Iran in Seoul: Entering the Gates of Hell

[Hadi]

I call this match the most important game of our nation since 2006 World Cup.

Why I say that is because: our last campaign, although we had a chance to go through with a win in Seoul, nobody really thought we could do it. We had changed coaches and people were demonstrating in our streets and the last thing people thought of was football!

Would like to open this thread in the remaining days left to the match to see what our F+ members think purely about the tactical and psychological approach of our team and how to get the results we need.

What lineup should we use? How should the coach prepare the players? are we going for a win or a draw? are we going to play anti-football? do we want to force a physical and stop-start game? should we press hard in the first half? How do we manage our energy for 90 minutes? How should we prepare for the nerve wracking 2nd half?

Lets discuss

[Doctor DOOM]

to begin with, it would be nice to know what our record is in this "hell"

I remember the last 2 times we drew with them. I cant remember the previous occasions. But if we could manage to repeat our last results (seriously within realms of pssibility as korea isnt that strong and we seem to be gelling and playing better irecent weeks), then that "hell" could well be heaven for us

correction: draw, but with a half glance at a historic win too, mind you. Again, a quite possible outcome

[KeonKish]

I think we should use a modified formation of what CQ used in qatar, with the focus and mentality on containing the koreans, which means keeping possession and attacking in an organized manner which will not make us vulnerable on counters....... basically not too defensive and not to offensive... I think we should go for a win... so score first, then continue containment of the korean pressure, they will really push us in that game, and if we dont contain their attacks, we will lose..... we should pay high attention to the value of any free kicks or corners and should take them very seriously...
I dont think we should go for a draw because that just sounds like last minute loss to me.... with the defenders we currently have we could definitely out muscle korea if we need to.

[Doctor DOOM]

^ yes, given the opposition and the situation we are in, the formation we used in qatar is justified here (but certainly NOT for the qatar game).

So I wouldnt mind seeing the same thing repeated, but with one change: bring in Ebrahimi or Md. Nouri for Shojaei
because the team needs to start its defense from close to the korean box. our players cant slack off in defense and shojaei basically cant help (even if he is very spirited)


I think the following is a very balanced team that provides good enough defensive reliability (4 defenders + 2 DM's plus Hajsafi as auxillary defensive player if needed be) and good enough offensive ability to pressurize the korean defense to prevent them from joing in their attacks.

you also have the needed height, physicality and pace to control the midfield.





would I risk Dejagah (if at all he is fit, which is doubtful)? No. unless the koreans score an early goal and we are unable to break tem down by min 70-75. I wouldnt risk him and making his injury worse.

[yashar_fasihnia]

if we want to go with qatars formation, the only player who deserves to start ahead of shojaei is khalatbari.

i dont mind playing with qatars formation and having sadeghi paired up with hosseini in the middle and montazeri moving to RB position behind khosro heydari.

sadeghi gives us aerial ability against the tall korean strikers, and if khosro doesnt play as bad as he did against qatar, i think we should do fine.

my biggest worry is rahman ahmadi at the moment, big games need big players and the gulf between rahmati and ahmadi is huge.. rahmati's heroics have many times been the reason for TM results,, im not confident with rahman ahmadi at all..

anyways,, here is wat i suggest we go with assuming dejagah and rahmati will not be available..

--------------------------------ahmadi----------------------------------
----montazeri--------hosseini------------sadeghi------beygzadeh-----
-----------------------ando----------nekounam-----------------------
----------khosro-------------jabbari----------------khalatbari-------------
--------------------------------gucci-----------------------------------

khalatbari, jabbari and heydari have enough capabilities to create a few decent chances atleast. if nekounam and ando can add upfront for loose balls and 2nd waves of attack, we should be able to score 1 goal.

in defense, we got 4 strong defenders who can cope with the koreans cos in azadi,, we were really being beaten in all aerial battles. however, we might have to worry about our defense speed, specially beygzadeh but oh well, if we keep it tight at the back with ando and nekounams support and hopefully a good day from ahmadi, we should be able to limit the koreans to 0 or maximum 1 goal.

incase we need to play more offensive, we can sub in shojaei, move khsoro to RB position and pull out one of our defenders depending on the game circumstances...

[Hadi]

btw my bad, the game is in Ulsan

[Martin-Reza]

It will be a physical and emotional match. We need tons of experience and fighters like Ando, Heydari, Beikzadeh etc but also players who can keep the ball. The lineup we used in Qatar will be logical.

We must show them we are capeable of hurting them if they open up and attack and that we will punish them if they risk too much.

Also we must prove we are willing to break bones if necessary, a coach can do what he wants, his players won't be willing to get hurt or suspended for WC in return for a meaningless win if a draw and most likely even a loss means they are through anyhow.

[oldcoach]

Both coaches and both teams would be happy with a draw which will take both teams to Brazil.
I believe all this nonsense that the Korean coach started( and CQs response) is so no one would accuse the Koreans and the Iranians playing to a goalless draw.
I could be wrong, we will see....

[Kaiser Amir]

One player I believe is going to be a HUGE LIABILITY to our team in Ulsan is Hashem Beikzadeh.

He performed admirably in Doha, but was all over the place in the second half of Iran - Lebanon until he was subbed out due to injury.

Lebanon had one quality player in their starting "11", Matouk (number 7), who plays in the UAE, and he did what he wanted with our left flank, creating Lebanon's biggest scoring chances.

Why?

Because he was fast and Beikzadeh is horribly slow for international football.
He was constantly beaten on long runs by Matouk.

South Korea will have 11 players like Matouk, as far as speed is concerned.

Unfortunately, I think we'll be badly exposed on the left since Hajsafi isn't a better option either.
He is faster than Beikzadeh, but is not really a defender.

[Martin-Reza]

^ I certainly don't think Beikzadeh is an outstanding leftback but don't forget he is much more comfortable with Sadeghi covering his back, who again can help out more when he has Hosseini and Montazeri beside him. Also when defending a bit deeper Beikzadeh will be less vulnerable to speedy attackers.

I think those are the major reasons why he was worse against Lebanon than in Qatar and will be better again in Ulsan.

[zereshk-ali]

We should not be afraid of Korea. Firstly, because I think they are beatable (even at home). Secondly, because I dont think playing an ultra defensive system works for us. We don't have the defensive composure to let the opposition have the ball and put us under pressure for the majority of the game. I would personally prefer a more balanced line up with the ability to keep the ball and punish Korea on the break too as in Lebanon game than Qatar game. I feel far more comfortable when we play a high tempo pressure game higher up the pitch and I'm with RGN that we should try to win the game.

[Paradigm]

How about if CQ hires Ghotbi as "analyzer" for the last match... because he knows South Korea intimately. What do you guys think?

[Nokhodi]

How about if CQ hires Ghotbi as analyzer for the last match... because he knows South Korea intimately. What do you guys think?

Yeah, cause TM Played so well against Korea with Ghotbi at the helm :|

[KeonKish]

I highly doubt korea has anyone like hassan matoouk, not gonna lie, that guy is pretty talented, he has scored 2 goals against kuwait, one against UAE, one against SK, and one against thailand, all in the 2014 wc qualifiers... however beikzadeh is very aerially superior to our other defenders and if you recall our last game against SK, somebody like beikzadeh could have been a HUGE help to our defense, the koreans will definitely be raining down free kicks on our goal and I want people like sadeghi and beikzadeh and hosseini to defend against it!!

[Hadi]

The Korean coach has won the psychological wargame already.

By giving a controversial comment, he has forced Iran's coach and fans to react which in turn will fire up Korean players and fans making the game a hotly contested battle.

Korean coach is very smart. He was worried about the lower level of motivation and fire in his own players compared to Iran but now, after CQ reaction, he is sure to have a fired up Korean team