Guys was anyone else disappointed by JB? I thought he should have played on par with Dejagah (yes I honestly thought he is as good as him) .. However, considering this was his first match starting for TM maybe my expectations where far to high.
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So what did Korea's coach say and why they are so upset?Comment
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Masoud plays a D+ level of game every game! Not sure what makes him special. He doesnt dribble. He loses the ball. Bad passes. CQ seems to not trust anyone else in his position to be so damn desparate to not replace him. Biggest problem is still the same! Defenders and mid fielders dont work close enough to move the ball up front. Instead you see a our defense relying on long balls to forwards. When are we going to learn!?!!! Koreans played a great game. I see them going far into the tournament. Iran needs a lot more friendlies.Comment
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Good. Nothing seems to motivate CQ and this team more than idiots who make such statements. It's nice to see the Koreans were able to find a coach that aligns with their sportsmanship mentality.Originally posted by Cataphract View Post
As for the game, it actually went quite decent when you take some time to digest it all.
Firstly, the result. People often like to say that CQ is 'breaking' all sorts of new ground with Iran such as the loss in Lebanon. Well now, he's won his third match against South Korea and did so against their A-squad. Well done to him and I hope this trend continues through the Asian Cup and all through the 2018 WCQ.
Tactics
As much as people like to say CQ parks the bus or opts for a defensive line-up, that was not the case today. Our starting LB was actually our WC LW and is the most offensive-minded of the three options (Hajsafi, Pouladi, Beikzadeh). Rather than use Montazeri as a RB/3rd CB, he was moved in the CB position and again, an offensive-minded Heydari was brought in the fray. We also started with both Dejagah and Jahanbakhsh which offered a lot of flair and speed on the flanks.
As others have mentioned, the team pressed higher up. Like the World Cup, we were extremely organized in defence but were more spaced out in order to make the transition to counter-attacks much more fluid. In the match in Ulsan, we literally did not have any decent attacks and scored our sole goal off our sole chance (or rather, Korea's mistake). In this match, we had a fair number of chances (Nekounam's freekick, Gucci's volley, Nekounam's header, Dejagah's shot, Ando's shot, etc.). Unfortunately, many of these attacks failed to materialize due to errors (i.e. Masoud tripping over the ball).
The Koreans, despite having much of the possession, were again mainly limited to shots outside the box. They did have 1-2 decent chances (the most notable one being the header that was cleared on the line). However, I still believe the most dangerous 45 minutes we've played against the South Koreans was the first one of CQ's reign in Tehran in October 2012. Since then, the Koreans have been subdued to half-chances rather than genuine goal-scoring opportunities.
Another thing we learnt is that we have options in the back. CQ knows exactly how to drill and position our players such that anyone whose placed there will fulfil their duties. Hajsafi was excellent and as was Ghafouri in his brief time on the pitch.
Players
The line-up we fielded today was semi-reflective of what we'll see in the Asian Cup. I'll address some areas or players worth addressing.
1. Dejagah - I was extremely happy to see him play well. Not only was this his best Team Melli performance in quite some time, he was also able play a full and consistent 90 minutes without visibly tiring. That's extremely reassuring heading into the Asian Cup.
2. Ghoochannejhad - I don't understand why some people say he's fallen from form. He demonstrated his usual grit and did things that are uncommon of IPL-level forwards (i.e. his volley). What Gucci needs is either a strike partner or a more fluid attacking line that can support him on the ground. He is still very much our ace.
3. Azmoun - Continuing off the point I made about Gucci, Azmoun is both a player who can be a great strike partner to Gucci or can better support the attacking end of the midfield. He has speed, technique and vision which means he can be utilized as an attacking midfielder (especially at a time when we need one). Not only will he be able to support and link up with Gucci, Dejagah, and Jahanbakhsh, he will also have the opportunity to take his own chances on goal.
4. Masoud - One of two weak links on the team. Masoud can be a great player in an attacking system but his lack of speed and insistence of slowing down play are detrimental to teams that attack on the counter. This is where you need someone like Azmoun who can work and think quickly to push the ball forward. I believe Masoud can still have a part to play in Australia but not as a starter.
5. Heydari - Our second weak link. I've never been a fan of Heydari but softened my views when Dejagah joined Team Melli and the two linked up well. That cohesion no longer seems to be the case and Heydari comes off as being a renegade in a methodical system that requires discipline and intelligence to function. Running up the wings with your head down and making random crosses with no sense of where you're sending the ball is a waste.
6. Ghafouri - A tremendous improvement over Heydari. He linked up with players and made more of an effort to build up plays. He still needs to be evaluated.
7. Ando - He displayed his normal work rate but made too many silly fouls and poor passes. I was shocked by his inability to properly pass to a player that was 2 metres away from him. Hopefully this match was just an outlier from the high standard we've come to expect from him.
Montazeri, Nekounam, Hajsafi, Hosseini, and Jahanbakhsh all performed well. Rafiei was good as well but will still need to be evaluated further similar to Ghafouri.
What's important for the Asian Cup going forward is having depth in the squad. At the very least, the substitutions today displayed that there are alternatives who can perform admirably when needs be.Comment
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Good point : Haghighi
The rest is abyssimal :
- Azadi empty
- iran still wearing old uhlsport kits, IFF has no shame, why not wearing 1996 shirts in AC2019?
- CQ wasted a good opportunity to test new players. I won't speak long about Shojaei taking spots of youngers and more competent. If I have more respect for Ando and Neku, we all know them, it is not worth insisting on them again and again in a meaningless friendly for fkk sake!
- Ando & Neku : I wonder if playing with 2 DM doesn't kill us. They lack technical qualities to build our game. Their roles are destructors not constructors. Their are getting old, both of them on the field is too much.
- The result : as I said previously I don't care about the results. the performance is more important. Today the performance was very very poor and this results will unfortunately make CQ play the same poor players, the same tactic, the same bus. DON'T MESS UP CQ, such lucky win won't repeat against australia or a strong japan.
- The performance : parking the bus against an asian side, a weak south Korea at home, in a friendly is not what I expect from my team. I want my team with new players, to attack, to risk, I don't care to lose 4/0. I want to see my team score goals that is the purpose of football. Goals are what make you vibrate. Our game was so boring, empty I didn't have any emotion even on the goal we scored.
It is so sad, I had the feeling our team can only score on : PENALTY or CORNER or FREE KICKS or BIG ERRORS OF THE OPPONENT. Nothing from the play, collective buildings, actions...
CQ want to play defensive??? OK let it be. But at least:
=> learn the players to make a good pressing (SK could easily passe the ball and advance in front of the goal). I assume our players aren't fit enough to run that hard.
=> learn them some tactics (when SK pass one or two iranians, they had an avenue to score. how didn't score a goal to iran is beyond me)
=> learn them to counterattack properly. why heydari has to do a fkking desperate cross 1s after he receives the ball whereas he has some space to run and when having other option?? he isn't the lone in this case. Why our players have to pass directly forward when they receive the ball without even thinking 1 sec? And the pass is so imprecise and powerful that the teammate cannot even do sh1t with it.
=> is it forbidden to pass the ball behind to a teammate on a counterattack (or an attack) to calm down and build something, instead of losing the ball with a desperate forward pass????
Is CQ aiming 3 "0/0" in AC group stage??Comment
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Well it depends what your expectations were. If you were expecting a NEC type of performance, I would be disappointed too. However, I thought he was clever in creating some corners for us and played a decent game today. I was actually shocked he was subbed out.Originally posted by aryanirani View PostComment
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CQ is definitely not aiming for scoreless draws. We capitalized on a Korean mistake and took advantage. I can assure you the three Persian Gulf countries we play in group stage will have many more mistakes for us to capitalize on. I don't see how that's a bad thing. But I agree that we looked pretty sloppy today, and yet came out victorious. We may differ on opinion here, but I would rather win a 1-0 game where we played pretty crappy than playing well and losing 3-4, or even drawing 2-2.Originally posted by PSGman#19 View Post
Let's be honest here, Korea has more talented players than us (I'm prepared for the bashing), and we have beat them 3 consecutive times. The group teams we face are inferior opponents, and tactics will change. Heck, I'll even take 1-0 wins in all three games.Comment
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My interpretation of the game:
Very, very frustrating to watch the defensive gameplan of CQ. However, he showed again how he can outsmart Asian teams and destroy them strategically. Not a fan of the tactics though, then it's my personal opinion.
However winning is winning, I've always learned myself that the result is what counts, not the way you deliver it. You can play like a princess but if you lose at the end of the day it's useless.Comment
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This wasn't a usual friendly.Originally posted by PSGman#19 View Post
Besides, Korean coach said before the match that he will use his best players to go all out to win, as it was Korea's last match before the AC. The result counts for me.Comment
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Using the prognosis tool for the FIFA rankings, we're going to lose points for winning!!?!
http://www.fifa.com/fifa-world-ranki...men/index.html
With the win, we'll go from 560 points to 547 points for the November 2014 rankings. Japan will become first in Asia by going from 559 points to 551 points. Had we lost, we would've dropped to 512 points, while a draw would've led to 524 points.
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& this is what the Koreans think of the game on their forums:
http://forums.bigsoccer.com/threads/...-18-r.2013445/
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my meme of the day
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i predict a Spain style WC2010 win in Asian cup for us under CQ......all our games will end 1-0Comment
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We do have to give him that bro - he did get the win and a win is a win.Originally posted by ZandiJoon View Post
I'm also taking another positive from the game and that's how we completely neutralized the Korean attack in the 2nd half. Of course, it would have been much better if we mounted some attacks of our own, rather than just playing anti-football, but hopefully (fingers crossed) either CQ will work on that or our players will just get gheyrati and do their own thing!
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