Hey all!
I've been rewatching the last few TM games and I think honestly as much as we like to complain about the players themselves that start like Shoja, Kanaani, Nemati, etc...I've been seeing a running theme across all of our games when it comes to structure.
Let me cite some examples:
1. Something major I'm seeing is that players look scared to challenge. Against NK and Kyrgyzstan, we were losing a lot of 1v1s. It seems like our players are for whatever reason afraid to challenge and be a bit more physical when it comes to defending and it really shows on set pieces. We are getting REALLY afraid during set pieces and corners especially, doing only light challenges (maybe players are scared of being blamed for causing a penalty? Biggest offender is Saeed Ezatollahi I've noticed across the last 4-5 games)
2. Structurally, players don't know where to be when we don't have the ball. In recent games vs Qatar and Kyrgyzstan, there are times when 4-5 players run out of position to mark a single person leaving a giant hole in the middle of the pitch for the opponent. A lot of the time you see players doing solo runs up and down and this extends to defense as well. Our lack of rigidity when it comes to defense means it's a free-for-all and there are occasions when all the players run off to do their own things while our CBs get outnumbered. Biggest offenders: our fullbacks, wingers, and midfielders are sometimes nowhere to be found on counterattacks and when we lose possession.
3. A reactive GN: there are often no substitutes until the last few minutes UNLESS we concede 1-2 goals. GN freaks out and changes half the team with defenders and tall players to hold on for dear life. Against NK, he randomly subbed in Noorafkan, Cheshmi, Moghanlou, and Hosseinzadeh as a desperate reaction to conceding 2 goals. This tells me that we don't really have a plan B. You might have noticed this pattern in a bunch of games vs Uzbekistan, Qatar, NK, Kyrgyzstan, HK, etc.
There are a few more things I've noticed but maybe I'll come back and write more later lol
I've been rewatching the last few TM games and I think honestly as much as we like to complain about the players themselves that start like Shoja, Kanaani, Nemati, etc...I've been seeing a running theme across all of our games when it comes to structure.
Let me cite some examples:
1. Something major I'm seeing is that players look scared to challenge. Against NK and Kyrgyzstan, we were losing a lot of 1v1s. It seems like our players are for whatever reason afraid to challenge and be a bit more physical when it comes to defending and it really shows on set pieces. We are getting REALLY afraid during set pieces and corners especially, doing only light challenges (maybe players are scared of being blamed for causing a penalty? Biggest offender is Saeed Ezatollahi I've noticed across the last 4-5 games)
2. Structurally, players don't know where to be when we don't have the ball. In recent games vs Qatar and Kyrgyzstan, there are times when 4-5 players run out of position to mark a single person leaving a giant hole in the middle of the pitch for the opponent. A lot of the time you see players doing solo runs up and down and this extends to defense as well. Our lack of rigidity when it comes to defense means it's a free-for-all and there are occasions when all the players run off to do their own things while our CBs get outnumbered. Biggest offenders: our fullbacks, wingers, and midfielders are sometimes nowhere to be found on counterattacks and when we lose possession.
3. A reactive GN: there are often no substitutes until the last few minutes UNLESS we concede 1-2 goals. GN freaks out and changes half the team with defenders and tall players to hold on for dear life. Against NK, he randomly subbed in Noorafkan, Cheshmi, Moghanlou, and Hosseinzadeh as a desperate reaction to conceding 2 goals. This tells me that we don't really have a plan B. You might have noticed this pattern in a bunch of games vs Uzbekistan, Qatar, NK, Kyrgyzstan, HK, etc.
There are a few more things I've noticed but maybe I'll come back and write more later lol
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