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.
Edit: I got one more lol
4. Taremi and Azmoun problem: At any point in the last year, you might have asked yourself why the hell is Taremi so deep? Why is this guy being found at CB, LB, RB, LW, etc. Why is when teams play 4-4-2 with two strikers (one of whom drop back) the teams are usually more defensive minded keeping two rigid banks of 4 when out of possession (best example is Japan vs Germany/Spain at World Cup). In TM, our fullbacks play super aggressively leaving us 2-4-4 a lot of the time on counterattacks, leading to Taremi having to play SUPER deep.
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.
Edit: I got one more lol
4. Taremi and Azmoun problem: At any point in the last year, you might have asked yourself why the hell is Taremi so deep? Why is this guy being found at CB, LB, RB, LW, etc. Why is when teams play 4-4-2 with two strikers (one of whom drop back) the teams are usually more defensive minded keeping two rigid banks of 4 when out of possession (best example is Japan vs Germany/Spain at World Cup). In TM, our fullbacks play super aggressively leaving us 2-4-4 a lot of the time on counterattacks, leading to Taremi having to play SUPER deep.
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