In Iran Camp: Carlos Queiroz

[Rooyintan]

Iran coach Carlos Queiroz talks to TWG's Scott McIntyre about his side's less than ideal preparation for the 2015 Asian Cup and the honour of playing in the tournament for 85 million Iranians.

Duration: 8:12

http://theworldgame.sbs.com.au/video...Carlos-Queiroz

[eerooni]

why he bashing us so much?????

[puddha]

Since when has speaking the truth equates to bashing?

[CHaMiLLionaire]

Lets look at this from a realistic perspective, shall we?

Bahrain: Their coach took over after the Gulf Cup a month ago, they haven't had any camps besides the ones in Australia. All their players play in the Bahraini League, minus one who plays in the Qatari second division.

UAE: Team has been together since the U17 World Cup with the same coach Mahdi Ali. Their star Omar Abdulrahman is still struggling with fitness problems and their most dangerous players are Ali Mabkhoot and Ahmad Khalil the strikers... Their defense is still weak and their midfield is very small, size-wise. Good preparation, many friendlies...

Qatar: Very new team of naturalized players, literally their front line is made up of a Kuwaiti, an Algerian and a Senagalese.. excellent preparation and impressive results. Most dangerous players are Khalfan Ibrahim and Boualam.

Jordan: underperforming team, lost to Bahrain, Iraq and an Australian club in their recent preparations. Their main goalie and most impressive player Shafei is injured and out of the Asian cup.

Iraq: That was Iraq's A team minus Alaa Abdul Zahra in defense and Ali Adnan on the left that played Iran's B team...


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Looking at the above, there is no excuse for TM not to go through to the semi-finals. I believe that all these downplaying statements are mind games that CQ is playing with the Arab teams, to force them to attack and take advantage, instead of defend and grassroll.

Any pessimistic would look at the above teams and say that Iran is the favorite to finish 1st. Our front line is very young and talented , backed by a midfield who have played their trades in Europe over the past few years. Our back 4 have been playing together consistently now and if they will ever peak, it has to be during this tournament.

All of this being overseen by a coach like CQ, with his discipline and organization.. if there was ever a chance at winning the cup, it has to be now.

Preparation was always our issue, so we learnt to deal with it. We lacked discipline and 120 minutes of football performance. I believe over the past few years, we have had no disciplinary issues and our stamina and physical fitness is comparable to those who play in Europe.

I am really optimistic about our chances....

Another final point to add is - CQ knows if he fails at AC, IFF can terminate his contract by using the clause without any pay. I trust that these are all mindgames.

[puddha]

^agreed, but nothing was said in the interview that was not accurate or bashing. I consider CQ as the best coach we have had since Ivić. I find thin TM the best we have had since 78'. The likes of Jahanbakhsh, Sardar, Reza etc.... I feel this is a very dynamic team. Very 3 dimensional who visualize the entire field. Had these players played anywhere else, especially in the Arab countries, with their resources, the team would do wonders. But then again, had they been born in Arab countries, they would have had Arab mentality. Very koon goshads, "we'll buy championships."

[Bi-honar]

Looking at the above, there is no excuse for TM not to go through to the semi-finals. I believe that all these downplaying statements are mind games that CQ is playing with the Arab teams, to force them to attack and take advantage, instead of defend and grassroll.

Overall a great post. I just want to make one correction here that if this is indeed mind games (and I'm open to that possibility at this point), it would only be useful for the 1st 20 minutes of the 1st game. Yes, we can suck Bahrain in thinking that it's now or never and hit them on a quick counter - much like what happened in the Iraq game, but we missed a clear opportunity to score.

There is of course the danger of this whole thing backfiring, with Bahrain going on the attack from the get-go trying to take advantage of our bad preparation and TM conceiving a goal. I actually think based on this latest interview (that he is using these bad circumstances as a motivational tool), CQ's comments are directed more at our players, that if we do go down it was because of our lack of preparation, we do need to and will pull ourselves together to overcome such a deficit.

Of course, the more the tournament advances, the less important the issue of preparation becomes. If we do beat Bahrain and especially if we do it convincingly, none of the other coaches are going to put any weight on those statements - for example Spain lost their 1st game to Switzerland (having played only 4 friendlies prior to that) in WC2010, but went on to win the tournament.

I think the 1st 20 minutes of the Bahrain game is critical for TM's final group standing and finishing 1st, so if CQ is playing mind games, it's only for those jittery, uncertain 20 minutes.

[ehsan singapore]

we dont need to out extra pressure on our selfs, is better if the coach take abit of the heat off us, will benefit us alot

[O-ZoNe]

Here is what I will say about this. First of all, everyone knows Iran has had a bad preparation. Just look at the FIFA calendar match stats for Iran...there is a huge blank in recent months while other AC teams have been playing friendly after friendly. Our opponents know this (or should know this), we know this, and any asian football fan knows this. So this leaves me wondering, what effect does CQ's words have?

Basically take out the "reverse psychology" crap, because it is crap. In the field we don't even acknowledge this BS. Ask yourself, how does CQ's words make you feel? Are they encouraging? Do they make you proud to be Iranian? Are you happy with IFF and the lack of preparation? If you feel negative about this, chances are, other Iranians including TM players are feeling this way as well.

Now, imagine we were hearing news about Qatar's horrendous preparation or UAE's inability to land a friendly. I can't imagine us saying "oh poor them" and "I hope they do well in the AC"...we would be relishing teaching those Persian Gulf name abusers a lesson in football. This is likely how our opponents are feeling, galvanized to take on a "weakened" TM.

Personally I do not disagree with CQ...as he is speaking the truth...but I think he would be more effective leaving our opponents guessing what our morale is, how is our team prepared, what are we doing if we aren't playing friendlies? I believe in this situation silence is a better alternative than constantly minimizing our team and chances. Why not try getting into the head of our opponents by allowing them to create their own hypotheses and struggle to figure it out...why not try and shock our opponents so when the match is done, they are left wondering what hit them? As an example, look at what journalists publish about N. Korea. We know nothing about them, and in fact, this tactic helped them shock the world and qualify for WC 2010.

While I do not feel like we should be as secret as N. Korea, a happy medium must be found between CQ and N. Korean tactics...interesting article below.

http://www.smh.com.au/sport/soccer/a...06-12it68.html