Sorry mates, I havent watched the game (I do have a life outside pfdc). so once PK or anyone else puts up the game I will put it up here.
but seeing the score line it seems iran handed a proper arse whooping to the lebanese fools (who foolishly thought they can repeat their lucky win). I'm guessing an early goal got things rolling. which is great.
good for the morale of the team and fans and I hope a big lesson for us to get a high scoring game in the more important WCQ's
stay tuned
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FIRST HALF:
Well I cant say I was surprised to see CQ start with the same old formation and line up. I mean I never thought he would make any changes after he showed he is far too stubborn to allow a whole bunch of bad performances to force him to change somethings around (even if he promises them after each bad result. Allow enough time and many people forget!!!).
The best thing is we scored early into the half, which against arab teams IS vital and crucial. This sets the tone of the rest of the game when we play arabs. And puts US in charge rather than them and their habitual grass rolling, time wasting tactics. Loved how Jabbari fed RGN and RGN’s pivot and shot was a very pleasant scene we rarely see at TM. So RGN starts his tab at TM. Here’s to many many years of many goals scoring games. Cheers
Good to see jabbari back. The team NEEDS someone with creativity in its middle. That is a positive move.
But on the other hand, as far as first half is concerned, I must say I am not seeing why so many kids in general forum are saying shojaei did well. At best, he’s been average. With a couple of dribbles here and there which were never in service of the team anyway. So perhaps these kids are excited because they saw a couple of dribbles by him. His passing and crosses also were very average and unimpressive. Almost a dozen other midfielders in IPL can do the same and more. So, so far I don’t see why people are saying “where are shojaei critics”. Yes, he wasnt terrible, which is what I expected. But neither was he good. he gets a 10 (from 20) from me. at least for the 1st half.
Ando has been his usual “energizer bunny”, always moving and exuding energy all over the place. But I didn’t see him link up with especially Neku. So perhaps if he was the only DM, we wouldn’t have seen any difference in terms of fights for the ball in the middle of the park.
Which brings me to Nekounam. I know he scored a penalty in 1st and another in 2nd plus a goal. But his performance in the first half has not been impressive one bit. Maybe he will take it up in 2nd. But nothing to write home about except a few bad and weak passes. But I shd be fair and say I loved his penalty and how he placed it at the far end of goal right on the ground. These spots are very difficult for keepers to block as they have to guess right and stretch beyond normal to reach such low, fast balls. great penalty.
I’d have liked to see Rahman Ahmadi get tested. Same as our defense. But as it turns out Lebanon was just too bloody weak and piss poor a team to exert even a modicum of pressure on our back line! So our defense and Ahmadi went to locker-room untested. Goes to show what a grand mistake we made when we lost to this weak and totally out of their depth Lebanon team in the WCQ’s!!
I also don’t see why people were harassing Heidari and saying he was weak. I didn’t see too many bad things to agree with that. He did well and spent most of the half in the Lebanese half and helped link up with Dejagah. He was ok if not more.
And Dejagah was the star of the team. No doubt. I really liked how he so quickly fit into the team and linked up with heidari, Ando, even RGN in so few games. Shows his intelligence and professionalism.
**********
SECOND HALF:
If shojaei’s 1st half was average, his 2nd was even weaker and poorer. So again, I must ask why shd he start games at TM? SOLELY because he resides outside Iran? I can count at least 10 other midfielders who could have had a far better impact on the team and game who never get a quarter of the attention he gets. Why?
What a strange substitution. A defender in a game where the defense wasn’t pushed at all. And the red card made things even easier than before, which was nothing much to speak of to begin with anyway. But is it because of SS’s influence to let its players rest? Why? And why shd CQ accept such influence? Why shd SS receive such preferential treatment even at TM level? Does that mean CQ can be dictated to? What else does he allow?
I can accept Jabbari’s as he was slowly running out of stamina. But by God if anyone needed to be changed before Jabbari it was shojaei.
On a positive note, I am happy our 5th was from a long ranger attempt and a shot from outside the box. I believe we shd do more of these. And the fact that it ricocheted off someone’s legs is even a greater lesson for our lads to know they SHOULD attempt to shoot more often. Not just because you may have an opening to the goal, but also when there are so many legs in the way that could help your cause. Would love to see more shots from the team.
To be fair to shojaei, his love to weave through the defense and his pass back to nekounam to score was a very nice move. Perhaps the ONLY dribbling attempt that WAS IN SERVICE OF THE TEAM (unlike the rest of his dribbles).
Nekounam elevated his game in the 2nd half (and it’s not just due to his goals) which is a good sign. But bith both Dejagah and Jabbari out of the team, the team looked clueless and without any creativity in its attacks. This shd be noticed by the coaching staff to always keep a creative player in the team no matter what. Yaghoub karimi did deserve to play. But it shd have been for someone like shojaei not jabbari. Perhaps if CQ had bothered to call up another playmaker, he could have subbed him for jabbari. But since CQ has admitted he doesnt believe in “playmakers”, I feel this is a good lesson to always have one in your team.
Bottomline:
It was a good game. The team played more efficiently and with better quality than its previous games. This could be due to several reasons. Use of playmaker to help the offense, a fit and in form Dejagah and RGN, and also a very weak and vulnerable opponent who had no right to even think about drawing with us, let alone defeating us.
I sincerely hope to see such a scoreline (or even better) in our WCQ tie as we desperately need the goals average to have a hope to leapfrog over uzbeks. And I don’t see why we shdnt be able to repeat this or even better it if CQ chooses a slightly more efficient line up and forgets about “names”.
But the absolute most important issue is that we scored early. That wrests the initiative and control of the game away and puts it right where we want it against arab teams: in OUR hands.
scoring early is the most crucial point we could take away from this game. And we saw how it relaxed our lads, while putting the arab team under increasing pressure.
but seeing the score line it seems iran handed a proper arse whooping to the lebanese fools (who foolishly thought they can repeat their lucky win). I'm guessing an early goal got things rolling. which is great.
good for the morale of the team and fans and I hope a big lesson for us to get a high scoring game in the more important WCQ's
stay tuned
**************************************
FIRST HALF:
Well I cant say I was surprised to see CQ start with the same old formation and line up. I mean I never thought he would make any changes after he showed he is far too stubborn to allow a whole bunch of bad performances to force him to change somethings around (even if he promises them after each bad result. Allow enough time and many people forget!!!).
The best thing is we scored early into the half, which against arab teams IS vital and crucial. This sets the tone of the rest of the game when we play arabs. And puts US in charge rather than them and their habitual grass rolling, time wasting tactics. Loved how Jabbari fed RGN and RGN’s pivot and shot was a very pleasant scene we rarely see at TM. So RGN starts his tab at TM. Here’s to many many years of many goals scoring games. Cheers
Good to see jabbari back. The team NEEDS someone with creativity in its middle. That is a positive move.
But on the other hand, as far as first half is concerned, I must say I am not seeing why so many kids in general forum are saying shojaei did well. At best, he’s been average. With a couple of dribbles here and there which were never in service of the team anyway. So perhaps these kids are excited because they saw a couple of dribbles by him. His passing and crosses also were very average and unimpressive. Almost a dozen other midfielders in IPL can do the same and more. So, so far I don’t see why people are saying “where are shojaei critics”. Yes, he wasnt terrible, which is what I expected. But neither was he good. he gets a 10 (from 20) from me. at least for the 1st half.
Ando has been his usual “energizer bunny”, always moving and exuding energy all over the place. But I didn’t see him link up with especially Neku. So perhaps if he was the only DM, we wouldn’t have seen any difference in terms of fights for the ball in the middle of the park.
Which brings me to Nekounam. I know he scored a penalty in 1st and another in 2nd plus a goal. But his performance in the first half has not been impressive one bit. Maybe he will take it up in 2nd. But nothing to write home about except a few bad and weak passes. But I shd be fair and say I loved his penalty and how he placed it at the far end of goal right on the ground. These spots are very difficult for keepers to block as they have to guess right and stretch beyond normal to reach such low, fast balls. great penalty.
I’d have liked to see Rahman Ahmadi get tested. Same as our defense. But as it turns out Lebanon was just too bloody weak and piss poor a team to exert even a modicum of pressure on our back line! So our defense and Ahmadi went to locker-room untested. Goes to show what a grand mistake we made when we lost to this weak and totally out of their depth Lebanon team in the WCQ’s!!
I also don’t see why people were harassing Heidari and saying he was weak. I didn’t see too many bad things to agree with that. He did well and spent most of the half in the Lebanese half and helped link up with Dejagah. He was ok if not more.
And Dejagah was the star of the team. No doubt. I really liked how he so quickly fit into the team and linked up with heidari, Ando, even RGN in so few games. Shows his intelligence and professionalism.
**********
SECOND HALF:
If shojaei’s 1st half was average, his 2nd was even weaker and poorer. So again, I must ask why shd he start games at TM? SOLELY because he resides outside Iran? I can count at least 10 other midfielders who could have had a far better impact on the team and game who never get a quarter of the attention he gets. Why?
What a strange substitution. A defender in a game where the defense wasn’t pushed at all. And the red card made things even easier than before, which was nothing much to speak of to begin with anyway. But is it because of SS’s influence to let its players rest? Why? And why shd CQ accept such influence? Why shd SS receive such preferential treatment even at TM level? Does that mean CQ can be dictated to? What else does he allow?
I can accept Jabbari’s as he was slowly running out of stamina. But by God if anyone needed to be changed before Jabbari it was shojaei.
On a positive note, I am happy our 5th was from a long ranger attempt and a shot from outside the box. I believe we shd do more of these. And the fact that it ricocheted off someone’s legs is even a greater lesson for our lads to know they SHOULD attempt to shoot more often. Not just because you may have an opening to the goal, but also when there are so many legs in the way that could help your cause. Would love to see more shots from the team.
To be fair to shojaei, his love to weave through the defense and his pass back to nekounam to score was a very nice move. Perhaps the ONLY dribbling attempt that WAS IN SERVICE OF THE TEAM (unlike the rest of his dribbles).
Nekounam elevated his game in the 2nd half (and it’s not just due to his goals) which is a good sign. But bith both Dejagah and Jabbari out of the team, the team looked clueless and without any creativity in its attacks. This shd be noticed by the coaching staff to always keep a creative player in the team no matter what. Yaghoub karimi did deserve to play. But it shd have been for someone like shojaei not jabbari. Perhaps if CQ had bothered to call up another playmaker, he could have subbed him for jabbari. But since CQ has admitted he doesnt believe in “playmakers”, I feel this is a good lesson to always have one in your team.
Bottomline:
It was a good game. The team played more efficiently and with better quality than its previous games. This could be due to several reasons. Use of playmaker to help the offense, a fit and in form Dejagah and RGN, and also a very weak and vulnerable opponent who had no right to even think about drawing with us, let alone defeating us.
I sincerely hope to see such a scoreline (or even better) in our WCQ tie as we desperately need the goals average to have a hope to leapfrog over uzbeks. And I don’t see why we shdnt be able to repeat this or even better it if CQ chooses a slightly more efficient line up and forgets about “names”.
But the absolute most important issue is that we scored early. That wrests the initiative and control of the game away and puts it right where we want it against arab teams: in OUR hands.
scoring early is the most crucial point we could take away from this game. And we saw how it relaxed our lads, while putting the arab team under increasing pressure.
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