Team Melli is dysfunctional without Nekounam

[Ghermez Agha]

What happened to Reza Haghighi?

Exactly

[Bijans]

Many people definately underrated Nekounam in TM. I would put him in our 'best ever' category for sure, along with the likes of Daei, Karimi, Mahdavikia etc.

Absolutely Agree!! for the longest time he was our BEST player on the pitch.

[OFFSIDE_1]

no question that some people underrated Nekounam and called him too old and too slow. Hope fully they now see the light. We've seen Ebrahimi, Hadadifar and Haghighi, and even a 35 year old Nekounam is light years ahead of these guys.

There are maybe a handful of players who have had as many crucial goals for TM in meaningful TM matches that Nekounam has had. None of these players were given the task to defend as well.

This is a DM player whose primary job was to defend and yet when the team desperately needed a goal, he delivered. For a DM to score 39 goals, is unheard off in our history and these were not goals against Maldives or Guam. On top of that, Nekounam was a field general and that doesn't show up in the stats. Our biggest problem is that we have no true leader on teh pitch, and Ando has shown that he is not that kind of player.

[sirvan]

Nekounam was our captain, ofcourse he will be missed and it is going to take some time in finding his replacement. I personally believe Ezatolahi is going to make us forget about Nekounam the same way Azmoun is making us forget about Ali Daei, i don't mean these outstanding veterans will be forgotten, but that they have found their succesors. Ezatolahi needs more time since he is only 18 years of age and this is a crucial position with alot of responsibility, in 2-3 years he will be our man at the centre of our midfield ala Karim Bagheri!

[H.Behzadi FAN]

wait ... Ezatollahi is only 18 ????

say no more then. There is your player. Let him get in there as often as possible and gain all the experience in the world.
In about 16 years, we're gonna be talking about whether HE is replaceable or can we ever find one like him.

Our footballers are getting better. If only our infrastructure could improve .... we will be fine. BIG IF, I know.
Good luck to our TM today vs. Japan

[ilovefootball]

Stop being weak. Stop looking back. Let a world class coach teach our youngsters grass football.

[AIrani]

Nekounam was in the stadium and watched the game live.

Iran belongs to all the players. Iran played well on Tuesday against a good Japan team. Ezzatollahi played well. He will get better.

Good to have benched Ando to let players know, if you do not play well, you won't play.

Nekounam should do what Kia has done for Iran's football.

Iran for all Iranians. Every player must be tested and have a chance to play for their national team. I am glad Haydari did not play. Amiri was great.

[persepolisfan]

Ezatollahi was great today, and relatively speaking, he was the man of the match. He was very calm and composed, and played far better then ando has recently. Damesh garm

[Kavian]

Neko's return will be worse for TM in the long run. We need to let other players gain experinece. The likes of Ezattolahi can certianly develop to be another Neko.

[Karimi 8]

Our DM's have been Nekounam and Ando for years, and today we saw that we have decent back ups. Against good opponents they prevailed, I am very impressed with Ezatolahi. He is very big but fast for his size, has fancy footwork, good balance and man marking. He just needs to work a bit more on his ball distribution and long range shooting, and he will become a complete player. So young, great future, thankfully he is Europe.

[Kiarash]

I miss seeing Javad Nekounam in TM

[PersianLegion]

I miss seeing Javad Nekounam in TM

Get over it. Neko is gone for 7 months now.

[RaginG Inferno]

The responses indicate that some members did not read my original post closely.

I clearly noted that I don't believe his return would be a net benefit (as we urgently need to develop a replacement). I was merely pointing out that the team without Neku is far weaker. With Neku, we were competitive with Argentina and beat Chile. As soon as he left, we drew with Turkmenistan.

[perspolis#1]

There is a pain period with every transition. Nekounams passinglane covering was probably top 50 in the world. Unfortunately, if we never move on from our greats we end up having a spell like 2008-2010 where we have all washed up players and no youth.

Nekounams age also had drawbacks. He no longer could run forward to help our wingers and strikers by spreading the ball. This was a primary reason we had to watch Gucci/Dejagah try 50 yard runs against NIGERIA. Trying a younger midfield may allow us to hold more possession. In the short term we may lack defensive coverage. If done CORRECTLY, we will have a team by 2018 that is young, pacey, and football smart.

[Kiarash]

I honestly think the outcome of the Qatar game would have been different if Javad wasn't present as assistant coach on the sidelines. His presence is still so huge, and his leadership makes tremendous impact on the squad. CQ made a great choice having Nekounam at his side during this WCQ. I wish he didn't retire, but time was due.