Line up and concerns vs USA

[ABalls]

Alongside WC 06 this is our easiest group ever. You don't get such a draw all time.
So not taking anything away from Wales game as it was well deserved win BUT, the team shouldn't be scared and Carlos shouldn't simply line up bunch of defensive guy to go for a tie.
We have enough weapon and speed and talents off the wingers with Torabi, Amiri, Gholi and upfront with 2 world class strikers.
If Hajsafi, Ramin, Gholi, Nour play as they did vs Wales, we will be in next round

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Iran absolutely cannot play scared and I do wonder if seeing the success of other Asian teams playing bold football on Matchday 1 helped convince CQ that it was time for Iran to do the same with Wales.

Looking forward: USA is a much faster and younger team than what the Welsh put on the pitch, but Berhalter's side has struggled to find goals and at times you can still see that the young players don't have the best chemistry together (plus now there is this rumor of a locker room rift). During qualifying, USA really struggled with defensively oriented units such as what CQ *wants* Iran to be (not clear if its working this time around though). As long as Iran doesn't get beat by pace, I don't see USA finding another way into the back of the net assuming Team Melli's marking issues vs England don't return. On the other end, Taremi, Azmoun and Golizadeh have looked so dangerous, while USA's centrebacks have been suspect.

My belief: if CQ lines Iran up for a balanced approach -- a defensive line not too high up, but still a team willing to go forward and create chances, Iran will win with a couple of goals scored (also, keep in mind USA is a speedy team and counters may not work well here -- there may have to be some build-up play, which isn't something CQ's Iran squads do much of historically speaking, and will also leave Team Melli exposed on the back end...so be careful not to send everyone up!). If CQ bottles up for a purely defensive approach, he will fail to take advantage of the mismatch between the Iranian strikers and American defenders and allow USA to potentially get a draw (which is fine for Iran, assuming Wales don't beat England), or win. Also, its not clear this Iran squad is as defensively strong as CQ's previous ones, so going all out park the bus may just end up like another England match for Iran.

Its going to be a passionate game either way. Clearly Iran have the better path to making it into the Round of 16, but they also have more outside pressure and have buckled in big moments before (Japan AC19, England last week). This is a young USA team that has come up big in North America a couple of times already to bag trophies vs their arch-rival Mexico and they are going to be hungry for this moment. Iran must remain focused while understanding that USA's intensity and aggressiveness to attack and win needs to be expected. But perhaps it may also be used against Berhalter's side. My line-up:

-------------------------Beiranvand----------------------------
Moharrami----Hosseini----Pouraligani----Mohammadi
----------------Ezatolahi----------Nourollahi-----------------
----------------------------Ghoddos-----------------------------
Gholizadeh---------------Azmoun-------------------Taremi

I worry about Saman as a starter given his limited playing time, and maybe we need 1 DM and 2 CMs instead, so there is the potential to add Karimi back in for Saman and put Ali and Nour in front of Ezatolahi. Rezaeian, Kanaani, Amiri, Torabi, Jalali and Ansarifard are also good candidates for subs depending on the situation. Not the time to put on players who can't keep up with pace or defend with cohesion like Hajsafi, Khalilzadeh, or even Cheshmi who outside of scoring vs Wales seems to always be out of position. I'm sure not who is captain in my line-up, but it seems Pouraligani, Beiro and Taremi are contenders.

All in all, favorable scenario for Iran, USA is dangerous, but Iran should keep mostly to what they did with Wales while watching for speed and building up attacks from the back.

[Farzin-a]

I thought teams start with a clean slate in the next stage and so having two yellow cards doesn't matter.

Yellow cards do carry over to round 16 according to The Sun.

Do yellow cards get cancelled after the group stages at the World Cup? | The Sun

[Iran_19]

Iran absolutely cannot play scared and I do wonder if seeing the success of other Asian teams playing bold football on Matchday 1 helped convince CQ that it was time for Iran to do the same with Wales.

Looking forward: USA is a much faster and younger team than what the Welsh put on the pitch, but Berhalter's side has struggled to find goals and at times you can still see that the young players don't have the best chemistry together (plus now there is this rumor of a locker room rift). During qualifying, USA really struggled with defensively oriented units such as what CQ *wants* Iran to be (not clear if its working this time around though). As long as Iran doesn't get beat by pace, I don't see USA finding another way into the back of the net assuming Team Melli's marking issues vs England don't return. On the other end, Taremi, Azmoun and Golizadeh have looked so dangerous, while USA's centrebacks have been suspect.

My belief: if CQ lines Iran up for a balanced approach -- a defensive line not too high up, but still a team willing to go forward and create chances, Iran will win with a couple of goals scored (also, keep in mind USA is a speedy team and counters may not work well here -- there may have to be some build-up play, which isn't something CQ's Iran squads do much of historically speaking, and will also leave Team Melli exposed on the back end...so be careful not to send everyone up!). If CQ bottles up for a purely defensive approach, he will fail to take advantage of the mismatch between the Iranian strikers and American defenders and allow USA to potentially get a draw (which is fine for Iran, assuming Wales don't beat England), or win. Also, its not clear this Iran squad is as defensively strong as CQ's previous ones, so going all out park the bus may just end up like another England match for Iran.

Its going to be a passionate game either way. Clearly Iran have the better path to making it into the Round of 16, but they also have more outside pressure and have buckled in big moments before (Japan AC19, England last week). This is a young USA team that has come up big in North America a couple of times already to bag trophies vs their arch-rival Mexico and they are going to be hungry for this moment. Iran must remain focused while understanding that USA's intensity and aggressiveness to attack and win needs to be expected. But perhaps it may also be used against Berhalter's side. My line-up:

-------------------------Beiranvand----------------------------
Moharrami----Hosseini----Pouraligani----Mohammadi
----------------Ezatolahi----------Nourollahi-----------------
----------------------------Ghoddos-----------------------------
Gholizadeh---------------Azmoun-------------------Taremi

I worry about Saman as a starter given his limited playing time, and maybe we need 1 DM and 2 CMs instead, so there is the potential to add Karimi back in for Saman and put Ali and Nour in front of Ezatolahi. Rezaeian, Kanaani, Amiri, Torabi, Jalali and Ansarifard are also good candidates for subs depending on the situation. Not the time to put on players who can't keep up with pace or defend with cohesion like Hajsafi, Khalilzadeh, or even Cheshmi who outside of scoring vs Wales seems to always be out of position. I'm sure not who is captain in my line-up, but it seems Pouraligani, Beiro and Taremi are contenders.

All in all, favorable scenario for Iran, USA is dangerous, but Iran should keep mostly to what they did with Wales while watching for speed and building up attacks from the back.

I highly doubt he goes with 1 holding mid.
Both Hajsafi and Saeid(if healthy) will start.
I think line up will be same as Wales game.

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[ramingeles2000]

we're really underestimating the situation here and need to manage our expectations:

-the US needs a win or their tournament is over. they'll be extremely motivated and play with nothing to lose.

- we're the oldest team in the WC with slow players and we're about to face an incredibly athletic, young and blazing-fast squad for two 50-minute halves in a "must win" game. no idea how we keep focus and stamina for 100+ minutes.

-team melli may be emotionally exhausted after the rollercoaster of the last 2 games. they left it all on the field against wales....whereas the US and england game lacked intensity especially in the late 2nd half

-if we fall behind against the US, it'll be very hard to come back against their defenders. their defenders were dispossessing the english players at will. the same english players who TM had zero success getting the ball from

-the US is head and shoulders above wales. there's a reason wales hasn't been to the world cup in 50+ years. they're a tiny country with population of 3million, they were just happy to be at the tournament.


Super curious how CQ lines us up...we have amiri, kanani, shoja, saman all 100% rested. wouldn't be surprised to see them all on the field, especially saman (ajb is out).

if we can stonewall the US for the first 30 minutes, their frustration and inexperience will set in and they'll be vulnerable to our counterattacks.

[Keshwardoost]

Usa havnt rotated the squad and we sure have done that. Expect usa to either field a less talented fresh squad or a talented squad but fatigued.

CQ possibly gained that experiance from our 2014 campaign and the game vs Bosnia, when we had less energy in that 3rd game?

[Abtin]

Usa havnt rotated the squad and we sure have done that. Expect usa to either field a less talented fresh squad or a talented squad but fatigued.

CQ possibly gained that experiance from our 2014 campaign and the game vs Bosnia, when we had less energy in that 3rd game?

Plus CQ holds a PhD in draw, looking at it on paper there's no way he can F this up.

[Keshwardoost]

we're really underestimating the situation here and need to manage our expectations:

-the US needs a win or their tournament is over. they'll be extremely motivated and play with nothing to lose.

- we're the oldest team in the WC with slow players and we're about to face an incredibly athletic, young and blazing-fast squad for two 50-minute halves in a "must win" game. no idea how we keep focus and stamina for 100+ minutes.

-team melli may be emotionally exhausted after the rollercoaster of the last 2 games. they left it all on the field against wales....whereas the US and england game lacked intensity especially in the late 2nd half

-if we fall behind against the US, it'll be very hard to come back against their defenders. their defenders were dispossessing the english players at will. the same english players who TM had zero success getting the ball from

-the US is head and shoulders above wales. there's a reason wales hasn't been to the world cup in 50+ years. they're a tiny country with population of 3million, they were just happy to be at the tournament.


Super curious how CQ lines us up...we have amiri, kanani, shoja, saman all 100% rested. wouldn't be surprised to see them all on the field, especially saman (ajb is out).

if we can stonewall the US for the first 30 minutes, their frustration and inexperience will set in and they'll be vulnerable to our counterattacks.

Great post and points!

I really like your conclusion that i bolded, based on the points in the posts.

[Mahsaa]

How can someone not put Ramin Rezaian in the first line up ?

I think Taremi, Azmoun,Nourollahi,Ezzatolahi, might be some players who may not be at 100% , we can win this game, it was very hard against Wales and England but we have enough rested players and also players like Gholizadeh must still be at 100%.

i have to disagree with Raminangeles, we have the oldest team but we are still not that old, around 30 is not old and we have enough fresh players who can replace tired ones without affection, we have much more quality to score, we have much more experience.

yes the USA team is much faster and looks very fresh but they could not score more than 1 goal yet, also our coach beats their coach and also overall i think we have some more quality players overall.

they need to win, we only need a draw, i cant see wales beating england, thats nearly impossible even though in football all is possible.

[koorosh]

Agree with Ramingeles...USA is not scoring and they don't have a natural goal scorer on their squad. We have scored 4 goals already.

Their backs are to the wall and they will come out as hard as England against us.

For sure we have a good chance but it is very tough situation. I hope to hell I see Ghoddos starting.

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[Doctor DOOM]

I'd be shocked if I see less than 6 or even 7 defensive players starting.
That's 4 defenders and 2-3 DMs (probably Saeed and Nourolahi/Cheshmi and another like Hajsafi), with a closed formation, kept near our box!

CQ will go for a draw. Even if a win may be possible!
Problem is against england also he was aiming for a draw. And we saw what happened. By the time he woke up to react, he was already 3-4 goals down.
Do I dare hope he has learned his lesson and wont repeat the ultra-defensive strategy of sitting back and parking the bus?


besides, there's an outside chance we may actually top the group.
If we beat US and Wales gets something out of their game.
Topping the group could well mean meeting Senegal (instead of Netherlands), whom we have already played against and sort of are fresh in our minds. For whatever it may be worth.

[Iran_19]

I'd be shocked if I see less than 6 or even 7 defensive players starting.
That's 4 defenders and 2-3 DMs (probably Saeed and Nourolahi/Cheshmi and another like Hajsafi), with a closed formation, kept near our box!

CQ will go for a draw. Even if a win may be possible!
Problem is against england also he was aiming for a draw. And we saw what happened. By the time he woke up to react, he was already 3-4 goals down.
Do I dare hope he has learned his lesson and wont repeat the ultra-defensive strategy of sitting back and parking the bus?


besides, there's an outside chance we may actually top the group.
If we beat US and Wales gets something out of their game.
Topping the group could well mean meeting Senegal (instead of Netherlands), whom we have already played against and sort of are fresh in our minds. For whatever it may be worth.

Can be Ecuador in case of topping the group

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[koorosh]

I'd take the Dutch over Senegal or Ecuador. Haven't seen anything special from them whereas Senegal has already beaten us and Ecuador are probably the most physical side in WC and also have a genuine star who has been scoring big time.

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[Artaxerxes]

Beiro

Rezaeian Majid Pag Milad

Ezzatolahi Ahmad Hajsafi

Ghoddos

Taremi Azmoun


In second half no matter if we are up or down bring in Gholizadeh , Amiri and Torabi, they all can run as hell, if we are down we need them to help us score, if we are up we can counter the ass of the U.S and punish them more because they Will open up alot more to get goals

[Artaxerxes]

I'd take the Dutch over Senegal or Ecuador. Haven't seen anything special from them whereas Senegal has already beaten us and Ecuador are probably the most physical side in WC and also have a genuine star who has been scoring big time.

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We tied Senegal 1-1.

But i agree, i think Holland will suit us better than Senegal and Equador

[persiangodfather]

We have never made the round of 16, so i wont even discuss that. We are the under dogs