A very tough game by any standards for us. Games against SKorea is ALWAYS a tough game for us, no matter who’s our coach or who is playing. So ppl expecting a rousing performance as if we were playing against Syria or Yemen, need to readjust their views. SKorae is and has always been a well organized, well drilled disciplined team.
Therefore I suspect the strategy was to soak up pressure in the 1st half. Assess what the opponents are capable of. And then hit them on the break in a more aggressive 2nd half. This was going according to the plan until that magnificent pass/assist from Korea. That pass was pure class. And almost ANY team would have been hurt by such a pass, slicing through our midfield and defense.
It was just unfortunate that our weakest player (on the day), Moharami was found wanting against Korea’s strongest player receiving this perfect pass. But then, as I said, almost any team would be hurt by such a pass.
This put a spanner in our team’s strategy. But it was a good test too. For the team to show it CAN bounce back and come from behind. These are precious lessons for our team and I’m happy it happened against a team that will most probably be the other team qualifying for the WC, and not any THIRD team making the group more difficult and stressful.
The fact that we shd have expected immense pressure on our right flank and defense was to be expected with Son operating there. And barring that marvelous assist, we did an above average job. Something to build on and remember.
I assume Skocic merely followed his pre-determined script for the 2nd half and got his just rewards with the goal. In fact Korea was extremely lucky they didn’t lose the game by 3-1, with 2 more post hits. We also almost gave it all away in the dying minutes which I put it on: 1- Players’ fatigue and loss of focus and/or 2-Skocic’s bad “closing” strategy (more on this below).
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In defense and criticism of Skocic:
1- I’m critical of his subbing and parts of his endgame strategy.
For example, his subbing Azmoun out near the end, instead of Taremi is baffling. Most coaches would have taken taremi out. Unless Azmoun himself asked for it or he was still carrying a slight knock. Bringing a speedy Ghaedi was the correct decision BTW. Perhaps a little sooner.
Also his strategy for the final 10 minutes of the game, if he meant to keep the tie wit an eye on a speedy counter, would have asked for a slightly higher line for the team, closer to the halfline. Not so close to our own 18.
Then again, that may have been more the PLAYERS’ fatigue than a coach’s decision. So I’m not going to berate him for this.
Midfield: Our mid lacked creativity. Maybe it was just wrong placement of players all across the 3 lines (I could venture Amiri at LB, JB at LW). But manly our midfield where although Ezzatolahi was in supreme form (a very welcome sign), Nourolahi was back to his usual (turning out BARE ACCEPTABLE MINIMUM performance). And if we leave out the Korean goal, I guess this too made sense with the overall strategy of the 1st half.
But their goal forced Skocic to rethink and that’s why he asked Ghoddos (a more creative, forward looking player) to warm up. Hopefully for Nourolahi. And only once we scored did Skocic rethink his strategy (and I guess it was then that he settled for a draw) and change to Sarlak instead.
Yes, I like many of you would have liked to see Saman come in. Who knows with his creativity and playmaking we would have scored another. So this is another “HALF” criticism I have. Half becoz again, this was Korea. And a draw, with us topping the group with 2 extra points was not a bad situation by any standards.
2- In his favor are the following points that many seem to forget:
- The capability & pedigree of the opponent team. This was not Syria or Lebanon. Don’t expect overwhelming superiority from the get go over them. We are pretty much equal teams with our own weak and strong points.
- As said, his strategy made sense. Both for the 1st half and the 2nd half. And lets not forget, given an inch this side or that, we could have come out 3-1 winners. So temper your criticism.
- Skocic’s reshuffle of the team really turned the game around and worked. And that is hallmark of a good coach. After the Korean goal, by bringing Nourafkan for LB, he allowed Amiri (who is wasted at LB) to come to LM/LW , by releasing JB (who was performing well. Despite many of your criticism) to his better suited RW role.
What this did was reinforce our left side, both for defense as well as attacks. And with JB as RW, now, Koreans had to deal with TWO dangerous flanks. That’s why we were able to put extra pressure on them and even score.
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Bottomline is we got what we came for. Yes, we could have come out winners even. But we still top the group. And with TWO significant points above Korea (who shd not be our concern) and more crucially, FIVE very significant points above the 3rd placed team.
We remain in the drivers’ seat an with the next 2 games against Lebanon and Syria, barring some freak accidents, we shd be qualifying for the WC with ease. In fact this could be our easiest of WC qualifications in our history.
Therefore I suspect the strategy was to soak up pressure in the 1st half. Assess what the opponents are capable of. And then hit them on the break in a more aggressive 2nd half. This was going according to the plan until that magnificent pass/assist from Korea. That pass was pure class. And almost ANY team would have been hurt by such a pass, slicing through our midfield and defense.
It was just unfortunate that our weakest player (on the day), Moharami was found wanting against Korea’s strongest player receiving this perfect pass. But then, as I said, almost any team would be hurt by such a pass.
This put a spanner in our team’s strategy. But it was a good test too. For the team to show it CAN bounce back and come from behind. These are precious lessons for our team and I’m happy it happened against a team that will most probably be the other team qualifying for the WC, and not any THIRD team making the group more difficult and stressful.
The fact that we shd have expected immense pressure on our right flank and defense was to be expected with Son operating there. And barring that marvelous assist, we did an above average job. Something to build on and remember.
I assume Skocic merely followed his pre-determined script for the 2nd half and got his just rewards with the goal. In fact Korea was extremely lucky they didn’t lose the game by 3-1, with 2 more post hits. We also almost gave it all away in the dying minutes which I put it on: 1- Players’ fatigue and loss of focus and/or 2-Skocic’s bad “closing” strategy (more on this below).
================
In defense and criticism of Skocic:
1- I’m critical of his subbing and parts of his endgame strategy.
For example, his subbing Azmoun out near the end, instead of Taremi is baffling. Most coaches would have taken taremi out. Unless Azmoun himself asked for it or he was still carrying a slight knock. Bringing a speedy Ghaedi was the correct decision BTW. Perhaps a little sooner.
Also his strategy for the final 10 minutes of the game, if he meant to keep the tie wit an eye on a speedy counter, would have asked for a slightly higher line for the team, closer to the halfline. Not so close to our own 18.
Then again, that may have been more the PLAYERS’ fatigue than a coach’s decision. So I’m not going to berate him for this.
Midfield: Our mid lacked creativity. Maybe it was just wrong placement of players all across the 3 lines (I could venture Amiri at LB, JB at LW). But manly our midfield where although Ezzatolahi was in supreme form (a very welcome sign), Nourolahi was back to his usual (turning out BARE ACCEPTABLE MINIMUM performance). And if we leave out the Korean goal, I guess this too made sense with the overall strategy of the 1st half.
But their goal forced Skocic to rethink and that’s why he asked Ghoddos (a more creative, forward looking player) to warm up. Hopefully for Nourolahi. And only once we scored did Skocic rethink his strategy (and I guess it was then that he settled for a draw) and change to Sarlak instead.
Yes, I like many of you would have liked to see Saman come in. Who knows with his creativity and playmaking we would have scored another. So this is another “HALF” criticism I have. Half becoz again, this was Korea. And a draw, with us topping the group with 2 extra points was not a bad situation by any standards.
2- In his favor are the following points that many seem to forget:
- The capability & pedigree of the opponent team. This was not Syria or Lebanon. Don’t expect overwhelming superiority from the get go over them. We are pretty much equal teams with our own weak and strong points.
- As said, his strategy made sense. Both for the 1st half and the 2nd half. And lets not forget, given an inch this side or that, we could have come out 3-1 winners. So temper your criticism.
- Skocic’s reshuffle of the team really turned the game around and worked. And that is hallmark of a good coach. After the Korean goal, by bringing Nourafkan for LB, he allowed Amiri (who is wasted at LB) to come to LM/LW , by releasing JB (who was performing well. Despite many of your criticism) to his better suited RW role.
What this did was reinforce our left side, both for defense as well as attacks. And with JB as RW, now, Koreans had to deal with TWO dangerous flanks. That’s why we were able to put extra pressure on them and even score.
=================
Bottomline is we got what we came for. Yes, we could have come out winners even. But we still top the group. And with TWO significant points above Korea (who shd not be our concern) and more crucially, FIVE very significant points above the 3rd placed team.
We remain in the drivers’ seat an with the next 2 games against Lebanon and Syria, barring some freak accidents, we shd be qualifying for the WC with ease. In fact this could be our easiest of WC qualifications in our history.
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