TM NEWS - VOL 8

[oracle]

Vis vis is
General has left iran to go on vacation.

[Prowess]

GN’s first real test came against Japan, and we not only defeated them, but thoroughly outplayed them. So we have to give him credit—his ceiling is much higher than we anticipated.

The direct, long ball approach in that game diverged from our tactic to build up from the back as in our previous games. This worked worked perfectly against the smaller Japanese players.

He should’ve went back to keeping the ball more on the ground vs Qatar as we did against UAE, but hindsight is 20/20 since we didn’t capitalize on our chances.

Let’s hope GN learns from his mistakes and continues to evolve as a coach, since that’s all we can wish for at this point.

[nisfejahan]

GN’s first real test came against Japan, and we not only defeated them, but thoroughly outplayed them. So we have to give him credit—his ceiling is much higher than we anticipated.

The direct, long ball approach in that game diverged from our tactic to build up from the back as in our previous games. This worked worked perfectly against the smaller Japanese players.

He should’ve went back to keeping the ball more on the ground vs Qatar as we did against UAE, but hindsight is 20/20 since we didn’t capitalize on our chances.

Let’s hope GN learns from his mistakes and continues to evolve as a coach, since that’s all we can wish for at this point.

GN's weakness came to light in the Qatar game. Yes, sending long balls worked with a somewhat deflated Japan. But a smarter coach would have planned to play Qatar, not repeating the game plan of the last game.

In general, in this tournament, we saw very weak Japan and SK teams. I am not sure what was going on with SK (may be the Klansmann factor), but they looked disinterested, disjointed, and unorganized. Similarly, Japan was not at its best getting manhandled by Iraq and Iran. This was TM's best chance to win the title.

The fact that we came close to beating Qatar does not mean we played well. It only means that Qatar sucked, even with their "Reverse Legionnaires". They scored only 5 goals in their group stage against pretty weak teams. In the round of 16 they barely beat Palestine, guess what, thanks to another penalty. Tied Uzbeks 1-1 and won on penalties. And famously beat Jordan with a hat trick of penalties!!

As much as I wanted it not to be true, GN was devoid of ideas and tactical adjustments when it mattered.

[Keshwardoost]

General team played football irani...brawling... going toe to toe with everyone...that's why got in a mess with syria beat japan and got punch in mouth by qatar.
Exciting football to watch.

We have one coach that beat Brazil. It was in u17 wc but still.. GN could need a new assistant. Maybe they be a good combo.

[Prowess]

GN's weakness came to light in the Qatar game. Yes, sending long balls worked with a somewhat deflated Japan. But a smarter coach would have planned to play Qatar, not repeating the game plan of the last game.

In general, in this tournament, we saw very weak Japan and SK teams. I am not sure what was going on with SK (may be the Klansmann factor), but they looked disinterested, disjointed, and unorganized. Similarly, Japan was not at its best getting manhandled by Iraq and Iran. This was TM's best chance to win the title.

The fact that we came close to beating Qatar does not mean we played well. It only means that Qatar sucked, even with their "Reverse Legionnaires". They scored only 5 goals in their group stage against pretty weak teams. In the round of 16 they barely beat Palestine, guess what, thanks to another penalty. Tied Uzbeks 1-1 and won on penalties. And famously beat Jordan with a hat trick of penalties!!

As much as I wanted it not to be true, GN was devoid of ideas and tactical adjustments when it mattered.

Japan are not only on paper the best team in Asia, but were in excellent form before the Asian Cup, and rightful favorites to win it all. They were looking good heading into the game against us after their victory against Bahrain.

We not only beat them, but also outplayed them in a high stakes game. Something Iraq can't say they did in a group stage game with only 28% ball possession, half the number of shots as Japan, and only 1 corner to their 13. They just happened to rise to the occasion, and were efficient with their chances. At least 80% of the time Iraq would lose to Japan.

Football is not a mathematical equation where 1+1=2. It's a game of moments, opportunities, and luck. This is how a team like Argentina can lose 2-1 to Saudi Arabia in a game, but then win the World Cup in the same tournament.

Also, we have to put our pride aside, and understand these "weaker" Asian teams had an overall good tournament. Iraq, Jordan, and even Qatar (with all the benefits they received). The same Qatar we've historically done well against, who also beat Japan 3-1 in the final in 2019.

Overall, I don't think GN's tactic of long ball against Qatar was completely wrong, since we created a lot of chances. But he should've mixed it up more with keeping the ball on the ground, and utilizing players like Gholizadeh & Torabi.

[oracle]

We have one coach that beat Brazil. It was in u17 wc but still.. GN could need a new assistant. Maybe they be a good combo.

Not everyone can work with general personality

[KC McElroy]

We have one coach that beat Brazil. It was in u17 wc but still.. GN could need a new assistant. Maybe they be a good combo.

We also beat them in the 1972 Olympics with our golden generation.

[oracle]

GN will be guest on Misaghi's show next week.
Please send your proverbial pitchforks to him.

Misaghi and him are friends since they have
common enemy in Adel. misaghi wont go after him

[Pishi_Rules]

Vis vis is
General has left iran to go on vacation.

He doesn’t deserve a vacation, unless it’s to Afghanistan 😞

[PSGman#19]

SK wants to sack Klinsmann, and we are sticking with our national sabzi foroosh.
The guy will always have an excuse for not getting sacked

[Nokhodi]

SK wants to sack Klinsmann, and we are sticking with our national sabzi foroosh.
The guy will always have an excuse for not getting sacked

the technical committee wants to fire him. The head doesn’t.
they will have to pay him 5 million.

Either way Klinsmann wins.

[nisfejahan]

Overall, I don't think GN's tactic of long ball against Qatar was completely wrong, since we created a lot of chances. But he should've mixed it up more with keeping the ball on the ground, and utilizing players like Gholizadeh & Torabi.

I guess we disagree. IMO the tactic was a complete failure.

First, we are supposed to create chances against a team like Qatar. The best chances came late in the game when Iran was playing desperate football and Qatar was defending.

Second, tactics have a defensive and an offensive component. Even if you think the offensive tactic of long balls was successful (which was not), there should be a defensive component too. A team like Qatar should never score 3 goals against Iran. They had one threat and only one threat; Afif. He roamed free. There was never a defensive plan to neutralize him. Palestine, Tajikistan, China, and Uzbekistan all conceded fewer goals than Iran did against Qatar.

When you kick the ball up, you do not keep possession. If the kicked ball does not result in an opportunity it just becomes a loss of possession. This is the game where Iran should have played possession football to a much larger extent. There was no attempt by Iran to put a couple of passes together. The players were just kicking the ball up with no clear intent.

As I said, GN was not capable/willing to do the hard part of creating a plan for the Qatar game. He just saw that the last game went well and repeated it against a much different and in many ways weaker team. And the results speak for themselves.

[perspolis#1]

I guess we disagree. IMO the tactic was a complete failure.

First, we are supposed to create chances against a team like Qatar. The best chances came late in the game when Iran was playing desperate football and Qatar was defending.



When you kick the ball up, you do not keep possession. If the kicked ball does not result in an opportunity it just becomes a loss of possession. This is the game where Iran should have played possession football to a much larger extent. There was no attempt by Iran to put a couple of passes together. The players were just kicking the ball up with no clear intent.

As I said, GN was not capable/willing to the the hard part of creating a plan for the Qatar game. He just saw that the last game went well and repeated it against a much different and in many ways weaker team. And the results speak for themselves.

Absolutely. Of note our long ball style has been atrocious against Arab teams preCQ era.

Diagonal long balls seem to work against Far East Asian teams (China 2019 and Japan this time).

Against teams like Qatar, Iraq, Saudi etc playing long balls is actually doing them a favor because:

A) They can assign 2 or more people to the intended receiver of the ball and box him out.

B) Their defenders can physically match our strikers

C) The likelihood of a "collision" where their players/GK wastes time is higher.


Much different scenario if Torabi/ Gholizadeh/ Ghaedi is running at their defense, gets by one of them and then their centerback has to decide between closing down the player or marking Azmoun/Taremi.

That chaos is where we tend to beat Asian teams.

[PSGman#19]

Klinsmann fired, IFF yad begir!

[The]

Klinsmann fired, IFF yad begir!

By hiring GN, IFF already learned that giving the job to a decent vatani coach is better than overpaying for some overrated white guy like Klinsmann or Wilmots.