Carlos and Iran's winning streak against Asians breaks record

[ehsan singapore]

we are simmilar position as 2011, the main difference is the coaches track record, in 2011 we won 3 games simmilar to today, everyone said we can beat korea but we had that shitty performence, and ghotbi could not do it, this time round CQ took iran to world cup, been 2 time world youth champions and a champion league winner, he is a cup coach born for it, would have taken portugal to like semis if spain had not beaten them, but i am sure with the players he has and the good analysis he has we can go very far

[Karimi 8]

I'm sure you guys remember Iran - Lebanon match that we lost 1-0. We played an attacking football, we had 60% ball possession and we had more than 10 shots on goal but at the end no one remembers that. Everyone remembers that we lost the game to Lebanon.

I don't care about ball possession as long as we get results. We didn't have any ball possession against South Korea in WCQ but we won the game and we qualified to the world cup and that's what matters.

That was not our game lebanons goalie performed well and we just didn't capitalize

[Camran khan]

This isn't Kherseh Vasat.

Is that what it is called in Farsi?

And seeing some names posting and them giving 'thanks', is hilarious, since this is not the opinion they had a few months ago, or even one month ago.
I guess my brother Zandijoon said it the best, opinions on PFDC change faster than Eminem rapping.

[Bi-honar]

BTW guys, the last time TM finished the group without conceding a goal was in 1976!!!

And we all know what else happened that year for the "last time"....

[mayhem]

Possession is not important. One of the most important stat is how many chances on target you create. If you have a match with less than a few chances on target that in my book is a bad performance.

[Malkay]

I counted 9 clean sheets but still, a good stat.

Re: our possession. We play to our strengths, defensive unity. You'll also notice that it's a current trend in world football. Counter-attacking can beat dominant possession. It's what knocked Spain out of the World Cup. Holland did very well in the tournament without dominating possession in their matches (Chile had 65% possession against them) and playing the same formation as us. It's how Real Madrid beat Bayern. How Atletico Madrid won La Liga...

Ok they're better teams/players, but people need to look at the cold hard facts - we're not that much better man for man if at all than most of these teams we've been playing. There's not a gulf in class like there used to be.


In Carlos We Trust

[persepolisfan]

I hear the argument of "let the results speak for itself" etc, but our style of play isn't suited for the Asian Cup. UAE had a shit defense honestly, but they looked "tidy" because of the lack of support our attackers have. We win because CQ has installed grit and determination, as well as a strong compact defense. We have a shitty attack, and even strong attacking players like jahanbaksh and rafiei don't do well in CQ's system. I was disgusted by the way we played against the UAE, it was aberoorizi tbh, and it is something we should not be proud of.
I honestly think we have regressed as a team offensively, even back in 2012/13 we were attacking much better and played on the ground, rather now, we have resorted to our classic 2008 bekesh ziresh football.

[The Realist]

Without proper friendles and fluid football teaching, I feel that CQ has identified a deficiency in iranian football. Iranian cannot play attacking football without conceding, so he's opted for defending in numbers and counter attack with few. Even with all his training and pitch demonstration, players are not capable of putting few passes together in the opposition half, that's why most our goals are coming from set play.

Iraq and SK are well known to CQ and although SK's going to be though, I expect Iran to go into the final.
CQ will continue with its system and we shall continue to graft out results and crown the Asian Cup.

On return to iran give CQ the friendlies that he needs and money for proper camps, and he will revitalise iran with a new more fluid system and with young blood.

[Keano]

I'm sure you guys remember Iran - Lebanon match that we lost 1-0. We played an attacking football, we had 60% ball possession and we had more than 10 shots on goal but at the end no one remembers that. Everyone remembers that we lost the game to Lebanon.

I don't care about ball possession as long as we get results. We didn't have any ball possession against South Korea in WCQ but we won the game and we qualified to the world cup and that's what matters.

Amen my brother, so very well said. GOLD!!!!

[persianfire]

Stop Honda and Japan is not better than SK. Is it easy: No. But I bet you SK, Japan, Uzbk, and Australia have as much concern about Iran as we have about them.

Japan is definitely better than everyone else if you look at their strong squad and their performance...!! What makes me scared is that they usually play crap in group stage but they have been fine so far this year.

[Paradigm]

Instead of getting into this unproductive self-praise mode many Iranians are prone to, let's focus on the technical aspects of the game and the other teams that are doing quite well... I just watched Uzbekistan/Saudi game and have to say I was impressed by the performance the Uzbeks put forward. A healthy disallowed goal but they still managed to win it 3 to 1.

By the way what is wrong with Jahanbaksh? He plays very well in Europe, but not in Asia?!

[euphory]

Yeah but who cares about the scores, post the possession stats and then we'll see CQ has made us the laughing stock of the continent.

thats why the world gave us mad respect against argentina right?

[yashar_fasihnia]

I get in but my point is what are we going to do when we play Japan and Australia who have very good ball possesion
skills as well as good finishers huh ???
Then we are gona be in some deep shit

we will do wat we did against argentina, only easier

[Adesor Vafaseya]

I don't have the stats but Iranian media claims this record has passed Branko, O'farel, and Mohajerani's records.
The streak goes back to June of 2013.

Mohajerani's Iran was unbeaten in Asia for two consecutive years, seems CQ's Iran can increase it to four consecutive years given the fact that the main WCQ18 games (final stage of Asia) start only in end 2016 early 2017.

This would be very remarkable and great record!


thanks for informing.

[OFFSIDE_1]

People keep criticizing the team for not attacking or winning the ball possession stats.

We are a very tough team to score on, as even Argentina would tell you so, BUT, there is legitimate concern on what happens if our opponent does score first. We cannot afford to put ourselves in a situation where we have to come from behind. The result would be a repeat of the Bosnia game eventhough none of the teams we play are as strong as Bosnia. CQ's strategy is that anytime your defensive game is able to give you a clean sheet, you have a chance. Plain and simple and it almost worked in the game against Argentina.

For us to have the best chance to succeed, we need to stick to the plan. That is our strength. The results speaks for itself and trying to recreate yourself into an attacking team in the quarterfinals of a tournament is not very smart. Our style of play almost ensures that the opponent will have possession of the ball for the majority of the time. It is not a sign of weakness or fear. It is how we play. To this point, I think CQ is happy with the performance.

If there is one area the team needs to improve on, is avoiding the long balls particularly from the backside.