Sardar Azmoun @ FC Rostov | 2016/17

[Nokhodi]

OAR - another AFC and UAE hype project. Like Ismaeil Matar before and many others. He has some flashy moves but his efficency is poor and he doesn't deliver when it actually matters. As long as he stays in UAE (willingly) he should not be in the running for any top Asian award except for a Side Show Bob look alike contest.
3 years now on this forum, we have people saying OAR is going to be the next best thing and that Iranian football will be at the level of Afghanistan...

[Sly]

Did you just say he did not start scoring until April? The Russian premier league has a longer winter break and resumes their season in March.. and even during this time early in the year he was still scoring for the national team. During the month of March he scored 3 goals in two World Cup qualifying matches.

After a long goalless period, he started scoring in Rostov's last 5 games of the season! I clearly remember that! Even in the last stage of WCQ games for Iran, he didn't score until the Korea game! In fact that's the only game he scored in the last stage of the WCQ games!

I clearly remember these because I remember people here had Rostov's defensive style as an excuse for him not scoring but then nothing could be said about his goal drought in TM! The thing is, not only he didn't score, he also made many bad and stupid mistakes, losing the ball or doing too much "takravi" so good scoring opportunities would go lost! It was evident he wasn't in a good form during periods of times, until the SK game and his CL goals.

Look, I'm not trying to put the guy down! There is a reason big clubs in Europe are interested in him and there is a reason why western media talk about him left and right! There is no question about his immense talent but let's not get carried away by saying he should have been selected as the top player in Asia! He's only 21 and still learning! He certainly needs to be much more consistent than this in order to top the Asia! In the mean time, we need to come down to earth and be a bit more humble instead of being so much nationalistic which gets out of proportion! Only because he scored against 2 top clubs in the world, doesn't automatically make him end up above a player who might not be as physically strong, but has consistently carried his non-talented team on his shoulder and actively challenged the best teams in Asia! Yes, even if he happens to be an Arab!

Let's calm down hope for the best for our boy to become a leader one day!

[Sly]

Sly I think you have just picked the wrong hill to die on. Just as Iranians need to be more open to critisism we also need to accept when we are wrong.

The issue with this argument is that you are arguing that OAR is a good player even though most here are not saying he isn't. If Taremi got top goalscorer in IPL and won hazfi and league with PP you still wouldn't have been saying he had a better year than Azmoun and rightly so, the leagues that they play in are incomparable and that is a HUGE factor.

I've just showed you how Azmoun can not end up top in Asia by facts and arguments, yet you are talking about me dying on a hill? ok. Just read my posts man!

and yes.... in the eyes of Asian top player list, if you score regularly for Perspolis counts more than if you sit on the bench of Barcelona and don't get playing time. Don't get me wrong! Whcih league you play in is of course important but consistency counts in too! Azmoun has been playing for the Russian Premier league and has been scoring in the CL! He's top 4 player in Asia! That's fair!

[Ando Teymourian]

No one bashed South Korean, Japanese or Australian players - they are excellent and Son had best season this year.

Not in this thread, but again, if you read any other topics regarding Asian players (especially in Europe), those players get bashed too. Particularly when they are about to play Iran. And it goes well beyond normal rivalry talk. I don't understand this overwhelming need we have to bring our players up by bringing other Asian countries players down. Our players are good and talented and special enough that we don't need to do that. Yet we insist, and it makes us look like such fools.

All I am saying is to be honest with yourselves, dige chera khodetoono gool mizanid.

[inarsenewetrust]

personally i think Omar is one of the most talented players i have seen, more talented than Azmoun or Jahanbakhsh (maybe same level of talent as ezzat), but that doesnt mean he is necessarily a better player than those players. Their hard work, and level of training and competition in a demanding european environment, means that they are both better players than Omar, and have the ability to use their european experiences to affect games on the international level.

[PersianLegion]

Yup, especially from marketing perspective ..! That's why they've already attempted to lure him away..!
But it would be way too early. he is still too young, immature and physically weak to be able to cope with the EPL action..! He'd be stupid to leave Dortmund ATM , but if his departure was help ea$e Azmouns transfer to Dortmund, then by all means LP should break the bank and buy the kid.

The problem with Azmoun is that he has a big price tag at the moment, so it is hard to take him unless you are a big club. I think 7m was a better offer and many middle weight clubs would have approached Rostov for that price. Pulisic market value is only 5m, which makes him a prime target.

[pres80]

I've just showed you how Azmoun can not end up top in Asia by facts and arguments, yet you are talking about me dying on a hill? ok. Just read my posts man!

and yes.... in the eyes of Asian top player list, if you score regularly for Perspolis counts more than if you sit on the bench of Barcelona and don't get playing time. Don't get me wrong! Whcih league you play in is of course important but consistency counts in too! Azmoun has been playing for the Russian Premier league and has been scoring in the CL! He's top 4 player in Asia! That's fair!

Dying on a hill is just a saying haha - it's just referring to defending a point of view at all costs even if it is not very convincing.

I personally have not ready anything that has been said about OAR which says he has had such an amazing year.

Regarding Azmoun being on the bench at the beginning of the season - There was nothing to suggest that he was benched due to poor performance and in fact he often came on and made a signicant impact, either scoring or other great play to help his team pull out a victory so to me him being a sub does not really factor into this discussion. Regardless even if Azmoun was benched every single RPL game just scoring in the champions league is more of an achievement than anything OAR has done in his career (again this is not a comment about his skill level - just achievement which ultimately this list is about).

I remember when Chicharito was a substitute for real and couldn't break into the starting line up but every time he came on he scored or assisted. If I think about that situation as an example, if he was asian would I say having a bunch of assists and starting in UAE league means OAR had a better year than him? I personally would not say that.

[BacheLot]

The problem with Azmoun is that he has a big price tag at the moment, so it is hard to take him unless you are a big club. I think 7m was a better offer and many middle weight clubs would have approached Rostov for that price. Pulisic market value is only 5m, which makes him a prime target.

hum..! my understanding is that Dortmund already rejected a $13+mil offer for Pulisic earlier this year from Liverpool ..!
so highly doubt they'll let him leave for less than $15-20mil now ..!
the Two clear advantages Pulisic has over Sardar for LP, are First his huge non-football Marketing value being the AMERICAN young Football sensation playing at a club owned by Americans who are currently trying very hard to market the EPL to the very lucrative US Market, especially nowadays with the recent TV deals broadcasting EPL Games weekly..! the 2nd big advantage is that LP currently needs more a winger than an out n out central striker like Sardar..!
couple of years back Arsenal coulda slightly upped their lousy 2mil offer to Rubin and snatched Sardar for the type of figures your talking about..!! but A LOT has changed since then..!
IMO Sardar is still a very good value for the now going price of 10-15mil ...! a rich, high caliber EU club such as LP/Dortmund can easily double their investment on him in short year or two..!

[Tehranto]

Being labeled the 4th best player in arguably the best league after the big 4 by managers (which spells INCONSISTENCY)+ leading your team to first ever CL spot + beating likes of Bayern, Ajax, Anderlecht + being best player on Asia's best team who are topping their group <<<< Taking your team to Asian Champions League finals and losing (with other Brazilians, Colmbians etc) + being in fourth placed in WCQ group

Incredible logic.

[littlepersia17]

Sardar Azmoun &amp;amp; Saeid Ezatolahi @ FC Rostov | 2016/17

I think OAR's potential is huge, but his ambition is not. His vision and ball control is one of the best I've ever seen from a footballer. It's just a shame he never wants to leave the Middle East.

Here is his highlights from ONE match against Barcelona (strongest line-up) from earlier this month.

https://youtu.be/Vh-8HqjkGZI

Please stop being subjective here. He had a great year. You can't just discount all his achievements, just because they all happened within Asia. He helped his team to the AFC CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FINAL for the first time in 11 years. He has 8 goals and 17 assists in 35 matches for the year of 2016 (transfermarkt). Those are very impressive stats for a midfielder.

[Tehranto]

I think OAR's potential is huge, but his ambition is not. His vision and ball control is one of the best I've ever seen from a footballer. It's just a shame he never wants to leave the Middle East.
Here is his highlights from ONE match against Barcelona (strongest line-up) from earlier this month.
https://youtu.be/Vh-8HqjkGZI
Please stop being subjective here. He had a great year. You can't just discount all his achievements, just because they all happened within Asia. He helped his team to the AFC CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FINAL for the first time in 11 years. He has 8 goals and 17 assists in 35 matches for the year of 2016 (transfermarkt). Those are very impressive stats for a midfielder.

This is a friendly and is not even comparable to legit CL/league matches. Come on, how many times have Arab teams scored on Real/ Barca etc. when they play friendlies, it's a joke. And why do people keep bringing up the Arab comments? We're talking football. We all know that Mahrez is world-class, and he's Arab. So stop it (not directed at you LP).

Yasser Al-Qahtani
Ismail Mattar
Nashat Akram
soon to join: Omar Abdul Rahman

DUDS DUDS DUDS

[Gotham]

It's pretty pathetic OAR doesn't want to move to Europe and instead chooses $$$. He's probably a class player but he's not ambitious clearly and a player like that is only worth so much.

[Ando Teymourian]

I think I need to clarify, just to be sure everyone understands me.

There is no argument that Azmoun waaaaay better than OAR.

My only argument is that OAR is still a good player, and the biggest reason people are writing him off is because they don't like the UAE.

[pres80]

It's pretty pathetic OAR doesn't want to move to Europe and instead chooses $$$. He's probably a class player but he's not ambitious clearly and a player like that is only worth so much.

That's the whole point of the matter. I don't think any of us are insinuating that he is a bad player, he is a very good player but that doesn't mean he has had massive achievements in 2016. Even if we disregard Sardar him being 2nd is essentially saying that Son's performance and achievement in Totenham is not as good as OAR UAE League stats...

[Sly]

Dying on a hill is just a saying haha - it's just referring to defending a point of view at all costs even if it is not very convincing.

I personally have not ready anything that has been said about OAR which says he has had such an amazing year.

Regarding Azmoun being on the bench at the beginning of the season - There was nothing to suggest that he was benched due to poor performance and in fact he often came on and made a signicant impact, either scoring or other great play to help his team pull out a victory so to me him being a sub does not really factor into this discussion. Regardless even if Azmoun was benched every single RPL game just scoring in the champions league is more of an achievement than anything OAR has done in his career (again this is not a comment about his skill level - just achievement which ultimately this list is about).

I remember when Chicharito was a substitute for real and couldn't break into the starting line up but every time he came on he scored or assisted. If I think about that situation as an example, if he was asian would I say having a bunch of assists and starting in UAE league means OAR had a better year than him? I personally would not say that.

I did understand you about dying on a hill! My reply was accordingly!

and I do agree with you about everything you said here! Azmoun as a whole is a much better and more effective player than OAR! No questions about that. Judging by the level of competition Azmoun plays in, his top game is nowhere to be compared with OAR's top game and frankly with his small body, OAR would only dream of scoring against the likes of Atletico and Bayern Munich! But there are 2 different subjects here which should not be mixed! The list is about the best player in Asia during the whole last year! Just in 1 year which player has continuously been performing the best! Whether Azmoun sat on the bench because he was rested or he was in a bad form, is really irrelevant here! The fact is that he was on the bench and did not play (or played little) for a period of time during the last year. and scoring 1 or 2 goals against top teams in the world does not describe your performance as a player during "a whole year"! If you think about it that way, we need to put our bias aside a bit and see things through more objective eyes. Ending up as top 4 in the whole year is very much fair for Azmoun for now!