Team Melli squad (March 2016)

[lml]

Montazeri (32), Teymourian (33), Hosseini (34)...we have enough experienced players. Out of all our oldtimers, Shojaei is arguably the most inconsistent. Time to drop him, his presence in Team Melli will only hinder younger players from developing.

None of those players are attacking mids.

[mehdi13]

Ghoochannejhad? Lol. Hes scored like 4 goals the past 3 seasons. Radesh konid bere digeh, hes done. Even the arabs didnt want him. Keep a competitive squad.

[Ghermez Agha]

Great list I hope Mazaheri gets a chance. Very pleased with the inclusions of Ahmadzadeh and Noorolahi

[Z Joon]

Team Melli squad (March 2016)

I hope to see Masoud out of the final list for a fresh CAM like Shojaeian or Pahlevan. I don't really rate Ahmadzadeh as much as last years with Tractor so I don't think he will make it.

But right now there is no need for Shojaei even for his experience we can put a team of fully uncapped players vs India in Azadi and still get a futsal scoreline. Vs Oman we'll have enough older guys, then we can think about calling him couple of times to bench-warm during the final WCQ and share his experience with the younger guys

Otherwise nice list everyone deserves to at least know that they were being looked at, we'll see how many new players make the final cut

[K. Nader]

Instead of complaining about player X or Y's inclusion every time a list is released, accept it and move on. CQ knows what he is doing; he knows exactly when he needs to replace older players with younger ones. In the last 1.5 years, we've seen the following regulars retire or get cut from Team Melli in favour of younger players.

Retired/Cut Players: Ahmadi (35) | Nekounam (35) | Sadeghi (34) | Beikzadeh (32) | Heydari (32) | Hadadifar (32) | Nouri (33) | Alenemeh (33)

Replaced By: Beiranvand (23) | Mohammadi (22) | Ezatolahi (19) | Kanaani (21) | Pouraliganji (22) | Torabi (21) | Azmoun (21) | Taremi (23) | Rezaeian (25)

So as far as age and youth injection is concerned, it should be the last of our problems. This has already become one of the youngest Team Melli sides in many years.

As mentioned we currently have 4 'old-timers' left: Hosseini (34) | Montazeri (32) | Teymourian (33) | Masoud (31)

My personal feeling for the World Cup (if we qualify) is that Montazeri and Teymourian will still be part of the team. Montazeri will start alongside a younger CB while Teymourian will sit on the bench. Dejagah will replace Shojaei as our senior CAM while the likes of Rafiei & Rahmani will be invited. Hosseini's inclusion and degree of involvement depends on form. If he is still performing as well in two years, then why not have him in the team (even as a very reliable bench player).

[Ando Teymourian]

I don't understand the inclusion of the following players:

1.Morteza Poolaliganji.
You would think that CQ has to punish this money greedy player at one point, but he isn't. Not to mention that his form has been shit lately, and he has been making sooti's left and right in a weak Qatari League. His call-up is unacceptable.

2.Masoud Shojaei.
Shojaei? Really? It's time for new and fresh blood, and Shojaei is way past his prime. He isn't useful in the long run because he will be way too old when the 2018 World Cup comes, why not inviting a younger CAM like Rahmani? There is no point in calling up Masoud anymore.

Also, I wonder who will replace Hosseini and Montazeri because we really lack youngsters in the CB department. Testing younger CB's in these 2 matches would have been ideal since we are already through, most likely.

Other than that, nothing special about this list.

1) If Pouraliganji was still in Iran would you say the same thing? You would have to, because the two leagues are basically on the same level (give or take). But you probably wouldn't. And where are these sootis left and right? Besides the one from his last game, can you mention another? TM isn't a place to sever ties with players because of choosing a league to a similar level of Iran's, or else Nekounam and Gucci should have been cut years ago.

2) Rahmani is sarbaz , Soroush is sarbaz, Abdollazadeh is sarbaz.

[Sarbaze-Vatan]

Instead of complaining about player X or Y's inclusion every time a list is released, accept it and move on. CQ knows what he is doing; he knows exactly when he needs to replace older players with younger ones. In the last 1.5 years, we've seen the following regulars retire or get cut from Team Melli in favour of younger players.

Retired/Cut Players: Ahmadi (35) | Nekounam (35) | Sadeghi (34) | Beikzadeh (32) | Heydari (32) | Hadadifar (32) | Nouri (33) | Alenemeh (33)

Replaced By: Beiranvand (23) | Mohammadi (22) | Ezatolahi (19) | Kanaani (21) | Pouraliganji (22) | Torabi (21) | Azmoun (21) | Taremi (23) | Rezaeian (25)

So as far as age and youth injection is concerned, it should be the last of our problems. This has already become one of the youngest Team Melli sides in many years.

As mentioned we currently have 4 'old-timers' left: Hosseini (34) | Montazeri (32) | Teymourian (33) | Masoud (31)

My personal feeling for the World Cup (if we qualify) is that Montazeri and Teymourian will still be part of the team. Montazeri will start alongside a younger CB while Teymourian will sit on the bench. Dejagah will replace Shojaei as our senior CAM while the likes of Rafiei & Rahmani will be invited. Hosseini's inclusion and degree of involvement depends on form. If he is still performing as well in two years, then why not have him in the team (even as a very reliable bench player).

Other than Dejagah, do we have any other reliable CAM players? Name please.

[K. Nader]

Other than Dejagah, do we have any other reliable CAM players? Name please.

In a 4-2-3-1 formation, players that come to mind include: Dejagah, Torabi, Taremi, Rafiei, Rahmani, and Abollahzadeh.

[Z Joon]

In a 4-2-3-1 formation, players that come to mind include: Dejagah, Torabi, Taremi, Rafiei, Rahmani, and Abollahzadeh.

I think from this list only Bakhtiar, Rafiei and Taremi would be appropriate CAMs. Dejagah is wasted in this position, and Abdollahzadeh for me is out of the picture for now he has been pretty disappointing and invisible this season, rotation player in Tractor often benched by Sina Ashoori and now bench player in Foolad who are doing pretty poorly (and I'd say that he's more of a CM/DM).

I'd like to see Dariush Shojaeian have a shot at CAM, besides his technique that is probably the best we have available among all our national pool, his playmaking abilities are promising but I feel like he isn't really what CQ looks for in a CAM

[Sarbaze-Vatan]

In a 4-2-3-1 formation, players that come to mind include: Dejagah, Torabi, Taremi, Rafiei, Rahmani, and Abollahzadeh.

The players like Rahmani, Rafiei, and Abdollahzadeh still have not proven themselves as decent play-makers in international level yet. Torabi is more winger and Taremi is more centre forward.

How about Jahanbakhsh? Can he play as CAM? I am thinking of using him as CAM when we do not have Dejagah. Dejagah is suspended against India after getting a yellow card against Guam.

[Z Joon]

The players like Rahmani, Rafiei, and Abdollahzadeh still have not proven themselves as decent play-makers in international level yet. Torabi is more winger and Taremi is more centre forward.

How about Jahanbakhsh? Can he play as CAM? I am thinking of using him as CAM when we do not have Dejagah. Dejagah is suspended against India after getting a yellow card against Guam.

Those players have simply not had decent shots to be able to prove themselves, and whenever Rafiei played CAM in TM he looked pretty good, I still think Bakhtiar would do a much better job than him being natural in this position we need to give them games and the Oman and India matches are the best opportunity to do so

[K. Nader]

I think from this list only Bakhtiar, Rafiei and Taremi would be appropriate CAMs. Dejagah is wasted in this position, and Abdollahzadeh for me is out of the picture for now he has been pretty disappointing and invisible this season, rotation player in Tractor often benched by Sina Ashoori and now bench player in Foolad who are doing pretty poorly (and I'd say that he's more of a CM/DM).

I'd like to see Dariush Shojaeian have a shot at CAM, besides his technique that is probably the best we have available among all our national pool, his playmaking abilities are promising but I feel like he isn't really what CQ looks for in a CAM

The players like Rahmani, Rafiei, and Abdollahzadeh still have not proven themselves as decent play-makers in international level yet. Torabi is more winger and Taremi is more centre forward.

How about Jahanbakhsh? Can he play as CAM? I am thinking of using him as CAM when we do not have Dejagah. Dejagah is suspended against India after getting a yellow card against Guam.

Dejagah is a fail-safe option for now. Going forward, the expectation is that Jahanbakhsh will be running the show on the right wing and Hajsafi will be running the show on the left. Amiri and Dejagah will be the back-ups, respectively. Torabi's biggest advantage is that he's young, technical, and completely committed to CQ's ideology. He's the type of player that will run up and down the field so long as CQ asks him to. Taremi is still up in the air; the next round will be indicative of whether he's a crucial piece going forward or just another manifestation of Gholamreza Rezaei (who also had a good record against lower & middle ranked Asian teams).

Sarbaze-Vatan: I'm sure Jahanbakhsh can play the role but it would certainly be a peg down from his caliber in the RW position. Given the suspensions & injuries, I anticipate the following line-up in the final two matches:

------------------Azmoun------------------
Hajsafi-----------Torabi-----Jahanbakhsh
---------Ebraimi---------Ezatolahi---------
Mohammadi-Montazeri-Hosseini-Ghafouri

Just note that there may be some changes since CQ may want to use these games to experiment.

[BacheLot]

35 players, of course a good list, basically everyone who can kick a ball is there...

een
nothing controversial, so far..!!
the next round of cuts to 23 should reveal more about CQ's intentions..!

[Z Joon]

Dejagah is a fail-safe option for now. Going forward, the expectation is that Jahanbakhsh will be running the show on the right wing and Hajsafi will be running the show on the left. Amiri and Dejagah will be the back-ups, respectively. Torabi's biggest advantage is that he's young, technical, and completely committed to CQ's ideology. He's the type of player that will run up and down the field so long as CQ asks him to. Taremi is still up in the air; the next round will be indicative of whether he's a crucial piece going forward or just another manifestation of Gholamreza Rezaei (who also had a good record against lower & middle ranked Asian teams).

Sarbaze-Vatan: I'm sure Jahanbakhsh can play the role but it would certainly be a peg down from his caliber in the RW position. Given the suspensions & injuries, I anticipate the following line-up in the final two matches:

------------------Azmoun------------------
Hajsafi-----------Torabi-----Jahanbakhsh
---------Ebraimi---------Ezatolahi---------
Mohammadi-Montazeri-Hosseini-Ghafouri

Just note that there may be some changes since CQ may want to use these games to experiment.

Yup I like this lineup, Torabi never played CAM but considering his abilities and strengths I think that he could be eventually moved there, he isn't the fastest but he is a flair player so it might not be a bad idea. Depending on the type of match/tactics we could alternate between Amiri and HS on the left, as well as JB and Dejagah on the right

CM/DMs and Defense also look pretty good, I would also say that this would be our best 11 that we could use in the final round, however in the next two matches I would prefer to see more new players tried out to add to our depth for the next games.

[Afat11]

I know we won't likely see it, since CQ prefers defensive tactics, and I don't know if CQ has enough faith in Ezatollahi yet due to his age to leave him as a lone DM, but since we're playing India in Tehran, I'd love to see a formation with one defensive midfielder. A 4-1-4-1 could work well for TM. Something like:

-----------------Azmoun-----------------
Hajsafi--Torabi--Dejagah--Jahanbakhsh
----------------Ezatollahi-----------------
Mohammadi-Kanaani-Hosseini-Ghafouri