Why CQ is the best coach we have ever had, or ever will have

[O-ZoNe]

Quarter finals to me is not acceptable. A team that according to FIFA is number one in Asia must win it all, no excuses. And that should be TM goal and nothing less.

I am ok with top 4 because we are in the AFC...and in the AFC on any given night, the ref could swing a result one way or another. Here is my thing, if we do not achieve final 4 status, then really what has CQ achieved? Great fitness is one thing, but if you aren't winning matches then perhaps priorities need to shift (maybe even slightly). I am supporting CQ but after AC, this will either continue or be cut totally. I can't imagine us just showing up to 2018 and exiting the first round. We need to start demanding more, and requiring progress to be the benchmark by which we judge our TM and coaches. Status quo is not enough.

In this world cup we got our first clean sheet and it was for the first time we had a chance to advance even on the final matchday!
We won the respect of the world by stunning the world cup finalist with an amazing display of gheirat.

That is enough for me, I dont need the Asian Cup to prove anything. Proud of our boys!
Carlos Queiroz behaved very "nationalistic" and stood behind the players, just like in the WCQ!

I reference the above as a form of blind CQ devotion void of serious logic. So what we got our clean sheet? It was a draw! We had draws before and we even won with Talebi, so does that make Talebi a great coach?

And it was not the first time we had a chance to advance, in 1998, we had a chance to advance on the last match day as well

To be fair, after 1998, and 1978 many people also said Iran won the respect of the world. After 1998, this was also demonstrated by the explosion of players moving to Europe. Let's stop immortalizing CQ...because while he is loved in Iran, many in Portugal do not regard him as a visionary (as Cristiano what he thinks about CQ).

[Camran khan]

Lol, you don't know what you want and I agree!

Why does it have to be so hard

[onebloodfool]

I keep reading post how quarter final is not acceptable.
But to be honest I dont think Iran will make it out of the group this time.

In addition to occassionally having hard time to beat these grassrolling gulf fiefdoms, the fact that they are all placed in same group is problematic.
They will do a lot of goh-bazi and help each other out, to make sure Iran does not qualify.
Their primary goal is to advance. Their secondary would be to make sure Iran does not.

[ali alipour]

Quarter finals to me is not acceptable. A team that according to FIFA is number one in Asia must win it all, no excuses. And that should be TM goal and nothing less.

so what happens when in next months rankings Iran is no longer #1?

[whizland2000]

sorry I meant Semi finals and CQ must go..

[Zkell]

so what happens when in next months rankings Iran is no longer #1?

If we get nr.2 or 3 in AFC rankings then we must atleast make it to the finals or win the 3/4th place

[AminGP]

Because there, he can't get away with his usual ''parking the bus'' tactics.
).

We are not going to park the bus agains teams like Qatar, UAE or Bahrain. He might do that in the Semi Final or the Final is we face South Korea, Australia or Japan.

[Martin-Reza]

Too many kids with unrealistic expectations around these days. Unrealistic expectations for Asian Cup, friendlies and coaching options after CQ will be gone. Do you even remember our last 10 TM coaches and how life as a fan was? Do you see how our youth and club teams perform?

If we hadn't CQ I would rather bet on Iran going out in group stage than reaching semis. With him I see a good chance for the first semifinal appearance within four tournaments, but nothing is taken for granted.

[kami_kakashi]

Why CQ is the best coach we have ever had, or ever will have

What if we meet Japan in quarter finals?

[Ghermez Agha]

What if we meet Japan in quarter finals?

I think we can beat them.

I definitely wouldn't be mad if we lost to them given on paper they definitely are stronger than us but as I've mentioned before, Japan has been exposed by other Asian teams namely Uzbekistan and Jordan....so why not us?

Of course the circumstances of the match will determine our reaction to the result.

[Kiarash]

I think we can beat them.

I definitely wouldn't be mad if we lost to them given on paper they definitely are stronger than us but as I've mentioned before, Japan has been exposed by other Asian teams namely Uzbekistan and Jordan....so why not us?

Of course the circumstances of the match will determine our reaction to the result.

I second this. The pressure is on Japan's side, they have to win this cup to make up for their embarrassment at the World Cup. They just appointed a new coach and he isn't getting results either so we may as well beat them.

[Camran khan]

If we could hold Argentina to a draw for 90 minutes, have more dangerous chances than them, then we can beat any Asian side. Not saying we're better than them, but we can definately beat them. People who believe that we will reach the quarter finals at best have as unrealistic expectations as the ones who believe we will win. Or even worse.

[Hosseini]

This is really funny. I can't believe people are saying "semi final appearance or go". CQ can only do so much, and he can't control the players on the field. If the players underperform and we do badly at the Asian Cup, do people actually think coaches are lining up to replace CQ? Any qualified coaches? Any coaches with his caliber or experience? This guy has coaches world class clubs with legends, national teams and was assistant for arguably one of the best head coaches of all time being Sir Alex Ferguson.

There aren't any decent viable options other than CQ. Daei, Kranjar, Vingada aren't comparable.

Whatever happens at the Asian Cup happens. If we lose to Iraq in the knockout round, we lost. Sacking him won't improve the state of our football. It'll only bring a hiatus of stagnant transition by our shitty federation.

[kami_kakashi]

Why CQ is the best coach we have ever had, or ever will have

I didn't say can we beat them or not? I know we can. It was in context of people saying anything lower than Semifinals is not acceptable from CQ. There is a scenario where we meet Japan in quarters and in 50/50 game we go out on brilliance of Honda who tears it up in Italy. In summary measure of CQ could be irrelevant to how far we go but the level we show.

[rugs]

This is really funny. I can't believe people are saying "semi final appearance or go". CQ can only do so much, and he can't control the players on the field. If the players underperform and we do badly at the Asian Cup, do people actually think coaches are lining up to replace CQ? Any qualified coaches? Any coaches with his caliber or experience? This guy has coaches world class clubs with legends, national teams and was assistant for arguably one of the best head coaches of all time being Sir Alex Ferguson.
There aren't any decent viable options other than CQ. Daei, Kranjar, Vingada aren't comparable.
Whatever happens at the Asian Cup happens. If we lose to Iraq in the knockout round, we lost. Sacking him won't improve the state of our football. It'll only bring a hiatus of stagnant transition by our shitty federation.

But with this line of thinking you are suggesting that we keep CQ forever.

I agree top managers are better, but they are not the only solution. There are plenty examples of managers who have made a name for themselves managing national teams who where otherwise unknown. Bilic being one of my favorites.

I still think we all need to hold off on any opinions till after the AC, positive or negative.