Iran's squad in Waff; Affarin Doctor Doom, else.

[Mansoor]

- First and most, I want to give DD A+ for his support of Omid Ebrahimi. THIS is the type of player we are missing in midfield. A RUNNER, hard labor, great vision, and dangerous. I can't believe Carlos has been missing out on this guy.

I have seen him play in IPL, but I don't use IPL as the point of reference in international level. But as DD had said many times, he is head and should above all the available options we have and should replace anybody or everybody out there!!!

- Finally, I saw Hajsafi where I thought is his natural position, central midfield. Just like many of our young talents such as Aliasgari, an idiot coach takes him to defense and makes him left back and other sheep follow! He should transit to that position and tested a few more times to find his natural position.

- Please do not give Perspolis any credit for Khanzadeh's invitation. Red and Blue clubs have proven recently that they have no respect for power of youth and energy and do nothing but keep them in "practice session" junk-yard! Khanzadeh as well as Kanani and Aliasgari are three of such examples under an "old"-fashioned coach being wasted this year.

Khanzadeh was invited because of his performance in U22 under Mansourian and not because he played two last games for Perspolis. If you look at original list of 30-40 players for WAFF that was announced more than a month ago, he was there as well but yet to play any meaningful minutes for Perspolis. He is there because of Mansourian's recommendation.

I like what I see in him already. He is tall and has great physique, yet can play ball as a defender, and can score in set pieces and crosses as he has for U22 team.

We need play making to start from defense and we need such players. Just like Montazeri, he is comfortable with the ball and can jump start the offense appropriately, rather than our system of "bezan ziresh"!?

- If we could put Oladi and Ansarifard in a machine and combine them into one person, we would have the center forward we are missing ....

- Carlos should seriously consider changing his midfield based on Ebrahimi-Haghighi combo. It is time for new blood! Perhaps combined with Hajsafi and Dejagah we may be able to bring back the energy to Iran's offense! It is not too late yet to change for a chance to qualify .... plenty of time to try this four players combo behind forwards

[Paradigm]

How is the goal keeping so far? Any observation, as far as a competition for Rahmati?

[Mansoor]

^ Makani was great but not sure if he is good enough against Rahmati. Makani has always been confident and more secure in set pieces even though he had one mistake in last game.

Haghighi was not tested today.

I think Carlos should give Makani more chances to prove himself.

[Paradigm]

I always thought Haghighi (6' 5" and looks agile) has the better physical form for a goal keeper. Rahmati is relatively small/thin and can be over-shadowed against physical teams. He also has persistent problems on intercepting crosses and on set pieces... If Haghighi never gets playing time in club and at the national team how can he be tested or have a chance to improve his game? I think we make a blunder by not recognizing the potentials at our disposal. It also very positively affects the psychology of the entire team once they know they have a rock inside the goal; it reminds me of Denmark in Euro 1992.

[St_Mark]

-
- Please do not give Perspolis any credit for Khanzadeh's invitation. Red and Blue clubs have proven recently that they have no respect for power of youth and energy and do nothing but keep them in "practice session" junk-yard! Khanzadeh as well as Kanani and Aliasgari are three of such examples under an "old"-fashioned coach being wasted this year.

Khanzadeh was invited because of his performance in U22 under Mansourian and not because he played two last games for Perspolis. If you look at original list of 30-40 players for WAFF that was announced more than a month ago, he was there as well but yet to play any meaningful minutes for Perspolis. He is there because of Mansourian's recommendation.

I like what I see in him already. He is tall and has great physique, yet can play ball as a defender, and can score in set pieces and crosses as he has for U22 team.

I Agree with you . Remember he was an starter CD in IPL before transfer to Prespolis.

[Mansoor]

^ Yes, and I also remember he scored a rocket header from corner kick when he played for U22.

[Doctor DOOM]

Thanks mansour jan, for the cred.

1- The BOSS is the boss. and he has been showing it for 3 seasons now. so ignoring him is one of the most catastrophic decisions CQ has made.
and I find it so very much amusing to see people refusing to give credit to him for his performances. quite hilarious, actually ... which says a lot.

2- I'm still not convinced by khanzadeh. maybe it is my inherent pp/ss prejudice that players from those two clubs have to perform 2 notches better than the rest for me to accept they are in TM on merit and not based on their affiliation.

3- Montazeri has become a rock in TM's defense and has settled quite well.

4- Rahmati's physique is not the problem. it is either his eye-sight or decision making. he could be 7 feet tall and still concede the very same goals if he continued to stay rooted to the goal line (and if our defense keeps allowing the line on set pieces to creep so close to the keeper). so just because haghighi is taller it doesnt mean he is better.
overall, I'd still give ahmadi a try.

[St_Mark]

Thanks mansour jan, for the cred.


2- I'm still not convinced by khanzadeh. maybe it is my inherent pp/ss prejudice that players from those two clubs have to perform 2 notches better than the rest for me to accept they are in TM on merit and not based on their affiliation.
.

I have seen his game.
He is best CD we have in Iran under age of 22.
Thanks heaven CQ & staff saw him while looking for Ebrahim Karimi who was invited few times by CQ.
He was started next to Ebrahim year ago for Rahahan. Thanks for Daei who gave chance to him and Alishah ( still injured)

Here he is against Sepahan and Esteghlal next to Karimi

[Paradigm]

CQ should have included Kaveh Rezaie in this squad. He was the top goal scorer of the Asian U-16 competition in 2008 and won the gold medal with Iran. People easily forgot about him and when these youth do not get the support, they also get distracted and fail to blossom. He is now 20 years old and had been playing for Foolad in the PGL before transferring to Saipa this last summer. WAFF 2012 tournament could have been a chance for Kaveh to make a come back at the national level.

[Doctor DOOM]

CQ should have included Kaveh Rezaie in this squad. He was the top goal scorer of the Asian U-16 competition in 2008 and won the gold medal with Iran. People easily forgot about him and when these youth do not get the support, they also get distracted and fail to blossom.

unfortunately the story of 95% of our youth talent.
they shine in youth games. but the clubs rarely play them and relegate them to their bench or worse, their reserves sides. and their form declines and when they are not paraded by their clubs, naturally the national team coaches also will slowly forget and ignore them.

there is no smooth transition of talent from different age groups. for example how many players do we have in the seniors TM that have risen through the age ranks from U16 to U19 to U22 to seniors?
rahmati? neku? mahini? pouladi? in nobody's case was there a proper and step by step transition.
they all missed a rank or two in between or were discovered late!!

and that is the fault of clubs and TM coaching staff (different age groups), who dont follow up on these talented youngsters and GROOM them for the seniors team.
there is no grooming in Iran except maybe a couple of clubs (foolad, sepahan)! but that doesnt mean we dont have the talented youth who can help TM. It's just that our TM coaches ought to have a resume and file of EVERY youth TM player from the age of 16 onwards. do they? so that if a player is neglected at club level, they are not forgotten by the national team.

kaveh rezaei's example is valid here as he certainly has the skills and talent to be a good forward. but because he isnt given much time on the pitch by the club coaches, he is forgotten by the nastional team selection!


yes, the mistakes begin at CLUB level (not trusting them or relying on useless seniors or even more useless foreign imports). but just because someone else has made a mistake it doesnt mean you, as a national team coach (of any age group) should also FOLLOW it up with your mistake.

[Martin-Reza]

I cannot share the ecstasy about Omid Ebrahimi.

No doubt, he's a complete above average player, but neither at Sepahan nor in WAFF I could so far spot something very special about him.

His major advantage is his fighting spirit and therefore his similarity to Teymourian, which could him make a logical backup for that CM position. I just don't see any gain in comparison to a Pejman Nouri though, apart from his younger age.

His passing looks fine and although not really shown in WAFF, his shooting ability is certainly worth mentioning too.

His main disadvantage is his physique. He's more a hobbit than a man and frankly I would see a Reza Haghighi running over him without even noticing he's there. I also wouldn't rate his vision and decision making speed too high, although it is in an acceptable range for a more defensive minded midfielder.

Nevertheless, he's done much better than Omid Nazari in TM B and surely deserves a start against Yemen. I have my doubts if he's a serious candidate for a starting spot with all our usual midfielders around, let alone for a 23-man squad (Dehnavi is defensively maybe slightly weaker, but brings a lot more for the offense, and even he is doubtful if Neko, Ando, R. Haghighi, Jabbari, Karimi and the Nouris are around) - though as said he's the only quality player similar to Ando, which might be an advantage if a candidate for such a position is demanded.

[Doctor DOOM]

^ hahahahahaha

sorry, I fell from my seat laughing at the first two sentences.
yeah, coz we have xavi, iniesta and pierlo at TM that somehow in comparison ebrahimi is (ever so grudgingly) an above-average player.
hahahahaha
how can one not laugh at such absurdity? I hope you dont expect people to take you seriously



after 20 minutes, getting past the laugh cramps, I continue.
until I'm hit with yet another attack of chest heaving laughter. yes, reza haghighi has already met with the "hobbit" (boy, I'd like to know what you'd call the likes of iniesta, xavi, messi, modric, ozil, maradonna, hassler, garrincha, saviola, roberto carlos, cannavaro, george best, juninho, ..... then. "creepy crawlies"??? ) ... and guess what, it was the "hobbit" who ran OVER the rest of the other team.

more hilarity and joyous holiday frivolity?


sorry mate. your judgment of players, especially those whom you dont 'like' for years have shown me to be quite one sided and not dependable. anyone who persistently hypes up the likes of satar zareh or gholamnejad or ... while at the same time puts down the likes of mobaali (during his best days) or now, ebrahimi, is basically shooting himself in the foot and is begging people to discard his judgments and comments

[Martin-Reza]

What kind of contribution to a discussion is that supposed to be? Don't try to be funny, it's not your thing. Like football.

[Doctor DOOM]

yes yes ... coz football and funny make a great mix for you .... as is evident above
hahaha

[Mansoor]

To me Martin jaan, it was his vision and long range passing as well as his RUNNING rate.

I don't think we have had anybody since Bagheri that can pass a perfect pinpoint long range pass over the defenders for near scoring opportunity like he does.

Why is this so important for TM right now? We have a problem in TM and that is lack of scoring and enough offense. I believe our main problem is in midfield that does not create enough "strong" scoring chances for offense and when they get one or two, they are so nervous and "unfamiliar", they blew it too.

So, having a player in "defensive" side of the team that can contribute as such that can immediately put a player in scoring opportunity is a huge advantage for TM.

While his defensive duties were strong but nothing above other first-team options we have (such as Haghighi), his long diagonal or "thru" defenders passing in few occasions got me off my seat. It may not have been a highlight for this team because of youth and being the second team. Give those passes to players like Dejagah, Gucci, even Khalatbari and Ansarifard (yeah, I know), and seat back and watch a highlight score.

I hope Carlos took a notice at this critical point. For TM, it is not once in a while blunder Rahmati or defenders have had that has put us in this situation. It is the lack of scoring and "stuck-in-the-mud" midfield.

The second great point about Ebrahimi is his running rate. Take a second look at the game and only zoom in Ebrahimi. He is RUNNING and RUNNING no matter who has the ball to open space and positioning himself for moving the offense forward. Look how smart and effective he is in constantly running around the "pressing opponent", getting the ball, and quickly "simply" passing and moving forward....

I think it is time for new blood. We have the same midfield from WC2006 for god sake. We need to move on. They have proven to be "in-effective" despite their great experience and here and there sparks. I think Haghighi-Ebrahimi combo is the future "for the moment" .....