experienced & exposed, we could have done even better. This proves we DO have the potential and resources and the talent. The problem is HOW we use these resources and talent. If we don’t have a capable person at the helm, we misuse and waste all this talent.
Case in point is how khalatbari wasted his chance to score in the 1st half. Perhaps a chip over the keeper’s head would have done the job.
8- Hadadifard was great for most parts of the game. He even tracked back along with his mark , deep into our 18 and with his timely tackle saved a 100% chance (prevented a 1-on-1 with rahmati). This is exactly what nekounam has been failing to do for years now. This was mentioned time and again in many game threads too. Thankfully hadadifard is more diligent and intelligent to know he SHOULD stick to his mark. His passing and feeds were also far better than the likes of players we usually used under that little man as coach.
This game would have been a great showcase of his talents, however he did have a couple of moments where he hung on to the ball for a bit too long and was either dispossessed or was put under pressure unnecessarily. So something to work on.
9- By minutes 70-75 our left wing was almost out of gas and maybe mahini could have come in for the tired legs of hajsafi to bring in some life to the left.
10- Khalatbari’s second yellow was completely avoidable. The ref could have held back. Come on, it’s not everyday that these players score game winning goals against huge European teams. relax mate.
But what a marvelous goal. and this by no means from the opponents’ mistake (another difference some ppl have to admit), but from our own CREATIVITY in the midfield. The creativity that was severely missing under that little man.
This shd be proof enough that with a balanced team we could achieve a lot. If we don’t behave like little frightened mice and if we stop thinking small. May this be an eye opener to all those who think small that bigger things ARE indeed possible … as long as we TRY.
Yes, sometimes we may fail. Sometimes we may not get it. But at least we can stand erect and proud. Not cowered like little midgets who are scared of everything in life.
And sometimes we may be rewarded. And the rewards are what we shd be after.
Stats near the end show the number of attempted shots for Russia as 30 and for Iran as 27. That’s what you’ll get from a balanced team.
late edit: just to clarify (before some ppl misunderstanding) this does not mean I say we are better than russia or we can easily beat them or we have a great chance at beating them every time we meet or ... or anything along that line.
this only shows we dont know what our potential is until we actually TEST it, until we try.
by sitting in a corner of the room, cowering out of fear we'll never know what we are capable of. and shd we lose to the likes of russia ... well, lets at least lose like proud men ... not like scared little mice
----------
Question for majid jan: did you attend the game? And if yes, were you wearing a red short sleeves T-shirt? I thought I saw someone like you in the crowd. Was that you?
Then I wanted to exclaim how our infrastructure and football facilities have improved by 1000% since the asia cup (2 weeks back)!!!
…. but I thought maybe some ppl wont even understand that. Then tried to paint the game if ghodbi was in charge and how different it would have been. And decided it’s a waste of time.
But I have a few comments to make;
1- Thank God Mansourian had the balls and spine to field a balanced side (as compared to the frightened mouse-like one of 2 weeks back). I am sure there must have been other small people who must have told him to keep it tight and heavy at the back, don’t dare attack the world’s 12th ranked team with shitload of legionnaires, and basically park the bus in front of the goal because by their “small” calculations we could concede 4-5 goals or 8 goals (like ksa) even.
Yes, there are small ppl everywhere.
But thank God he didn’t lack the balls (bebin che bad bakht shodim ke if the coach fields a “balanced” side, we attribute it to balls!!!! It’s just sad ) and put the right kind of players who could defend AS WELL AS ATTACK.
And as is the nature of the game, those who dare are usually rewarded for their daring. That’s why I used to say “Unless we try, we’ll never know what could have happened”. The difference is ghtbi didn’t have the spine to even try, but Mansourian did. Irrespective of the scoreline.
2- Let me say this showed the difference between using a person who has hardly played competitive football and using a person who was a proper player with years of experience in competitive football. (this is not a 100% law, but a large majority of cases prove it)
The difference was underlined today also.
3- I am happy to see the show of force by our team with the help of its offensive players (nouri, hadadifard, gholami, khalatbari, heidari, even ando) to go at the russians (despite the disparity in ranking and reputation) this way we didn’t allow too much time and space to the opponents defenders to freely and easily join their team’s attacks and compound the pressure on us (exactly what happened vs. korea by our Mr. “kaf-e dast”).
This was a very good strategy to hold back at least 3 russians. And our defense’s work was done easier by 3 players less to deal with.
4- The ONE thing I can attribute to ghtbi (I’m not as blind as some ppl) is the pressing game. The team pressed well, especially in midfield and I guess Russians didn’t expect to get such an irreverent (I say “fearless”) treatment from our lads. I’m happy to say our lads won quite a lot of balls in the middle of the park that “on paper” and by “fifa ranking numbers” had no business to even dream about. Good move by Mansourian again.
5- Again our defense showed some frailties as they allowed some really dangerous chances to the Russians including a couple of 1 on 1’s (I missed the first 8 minutes of second half. So I don’t know what happened then). But by the same token, they had some positive moments where either hosseini or aghili , heidari came to save our arses. So given the strength of the opponent players I say they did acceptably.
Although there were a couple of moments that any coach would pull his hair for: hajsafi dribbling in our 18? Aghili passing right next to 2 russians inside the 18? These are silly mistakes that must be remedied.
6- By second half, the more the game wore on the better we played and at times, we had the Russians pinned in their half. Now, this is the difference when you play a couple of CREATIVE midfielders in the team, who can play the ball and pass around and apply pressure offensively.
7- If you ask me I’d say if our lads were more experienced & exposed, we could have done even better. This proves we DO have the potential and resources and the talent. The problem is HOW we use these resources and talent. If we don’t have a capable person at the helm, we misuse and waste all this talent.
Case in point is how khalatbari wasted his chance to score in the 1st half. Perhaps a chip over the keeper’s head would have done the job.
8- Hadadifard was great for most parts of the game. He even tracked back along with his mark , deep into our 18 and with his timely tackle saved a 100% chance (prevented a 1-on-1 with rahmati). This is exactly what nekounam has been failing to do for years now. This was mentioned time and again in many game threads too. Thankfully hadadifard is more diligent and intelligent to know he SHOULD stick to his mark. His passing and feeds were also far better than the likes of players we usually used under that little man as coach.
This game would have been a great showcase of his talents, however he did have a couple of moments where he hung on to the ball for a bit too long and was either dispossessed or was put under pressure unnecessarily. So something to work on.
9- By minutes 70-75 our left wing was almost out of gas and maybe mahini could have come in for the tired legs of hajsafi to bring in some life to the left.
10- Khalatbari’s second yellow was completely avoidable. The ref could have held back. Come on, it’s not everyday that these players score game winning goals against huge European teams. relax mate.
But what a marvelous goal. and this by no means from the opponents’ mistake (another difference some ppl have to admit), but from our own CREATIVITY in the midfield. The creativity that was severely missing under that little man.
This shd be proof enough that with a balanced team we could achieve a lot. If we don’t behave like little frightened mice and if we stop thinking small. May this be an eye opener to all those who think small that bigger things ARE indeed possible … as long as we TRY.
Yes, sometimes we may fail. Sometimes we may not get it. But at least we can stand erect and proud. Not cowered like little midgets who are scared of everything in life.
And sometimes we may be rewarded. And the rewards are what we shd be after.
Stats near the end show the number of attempted shots for Russia as 30 and for Iran as 27. That’s what you’ll get from a balanced team.
late edit: just to clarify (before some ppl misunderstanding) this does not mean I say we are better than russia or we can easily beat them or we have a great chance at beating them every time we meet or ... or anything along that line.
this only shows we dont know what our potential is until we actually TEST it, until we try.
by sitting in a corner of the room, cowering out of fear we'll never know what we are capable of. and shd we lose to the likes of russia ... well, lets at least lose like proud men ... not like scared little mice
----------
Question for majid jan: did you attend the game? And if yes, were you wearing a red short sleeves T-shirt? I thought I saw someone like you in the crowd. Was that you?
Comment