Ryan Tafazolli @ Peterborough United | 2016/17

[Kiarash]

He should be our next CB if Pouraliganji rots away in Qatar, declines and doesn't move to Europe soon.

[Ghermez Agha]

He should be our next CB if Pouraliganji rots away in Qatar, declines and doesn't move to Europe soon.

PAG has arguably been our best player this round of WCQs so far he will never be excluded from TM jus bc he doesn't want to go to europe

[Ali Doust]

Morteza-Ryan our 2 starting backs for Asian Cup.

[Kiarash]

PAG has arguably been our best player this round of WCQs so far he will never be excluded from TM jus bc he doesn't want to go to europe

I find it hard to believe he is and will stay our best player if he continues to play in the Qatar League at his age...he was a way better player at the Asian Cup 2015 before he got wasted in China and now Qatar. What a waste for a 24 year old center back who has the potential to become decent, but throwing it in the trash bin instead by playing in an amateur league like Qatar.

[Iran_19]

This guy deserve a chance at least, a call... Is not easy to play in Championship or even League 1. These are two tough 2nd and 3rd divisions in world. About PAG, well at least he play for a strong side in Qatar. I think his play grow a lot since last year or so. He plays smarter and certainly should consider a move to Europe if the right opportunity comes up, but remember it is always tougher for defenders to make a jump to Europe.

[Super Shojaei]

PAG has arguably been our best player this round of WCQs so far he will never be excluded from TM jus bc he doesn't want to go to europe

agreed. If a player that Is "rotting" in Qatar is playing far better than most of our European based players then I hope they all rot in Europe

[Kiarash]

This guy deserve a chance at least, a call... Is not easy to play in Championship or even League 1. These are two tough 2nd and 3rd divisions in world. About PAG, well at least he play for a strong side in Qatar. I think his play grow a lot since last year or so. He plays more smart and certainly should consider a move to Europe if the right opportunity comes up, but remember it is always tougher for defenders to make a jump to Europe.

He had the opportunity twice to move to Europe, I believe he had legit Dutch and Belgian offers but he didn't take it and went to China and Qatar. He's all about the $$$, no treble.

[Ghermez Agha]

I find it hard to believe he is and will stay our best player if he continues to play in the Qatar League at his age...he was a way better player at the Asian Cup 2015 before he got wasted in China and now Qatar. What a waste for a 24 year old center back who has the potential to become decent, but throwing it in the trash bin instead by playing in an amateur league like Qatar.

I think your bias is speaking rather than logic if you actually would say he is not currently one of our best players. I'd ask you to re-watch the game vs China and Korea especially where he was clearly our best player in both of those matches. He won every 50/50 challenge and didn't allow any space for any of their forwards near the box I lost count of how many crucial tackles he had. Same with the Uzbek game. He's gotten a lot better in a bunch of areas - he doesn't commit stupid fouls anymore, doesn't hold onto the ball for too long, and he doesn't take unnecessary risks....all three of which were his only real shortcomings which in this round of WCQs we have not seen.

I want our guys to go to Europe as much as anyone but to make the argument that he has gotten worse in the last year or two is beyond ridiculous given how well he has done. This obsession with players' club decisions goes too far and this is a prime example

[aenima_8]

Peterborough United 2:0 Charlton Athletic Highlights:

[greenguy4life]

Peterborough United 2:0 Charlton Athletic Highlights:

Nice towering header. Charlton nearly scored a goal that deflected off Tafazolli and hit the woodwork. Their second goal was nice too. Ryan Tafazolli isn't Ali Manouchehri, he's legit.

[K. Nader]

Ditto.

Let's break this down a bit more. In the stretch of 2013-2016, we've had the following Team Melli players move to Qatari clubs:

1. Pejman Montazeri (31)
2. Jalal Hosseini (32)
3. Ashkan Dejagah (28)
4. Reza Ghoochannejhad (28)
5. Andranik Teymourian (29)
6. Mojtaba Jabbari (30)
7. Masoud Shojaei (30)
8. Morteza Pouraliganji (23)
9. Mehrdad Pouladi (27)

*Age at which said played first moved to Qatar shown in ()

I'm not including Nekounam in the list since he went to Qatar following his retirement from Team Melli.

As far as I'm concerned, Qatar has not a major negative impact on our players (or their performance). Montazeri, Hosseini, and PAG have all played for Team Melli before and after their moves to Qatar and have performed at a consistently high level. I think it's fair to say that we can use any pairing of the three and nobody will have any objections. Would it have been preferable for Pouraliganji to move to Europe if offers existed? Of course! However, to Ghermez Agha's point, he's done an excellent job correcting some of his shortcomings in the last year and looks like a worthy successor to either Hosseini or Montazeri. At this stage, PAG has been putting in enough consistent performances for TM to make me believe that he knows exactly what his role is going forward.

For Dejagah, I think it's a matter of circumstance. From a club perspective, Fulham had just been relegated. Alone, I would say this is not a good excuse since he was good enough to get signed by another club. From a personal perspective, Dejagah had suffered a plethora of injuries and only he knows how much his body can endure in top flight European football. Ironically, people say that his performances in TM decreased in quality but they fail to consider that his move to Qatar coincided with a change in position in TM. Dejagah, who had always been a right-winger, was made our playmaker for two reasons:

1. CQ wanted to incorporate Jahanbakhsh into the starting line-up.
2. There was an absence of suitable playmakers; Jabbari, Nouri, and Hadadifar were out of the picture while Rahmani and Rafiei were sanctioned by our FA due to the sarbazi issue. The only other alternative at the was Masoud and as we can see, CQ switches the two depending on the game.

Contrary to what many believe, Dejagah has not turned to a lazy player. His role has changed (at a very late stage in his career) and one of the responsibilities of his role is his off-the-ball movement, which I believe he performs brilliantly. For others, it's easier to ignore what he's doing and criticize him for what he's not doing (e.g. explosive runs down the right wing). My personal thought on Dejagah is that his body is slowly letting him down and as far as TM is concerned, he wants to remain in the fray for two more years (2018 WC + 2019 AC).

Jabbari - who I never though much of, moved to Qatar following the 2014 WCQs and retired from TM shortly afterward. I don't have any comments to make about him other than that I don't believe his quality would change regardless of the club or league he played for. He was too old to move to Europe for the first time meaning that his only options were Iran or Qatar.

Pouladi is another interesting case. Aside from his stupidity about how he went about the sarbazi issue, we only saw Pouladi once more after the 2014 WC and that was during the 2015 AC. Aside from the QF where he did over-do it a bit with his dive, he was part of a defensive line that kept 3 cleans sheets in the group stages.

Of all the players, Masoud is perhaps the most deserving of going to Qatar. He put in years of service in European clubs, played in two WCs, and had hit 30. Most people were writing him off the TM picture but ironically, it's during his time in Qatar that he really bounced back in TM. From the 2015 AC-onward, Masoud has regained his former flair which makes him an important TM player going forward (towards the 2018 WC). Being in Qatar did not ruin him; he clearly did something right which pushed him back into relevance. His return to Europe is only a plus and luxury for the rest of us.

The same can be said of Ando. He moved back and forth between Iran and Qatar and never was his performance compromised. Like Jabbari, it was unlikely that he'd be moving back to Europe, which made Iran and Qatar his only options. Regardless of his club, he was one of the best Team Melli players of the CQ era (thus far); in fact, he was perhaps the most important player in TM b/w 2013-2015 alongside Nekounam. The entire system was essentially built around these two players.

Finally, we have Ghoochannejhad. For me, the biggest mistake he made was not going to Qatar but rather moving to Standard Liege. It was that move that led to his subsequent Charlton transfer (Standard Liege's sister club). Being surplus to requirements at a struggling Championship club rarely makes you a desirable asset. He spent a year in Qatar - re-assessed his options - and is now playing somewhere he comfortable. Again, his Qatar move did not toss him from TM's starting line-up but rather Azmoun's explosive TM start. Even during the 2015 AC, Gucci continued to be ridiculously clutch, scoring 2 goals against the UAE and Iraq.

Overall, I'm not a fan of the Qatari league but I do think that people's perception of how it affects our players is extremely overblown. The mentality here is that if a player falls out of form in Qatar, it's Qatar's fault but if it happens in Iran, it's the player's fault. Rarely do people discuss all the players in Iran that were one hit wonders or had 2-3 seasons just to fall off of everyone's radar (e.g. Afshin, Mosalman, Meydavoudi, Mahini, Sharifi, Sadeghian, Ali Asghari, etc.). These were all players who people were criticizing the manager for not choosing at the time but now make zero mention of them. For multiple reasons, access to Europe has been tougher for our players than those of countries like S. Korea, Japan, and Australia. Regardless, I think our players - regardless of where they've chosen to play - have done a damn well admirable job in the past 5 year.

[ali alipour]

Ditto.
Let's break this down a bit more. In the stretch of 2013-2016, we've had the following Team Melli players move to Qatari clubs:
1. Pejman Montazeri (31)
2. Jalal Hosseini (32)
3. Ashkan Dejagah (28)
4. Reza Ghoochannejhad (28)
5. Andranik Teymourian (29)
6. Mojtaba Jabbari (30)
7. Masoud Shojaei (30)
8. Morteza Pouraliganji (23)
9. Mehrdad Pouladi (27)
*Age at which said played first moved to Qatar shown in ()
I'm not including Nekounam in the list since he went to Qatar following his retirement from Team Melli.
As far as I'm concerned, Qatar has not a major negative impact on our players (or their performance). Montazeri, Hosseini, and PAG have all played for Team Melli before and after their moves to Qatar and have performed at a consistently high level. I think it's fair to say that we can use any pairing of the three and nobody will have any objections. Would it have been preferable for Pouraliganji to move to Europe if offers existed? Of course! However, to Ghermez Agha's point, he's done an excellent job correcting some of his shortcomings in the last year and looks like a worthy successor to either Hosseini or Montazeri. At this stage, PAG has been putting in enough consistent performances for TM to make me believe that he knows exactly what his role is going forward.
For Dejagah, I think it's a matter of circumstance. From a club perspective, Fulham had just been relegated. Alone, I would say this is not a good excuse since he was good enough to get signed by another club. From a personal perspective, Dejagah had suffered a plethora of injuries and only he knows how much his body can endure in top flight European football. Ironically, people say that his performances in TM decreased in quality but they fail to consider that his move to Qatar coincided with a change in position in TM. Dejagah, who had always been a right-winger, was made our playmaker for two reasons:
1. CQ wanted to incorporate Jahanbakhsh into the starting line-up.
2. There was an absence of suitable playmakers; Jabbari, Nouri, and Hadadifar were out of the picture while Rahmani and Rafiei were sanctioned by our FA due to the sarbazi issue. The only other alternative at the was Masoud and as we can see, CQ switches the two depending on the game.
Contrary to what many believe, Dejagah has not turned to a lazy player. His role has changed (at a very late stage in his career) and one of the responsibilities of his role is his off-the-ball movement, which I believe he performs brilliantly. For others, it's easier to ignore what he's doing and criticize him for what he's not doing (e.g. explosive runs down the right wing). My personal thought on Dejagah is that his body is slowly letting him down and as far as TM is concerned, he wants to remain in the fray for two more years (2018 WC + 2019 AC).
Jabbari - who I never though much of, moved to Qatar following the 2014 WCQs and retired from TM shortly afterward. I don't have any comments to make about him other than that I don't believe his quality would change regardless of the club or league he played for. He was too old to move to Europe for the first time meaning that his only options were Iran or Qatar.
Pouladi is another interesting case. Aside from his stupidity about how he went about the sarbazi issue, we only saw Pouladi once more after the 2014 WC and that was during the 2015 AC. Aside from the QF where he did over-do it a bit with his dive, he was part of a defensive line that kept 3 cleans sheets in the group stages.
Of all the players, Masoud is perhaps the most deserving of going to Qatar. He put in years of service in European clubs, played in two WCs, and had hit 30. Most people were writing him off the TM picture but ironically, it's during his time in Qatar that he really bounced back in TM. From the 2015 AC-onward, Masoud has regained his former flair which makes him an important TM player going forward (towards the 2018 WC). Being in Qatar did not ruin him; he clearly did something right which pushed him back into relevance. His return to Europe is only a plus and luxury for the rest of us.
The same can be said of Ando. He moved back and forth between Iran and Qatar and never was his performance compromised. Like Jabbari, it was unlikely that he'd be moving back to Europe, which made Iran and Qatar his only options. Regardless of his club, he was one of the best Team Melli players of the CQ era (thus far); in fact, he was perhaps the most important player in TM b/w 2013-2015 alongside Nekounam. The entire system was essentially built around these two players.
Finally, we have Ghoochannejhad. For me, the biggest mistake he made was not going to Qatar but rather moving to Standard Liege. It was that move that led to his subsequent Charlton transfer (Standard Liege's sister club). Being surplus to requirements at a struggling Championship club rarely makes you a desirable asset. He spent a year in Qatar - re-assessed his options - and is now playing somewhere he comfortable. Again, his Qatar move did not toss him from TM's starting line-up but rather Azmoun's explosive TM start. Even during the 2015 AC, Gucci continued to be ridiculously clutch, scoring 2 goals against the UAE and Iraq.
Overall, I'm not a fan of the Qatari league but I do think that people's perception of how it affects our players is extremely overblown. The mentality here is that if a player falls out of form in Qatar, it's Qatar's fault but if it happens in Iran, it's the player's fault. Rarely do people discuss all the players in Iran that were one hit wonders or had 2-3 seasons just to fall off of everyone's radar (e.g. Afshin, Mosalman, Meydavoudi, Mahini, Sharifi, Sadeghian, Ali Asghari, etc.). These were all players who people were criticizing the manager for not choosing at the time but now make zero mention of them. For multiple reasons, access to Europe has been tougher for our players than those of countries like S. Korea, Japan, and Australia. Regardless, I think our players - regardless of where they've chosen to play - have done a damn well admirable job in the past 5 year.

Players over 30 who have never played in Europe won't regress anywhere they go. I don't think anyone has claimed hosseini or montazeri would regress in Qatar. But if you don't think Gucci or Dejagah regressed in Qatar then maybe you're a little biased. When Gucci was in Kuwait/Qatar he could barely even score tap ins for TM. He lost his spot to a 20 year old azmoun and only is regaining his form after going back to the Netherlands. Dejagah has also become a player who miss hits shots even worse than taremi, although his hold up play is still good. Both pooladi and Jabari have also regressed and are lesser parts of their clubs now, you just don't see it because they're not part of TM anymore. Pouraliganji's form has nothing to do with Qatar. He's only getting back to his Asian cup form after regressing in China becuase he's in a more comfortable position lifestyle wise. If he stays in Qatar past the World Cup he'll regress too.

The only slight positive about Qatar is that it's a vacation league and players mostly just walk around the whole game (not even exaggerating) so they can spend more of their energy on TM rather than their club.

[Super Shojaei]

He had the opportunity twice to move to Europe, I believe he had legit Dutch and Belgian offers but he didn't take it and went to China and Qatar. He's all about the $$$, no treble.

he's playing well and has improved as a player. That's all the matters for me, looking at a player like asamoah gyan. 4 years in the UAE yet he still delivers for the Ghana national team. Persian gulf leagues aren't the be all and end all of our players. As long as they deliver for team melli I don't care where they play. PAG is one of our best players at the moment.

[ali alipour]

he's playing well and has improved as a player. That's all the matters for me, looking at a player like asamoah gyan. 4 years in the UAE yet he still delivers for the Ghana national team. Persian gulf leagues aren't the be all and end all of our players. As long as they deliver for team melli I don't care where they play. PAG is one of our best players at the moment.

He would have the potential to be even better if he went to Europe. Again his play has nothing to be with Qatar. He was doing just as good/better when he was in the Asian cup with naft and he was a lot less experienced.

It's kind of contradictory that so many people complain about our lack of players in Europe and blame the ipl for it, but when a player rejects Europe to go to Qatar apparently now it's fine.

[K. Nader]

Players over 30 who have never played in Europe won't regress anywhere they go. I don't think anyone has claimed hosseini or montazeri would regress in Qatar. But if you don't think Gucci or Dejagah regressed in Qatar then maybe you're a little biased. When Gucci was in Kuwait/Qatar he could barely even score tap ins for TM. He lost his spot to a 20 year old azmoun and only is regaining his form after going back to the Netherlands. Dejagah has also become a player who miss hits shots even worse than taremi, although his hold up play is still good. Both pooladi and Jabari have also regressed and are lesser parts of their clubs now, you just don't see it because they're not part of TM anymore. Pouraliganji's form has nothing to do with Qatar. He's only getting back to his Asian cup form after regressing in China becuase he's in a more comfortable position lifestyle wise. If he stays in Qatar past the World Cup he'll regress too.

The only slight positive about Qatar is that it's a vacation league and players mostly just walk around the whole game (not even exaggerating) so they can spend more of their energy on TM rather than their club.

Firstly, my judgement are derived from what I've seen. It's easier to call someone bias when you know exactly what kind of response you'll get from them.

Jabbari is currently 33 and moved to Qatar at 30. Of course he's regressed. Most players do regress during this period. Of course, you can come back and retort with 'Yes, most players regress during this phase but he wouldn't have regressed as much if he spent this time in Iran". This would be derived out of speculation and bias. You're right when you say that I don't know how Jabbari and Pouladi are currently doing but then again, why should I care how they're currently doing when they're not even in the TM picture? So long as Pouladi was in the TM picture (until the 2015 AC), I had no problems with his performance (aside from the silly dive in the QF against Iraq). Remember, I'm not arguing whether players would progress if they move to Europe, I'm arguing whether players regress when they go to Qatar.

As for your Gucci and Dejagah comments, hyperbole much? Either way, after every match, there are some who argue that Dejagah is finished while others believe he is still playing an important role in the team. I'm in the latter and I suppose you're in the former. That's fine.

Lastly, as for Pouraliganji, he certainly could have become become even better if he went to Euorpe but playing in the Middle East doesn't mean he will regress. That's just speculation on your part (that is derived from your own bias). He may plateau in his development but it doesn't mean he'll regress. If PAG can be just as good as Hosseini or Montazeri, then we have a very good and reliable CB for years to come. What I'm more interested in is who his partner would be in the future - Tafazolli perhaps?