Carlos Queiroz sees QATAR & UAE as FAVORITES but NOT IRAN!!

[Paradigm]

It doesn't matter... In semifinal, Australia will take care of whoever tops our group.

[Adesor Vafaseya]

Our results at youth levels and ACL should be a clear indication of our current footballing strength and grade in Asia. The rest of Asia has improved while we have sat on our asses. All foreign coaching educators visiting Iran will tell you about low attendance by IPL and Azadegan coaches. For some reason though some of the members seem to think because we had a good team a decade ago we are still a top ranking team which is held back by CQ. In their eyes all can be fixed by adding Sharifi and Khalatbari. Removing Ansarifard and Shojaei and playing attacking football. We do that and all the Asian teams will just crumble at the feet of world class players like Sharifi and Khalatbari.

very well said!!!

[Bi-honar]

I don't know man, some of you guys are really starting to sell TM short and already coming up with justifications for a poor showing.

I don't recall any Asian Cup post revolution where our group games were not a big part of our preparation for the later rounds! Other teams always came into the cup more prepared. At the expense of repeating myself until it sinks in, nothing has changed in the past 3 months, 3 years or 3 decades.

We have a GREAT squad with lots of talent and we have a world class coach. And unlike most previous Asian Cups, we've faced some AMAZING opponents in the 6-7 month warm up to the cup.

Germany played only 4 matches in the 7 months prior to its first game in WC2014 (Chile, Poland, Cameroon and Armenia - only one which can be considered decent opposition with their standards). They won the tournament!

Similarly, Spain played only 4 matches in the 7 months prior to its first game in WC2010 (France, Saudi Arabia, S. Korea, Poland - again only one which can be considered decent opposition with their standards). They won the tournament!

TM will have played 7 matches in the 7 months prior to its first game in AC2015, excluding our shitty opponents in S. Africa (Nigeria, Argentina, Bosnia, 2 Portuguese club teams, S. Korea, Iraq- that's 4 GREAT opponents with our standards)

I think whoever thinks our preparation is justification for a poor performance is being negative, not those of us who expect TM, and will be cheering it, to reach the semis or go all the way.

[xerexes]

We have a GREAT squad with lots of talent and we have a world class coach. And unlike most previous Asian Cups, we've faced some AMAZING opponents in the 6-7 month warm up to the cup.
Germany played only 4 matches in the 7 months prior to its first game in WC2014 (Chile, Poland, Cameroon and Armenia - only one which can be considered decent opposition with their standards). They won the tournament!
Similarly, Spain played only 4 matches in the 7 months prior to its first game in WC2010 (France, Saudi Arabia, S. Korea, Poland - again only one which can be considered decent opposition with their standards). They won the tournament!
TM will have played 7 matches in the 7 months prior to its first game in AC2015, excluding our shitty opponents in S. Africa (Nigeria, Argentina, Bosnia, 2 Portuguese club teams, S. Korea, Iraq- that's 4 GREAT opponents with our standards)

Fair enough, but what was this about then?

What are saying bro, that CQ is chicken and at the end of spring, if everything goes well, we're going to have a whole lot of good strong chickens?!
Personally, I prefer the example of cheetahs for TM... you know exactly how many cheetah cubs you have when they're born, they look exactly like adult cheetahs, they'll practice and play like cheetahs and against other cheetahs, and you can bet your life on it that they will be faster and more ferocious than anything they'll come across out there when it's all said and done.
Coincidentally, all our opponents are preparing themselves like large cats, while we're just wearing the cheetah on our jerseys and visiting them in a zoo, waiting for our chickens to hatch! And what tactic would a chicken use going up against a cheetah, tiger or lion? Sit back in a defensive posture and hope that they caught the Avian flu from you!

[Bi-honar]

Fair enough, but what was this about then?

What about it bro? Preparations aren't just playing friendlies - training (physical, technical and tactical) is the most important part of it. It's not a secret that I was NOT impressed with the S. Africa camp (and that being the only camp in the past two years I was not impressed with).

That doesn't mean that because we had one unimpressive training camp, I think Qatar, UAE or Bahrain are better than us. Hell, we never had one impressive training camp before 2013 and we were still better than these buggers.

You don't remember how many times before 2013 I complained about players not breaking a sweat in our training camps or being on their cell phones or looking like they're waiting for a ghalyoon to show up?! And you don't remember how many times I praised our training between January 2013 and the WC, after CQ got rid of Aghili and Rahmati?

[hzv]

qatar and u.a.e are not favorites in our group and clearly cq is playing mind games now what the purpose of this mind game is only he knows. i would be very surprised if we lose to any of these teams.

[xerexes]

Preparations aren't just playing friendlies - training (physical, technical and tactical) is the most important part of it.

OK. Since the warmup matches themselves don't seem to be a problem, which aspect of our physical, technical and tactical prep has been lacking? Considering much of it has been closed to coverage and we've only seen a handful of pics.

[Bi-honar]

OK. Since the warmup matches themselves don't seem to be a problem, which aspect of our physical, technical and tactical prep has been lacking? Considering much of it has been closed to coverage and we've only seen a handful of pics.

I don't agree with the rumors that that they were closed door sessions. Fans were allowed to attend all the TM games in S. Africa and previous camps and the media has always had access to the TM camps (with the exception below) and actually provided very telling pictures of most practices, including in S. Africa this time.

The only time (that I know of definitively) that CQ blocked access to everyone was during our camp in Brazil which was quite understandable as these would have involved fine tuning of specific game tactics and you don't want your opponents to know what you're doing. That's typical for competitive games and I'm almost certain CQ and most other coaches will be doing the same thing in Australia.

But it makes no sense to have closed door training with your B team and before playing a meaningless warm-up game with the bench of a S. African club, not to mention there were pictures from every TM practice, and in fact their social outing, in S. Africa.

[xerexes]

I don't know buddy. All I know is for a few months now we've been hearing left and right that our preparation has been utter crap with CQ a main culprit for being cowardly and incompetent, but now that we're setting the expectations we're hearing the process has actually been decent and in some ways even comparable to that of Spain and Germany

[Bi-honar]

I don't know buddy. All I know is for a few months now we've been hearing left and right that our preparation has been utter crap with CQ a main culprit for being cowardly and incompetent, but now that we're setting the expectations we're hearing the process has actually been decent and in some ways even comparable to that of Spain and Germany

No bro, that's because you've been interpreting my comments on not being 100% for something, as being 0% for it or 100% against it. We Iranians generally tend to make every issue into a black and white one - it's just surprising that you out of all people would fall into that trap since you're such an intelligent guy and I've seen a LOT of balanced discussions from you in the past.

I have acknowledged many of the GREAT things CQ has done for TM MANY MANY times, from switching us to a modern 4-5-1, to bringing discipline to the team (getting rid of Aghili and Rahmati being a part of that), his regimented training before the WC, our GREAT results (albeit not necessarily the prettiest performances) in the last 3 WCQ games and the Nigeria game , building a solid defense and even his logic and choice of weaker opponents for friendlies before the WC - not to mention our GREAT performance against Argentina, even though we lost the game.

That doesn't mean everything he has done or is doing is 100% right. We got off to a terrible start to our WCQ campaign until he finally decided to take charge and instill that discipline in TM. I was not impressed with his tactics or our performance against Bosnia (and I'm entitled to that opinion) and even less impressed with the comments he made after the game. I was not impressed with the protracted contract negotiations after that (and I don't agree with blaming that solely on IFF). I was not impressed with his choice to play Portuguese clubs on international FIFA dates, and I'm not impressed with what I perceive to be a loss of discipline and regimented training in TM (the Karimi incident being the latest). I'm also not impressed with hearing negative comments from the TM cadre in every other interview about our preparations (I don't think they've been the best and could have certainly been better, but there's no point dwelling in it now that everything is completed).

When you put these last two paragraphs together, does it sound like I think CQ is a coward or incompetent? No. Nor do I think he is some divine figure, infallible or without personality flaws. Do I want him gone at this point or think TM has better options? Hell no and I alluded to that earlier in this thread. Do I think he should stay as the head coach of TM regardless of results in the Asian Cup? The answer to that is also no - I'm a firm believer that people should be judged on the merit of their performance in any job. Does that mean, I don't want him affiliated with TM at all if we he fails at the AC? The answer is again no! Even if he proves that he may not be the best head coach option for TM (based on his latest performance, not his resume or past performance), I think he still has a lot to offer to Iran and our football program and I would love to see him stay on as a consultant to IFF on further developing our teams at all levels.

But that last part of the discussion is neither here nor there right now. Our focus is the Asian Cup and we want TM to succeed and because of that we want CQ to succeed. So, it would make the fans feel a hell of let better to see some positive news re: TM and start reading some positive opinions and interviews from the TM cadre to get us more pumped and excited about this.

[xerexes]

^ Would you characterize your posts about CQ since the WC as balanced or mostly negative?

[Bi-honar]

^ Would you characterize your posts about CQ since the WC as balanced or mostly negative?

Well bro, I say it as I see it. If you go back to my previous post about the positives and negatives, you see that my posts may have been more negative or more positive depending on what I saw during each period (i.e. up to 2013, WCQ in 2013, pre WC in the first half of 2014, and post world cup to now).

So overall, they're balanced IMHO but in certain periods they may be more positive or negative than other periods, again depending on what I see. Being balanced means presenting both the good and the bad (as I did for the Korea game). It doesn't mean saying only things that are neutral or being positive without being objective - at least that's the way I see it.

[rugs]

LOL. Tell me about it bro. Some people even disagree with themselves from one post to the next! One second they're saying this is mind games, the next second they're saying Qatar and UAE are better prepared and therefore CQ's comments make total sense!
Look, I don't disagree with CQ's assessment of the state of our football. I'm pretty sure most of us, if not all, agree with him.
I also think that he genuinely believes that our chances have been severely dented because of that and our poor preparations. I think almost all of us also agree with that even if we may have different opinions about the extent of damage.
Because of that, I have a hard time understanding how this could be mind games when a coach is honestly and genuinely expressing his assessment of the situation. Not to mention, that there's also nothing to be gained by playing mind games at this point - none of the 3 teams in our group will suddenly look at us as underdogs just because of this.
What I disagree with and find very frustrating is the amount and frequency of negativity coming from the TM cadre this close to the tournament. Yes, we all know the limitations, they're the same limitations we have known about for the past 3 months, 3 years, 3 decades - we don't need to be constantly reminded of them.
We just gotta try and work around them at this point and do our very best with what we have instead of dwelling in them in every single interview or blowing issues completely out of proportion on top of it. IMHO that's not appropriate at this junction - that's all I'm saying.

I disagree. In fact CQ has been saying since before the WC that we need to fix things and his constant pressure on the "system" is the only bright spot in our entire football.

I don't think we should try to work around it. We should try to fix it. And he is simply pointing out what is broken. Side stepping major problems in our football is not a solution I would accept. That would only return us to the endless cycle we were in before.

His constant mentions of the issues makes everyone away of them. That is the first step we need to take in order to improve.

I would rather us lose every single AC game and have things change for the better than to win a few and forget about our real problems.

[Bi-honar]

I disagree. In fact CQ has been saying since before the WC that we need to fix things and his constant pressure on the "system" is the only bright spot in our entire football.

I don't think we should try to work around it. We should try to fix it. And he is simply pointing out what is broken. Side stepping major problems in our football is not a solution I would accept. That would only return us to the endless cycle we were in before.

His constant mentions of the issues makes everyone away of them. That is the first step we need to take in order to improve.

My emphasis in that post was clearly on "this close to the tournament", "at this point" and "at this juncture", by using those phrases 3 times in two sentences. No one had issues with CQ saying we need to fix things four months ago or doing for another 4 months starting the day after the Asian Cup. But you seriously don't think these comments are going to make structural changes to IFF within the next two weeks, do you?!

Look, CQ's stance on the sarbazi issue was the correct one.... it was something that could have been fixed immediately, his comments about the issue were mostly very positive and he stood his ground and his insistence paid off. And I don't remember one person saying why is CQ being so annoying insisting on this - in fact all of us were behind him and were hoping that it pays off.

[rugs]

My emphasis in that post was clearly on "this close to the tournament", "at this point" and "at this juncture", by using those phrases 3 times in two sentences. No one had issues with CQ saying we need to fix things four months ago or doing for another 4 months starting the day after the Asian Cup. But you seriously don't think these comments are going to make structural changes to IFF within the next two weeks, do you?!

Look, CQ's stance on the sarbazi issue was the correct one.... it was something that could have been fixed immediately, his comments about the issue were mostly very positive and he stood his ground and his insistence paid off. And I don't remember one person saying why is CQ being so annoying insisting on this - in fact all of us were behind him and were hoping that it pays off.

No, I don't think the timing matters. As I said, I would rather the AC be a failure if it meant changes to our football.