Sardar Azmoun @ FC Rostov | 2016/17

[Iran Doost]

Wow!!

[Malavani]

Again the same two members sh!ting on our legionnaires achievements in european football but putting some obscure player playing in mighty UAE league on a pedestal... And then they have the audacy to call us emotional fan boys

[PersianLegion]

I'm sorry but it's so lame to bring up Daei's record in Europe, at a time when games in Asia coincided with games in Europe! At that time, Daei had to leave the games of his club, to play for TM! That made him not be favored as a 90 minute player in all games.
But you don't want to bring up or you don't remember Daei's goal against few of the best defenders in "the history" of the game (against that time's AC Milan)! You can not claim that about Azmoun! In addition to that, Daei was playing for a Bayern that was considered one of the absolute best teams in Europe! They won the CL that year! It's really laughable that Azmoun is being compared with Daei! Compared to Daei's achivements, Azmoun is still in elementary school!

Azmoun has not achieved what Daei did at his peak, yet. But Azmoun has achieved what Ali Daei didn't achieve in 22. If Azmoun continues his progress the projected future for him can go beyond what Ali Daei achieved in his entire football years. It can also go wrong with some nasty injury or bad luck as it happened for many extra ordinary young football players.

This potential at this age is new for Iranian fans. As a result you see too much hype and enthusiasm around Azmoun. Personally I can not recall any other Iranian player moving to Europe at 17 with that potentials prior to Azmoun. Few of our football players joined European clubs around 20 and most of them were there in their mid or late 20s. Ali Karimi had offers from Atheltico Madrid when he was 20.(Ali Karimi is an exception)

There is a bad aura around Sepahan for some reason. Most of Sepahan players who joined/join European clubs had/have bad luck
1. Moharam Navidkia > Bochum Germany. Got a nasty injury that overshadowed his progress in Europe and came back to Iran.
2. Ehsan HajSafi > Frankfurt FSV Germany. Joined a weak Bundesliga.2 team and despite his effort team relegated to Bundesliga.3 and he was shipped back to Sepahan.
3. Ali Karimi jr > Dinamo Zagreb Croatia. Was few times on the bench and was shipped to Lokomotiv which is a weaker team and still got almost no time to play in any match.

I don't consider Sardar as a Sepahan product but he spent sometimes there right before he left Iran. As a result he got the bad luck entangled with his progress.

Natijeye Akhlaghi: Don't join Sepahan or if you are already a member then forget about transferring to Europe. You may regret it later.

Lol I really don't see how someone could even THINK Azmoun is a lesser player than AOR or Daei.
!

Who is AOR again?

[Sly]

Highly inconsistent? Rostov ALWAYS substitutes their strikers. They are a defensive team. Defensive teams sub their strikers. It's basic mathematics and basic knowledge of the game. You think it has to do with Azmoun rather than the coaches' tactics. And he got 90 minutes a couple weeks ago.

How have I proved that about OAR? Based on what? Is being obtuse a part of your MO?

BTW, this so-called inconsistent 22-year old was voted as the fourth best player last year in the RPL by managers and players, was recognized by Mourinho & Man U as the star player of Rostov etc. but yes, what the hell do they know. We have resident coaches like Sly, who couldn't get a job coaching under-8 year olds.

So Poloz is not a striker?! How come he gets to play 90 minutes in big/important games when it matters? Give me a break with all those worn out excuses of tactics/defensive BS please! There are big players like Messi or Ronaldo who never get subbed even if they played for a defensive side. If Azmoun is such a world class player as some of you guys want to believe, how come he's being subbed from time to time in favor for others?

Either you are dreaming and don't want to wake up to reality or you are just stubbornly hanging to your bias towards Azmoun, no matter what! I swear even if Rostov's coach says in an interview that Azmoun has lost form and he needs to work harder, peopel like you would come and say, the coach doesn't know anything and that Azmoun needs to change team/league! I mean seriously....

I'm sorry what? Athletico Madrid is a defensive powerhouse (in their home too!), as is Bayern Munich.

Baba, stop the bullshit. The same people that know treat Ali Karimi like a god were condemning him left and right back in the day saying he was a useless player.

Go kick rocks Sly, and take that useless chump OAR with you. Hasn't done shit, won't ever do shit.

Atletico and Bayern have great defense. They might have the best defense in the world today! But with the Daei comment I was talking about some of the best defenders in "the history" of the game! Can you grasp that? Azmoun still needs to go a long way to get signed by a club like Bayern Munich, let alone be compared to Ali Daei's achievements! Some of you people are completely delusional! Talking about going to kick rocks! You're the one who should do that dude.

[Sly]

Yes Daei has achieved more in TM, definitely and it's way too soon to say Azmoun would be a bigger player for TM

Exactly! That's all we say! Thanks for agreeing with me and clearing this up for some other delusional members here!

[Sly]

Azmoun has not achieved what Daei did at his peak, yet. But Azmoun has achieved what Ali Daei didn't achieve in 22. If Azmoun continues his progress the projected future for him can go beyond what Ali Daei achieved in his entire football years. It can also go wrong with some nasty injury or bad luck as it happened for many extra ordinary young football players.

This potential at this age is new for Iranian fans. As a result you see too much hype and enthusiasm around Azmoun. Personally I can not recall any other Iranian player moving to Europe at 17 with that potentials prior to Azmoun. Few of our football players joined European clubs around 20 and most of them were there in their mid or late 20s. Ali Karimi had offers from Atheltico Madrid when he was 20.(Ali Karimi is an exception)

Completely agree with you there. Having said that, again Mahdavikia who joined Hamburg at 22 (directly from Iran), was much more impressive in the Bundesliga compared to Azmoun who joined the Russian league at 17! That in itself is a warning signal that Azmoun may not be progressing properly anymore. He needs to move to another league and get some motivation. In the last 2 games he seemed totally uninterested. I hope if he gets playing time against Qatar tomorrow, that will change!

As for the Daei-Azmoun comparison (which I think is completely wrong), it's true that Daei never achieved what Azmoun achieved at 22. But for all we know Azmoun might not achieve what Daei achieved at 28! As you say IF (and that's a big if) he does that, then we can talk and bring up the Daei comparison. But until then it's just stupid to compare them both at this time and even come to a point to say Azmoun has scored more difficult goals than Daei ever had (a bold claim done by some emotional illogical members here).

[ShervinJ]

Let me put this into perspective, no Iranian has ever scored more champions league goals than Azmoun and he is only 22. Not only that but he scored against Bayern and Atletico with his Russian team. He's 16 goals in 22 appearances for Iran. He scored 5 UEFA goals this season. Even Ronaldo has only scored 2 goals in champions league this season and people are saying Azmoun isn't cosbsitant and Ronaldo played many more CL games this season.

The Russian Premie League is a highly defensive league with many games ending goalless and their top scorer having only 11 goals and second place having 8. All these teams are defensive but Rostov is the MOST defensive with the 5-3-2 formation they play focusing on defense and counter attacks. Azmoun receives little opportunity.

[PersianLegion]

Azmoun is a big shot for us Iranians. Same goes for Son Heung Min of Korea. Both Azmoun and SHM are good players and at top of Asian standard but look at them in Europe. They are not even close to top 20-30 players in European clubs. They will be at best top average player. Park Ji Sung of Korea is much greater than Daei or any other Asian player in Europe but still few years past from his top years in Man United and many people have forgotten him. He was considered a good player in Europe and not extra ordinary.

Have you guys paid attention to other players in Rostov who scored against great teams? Bukharov, Poloz and Noboa have good goals as well. Dimitry Poloz is almost same age of Azmoun and many times is even better than him in the pitch. Why there is no hype around him? Our media is making Azmoun a lot bigger than who he is because we want him to be a much greater player than what we have seen so far. All those interests from EPL and other clubs when he was even a rookie in Rubin Kazan added to our expectation. I personally think half of it was BS and the other half might be legit but ordinary for many people with Azmoun's potential but they mean nothing if they are not materialized. Even if he had joined one of those big clubs, he had still a long way to be among first line up of the senior team. Major big clubs sign tens or hundreds of young talented players from around the world as investments for their future. Majority of these people never make it to the top level of football anyway.

So only having interest from top clubs when he was still 17-18, doesn't hold any water. If he has a solid offer from top 15 clubs or top 4 leagues close to happening then I say it is great and will be happy for him. For now he is doing his effort in Rostov and we should rate him based on this and his performance in RPL. CL and EL are finnished for Rostov and Sardar. If he has any serious offer we will hear it soon, otherwise, stop wasting your time.

[ShervinJ]

I promise you guys, once Azmoun goes to a different league he will be scoring 15+ goals wherever hes playing as long as he gets decent play time. This league is not a place where strikers can show their true potential. Why do you guys think Rostov's defender, Bastos, went to a top Italian team like Lazio even though Azmoun was given MVP of his team last season and they spent 7 million on him. The numbers are incomparable to other leagues.

[Babak agha]

Who is AOR again?

I meant OAR, Omar Abdulrahman.

[Tehranto]

Lol I really don't see how someone could even THINK Azmoun is a lesser player than AOR or Daei.
Yes Daei has achieved more in TM, definitely and it's way too soon to say Azmoun would be a bigger player for TM, but every facet is pointing that way:
- At the age of 22!! he has scored 'CL' goals against Bayern, Atletico, Ajax and Anderlecht in his FIRST!! year/try. This is not only exceptional by Iranian standards but by any standards. As an example, look at Janssen. Dutch people were going bonkers over him because he scored some goals in the Dutch league and the Spurs bought him for over 20 million euros. But how many goals did he score in Europe again(not even CL)? I'll tell you, 3 out of 15 games. Also it's good to know that Janssen is actually half a year older than Azmoun.
- He was voted as the 4th BEST PLAYER of the league, that has some well known players. Even more spectacular that he achieved this at the age of 21!
- He had scored 16 goals already for TM BEFORE his 22nd birthday, even more impressive in ONLY 22 games.
- He has scored 30 goals in 29 GAMES!! for youth team of TM.
These are stats of a true star so far, and I'm not only speaking by Iranian standards. Ofcourse you'd never know where it will go from here, but if can't see the potential, you're blind!

Can we stop bringing OAR into the discussion. The guy has achieved nothing.

Daei and Azmoun are Asian legends.

Great post.

---

Speaking of Daei, yesterday was his birthday, I posted a Tweet wishing him a happy bday, please RT and Like: https://twitter.com/FootballPersian/...03630753476608 Also watch the video, it's so hype!! and shows what a great legend he is.

[perspolis#1]

I'm sorry but it's so lame to bring up Daei's record in Europe, at a time when games in Asia coincided with games in Europe! At that time, Daei had to leave the games of his club, to play for TM! That made him not be favored as a 90 minute player in all games.
But you don't want to bring up or you don't remember Daei's goal against few of the best defenders in "the history" of the game (against that time's AC Milan)! You can not claim that about Azmoun! In addition to that, Daei was playing for a Bayern that was considered one of the absolute best teams in Europe! They won the CL that year! It's really laughable that Azmoun is being compared with Daei! Compared to Daei's achivements, Azmoun is still in elementary school!

You are comparing Daeis peak with Azmouns 22 yr old point in time. Like I said Azmoun has scored 2 goals in CL at the same pt where Daei was in Bank Tejarat.

Do you think players like Boateng/Hummels/Lahm(WC winners) and Godin will not be considered defensive greats?

I in no way am putting down Daei his record for NT speaks for itself. I respect his NT over Europe career and like to think Id be the same if given the choice.

They are in different times and I'd really like to know how the WC ends up being for Azmoun. We all know how great it was for Mahdavikia.

[Team Melli Fan]

Rostov's pitch being fixed:



https://www.reddit.com/r/soccer/comm..._work_to_host/

[Sly]

You are comparing Daeis peak with Azmouns 22 yr old point in time. Like I said Azmoun has scored 2 goals in CL at the same pt where Daei was in Bank Tejarat.
Do you think players like Boateng/Hummels/Lahm(WC winners) and Godin will not be considered defensive greats?
I in no way am putting down Daei his record for NT speaks for itself. I respect his NT over Europe career and like to think Id be the same if given the choice.
They are in different times and I'd really like to know how the WC ends up being for Azmoun. We all know how great it was for Mahdavikia.

Yes, but you were saying Azmoun scored against stronger defence than Daei "ever" did! That's different than the tone you have chosen to use now. Azmoun still need to go a long way to reach Ali Daei's all in all club career (counting out his +100 goals for the national team).

Boateng, Hummels, Lahm, are all great! But not compared to the legends of AC Milan defense back then. They were among the greatest in history. and I'm not even counting the Italian clubs' hyper defensive style.

Yes, Azmoun is a good talent and as PersiaLegion very well said, he should be treated like a good player playing in Rostov. Some people here treat him like he should be playing in Bayern Munich and put his name together with Ali Daei. As for now, they are not even from nearby levels, let alone from the same league!

[Camran khan]

It seems that some people will only be happy if Azmoun wins a ballon d'or. He is 22 years old, rated as one of the best young talents, scored against some of the best teams in the world etc.
It's not all about how many goals you score that will make European top teams interested in buying you, it's also about your potential. Zlatan didn't have the best goal scoring record when playing in Ajax, yet Juventus still bought him. Because they knew he had the potential to be one of the best.

I guarantee you when Azmoun goes to another league he will score a whole lot more goals. His team doesn't play offensive, besides, Russia is not a league where striker score a lot of goals, the current top scorer only has 11 goals. Besides, if you compare the goals/minute of last season, where Azmoun scored 9 goals, he had the best ratio out of all the players scoring more goals than him except for the top scorer.

Also it's unfair to both Daei and Azmoun to compare them to eachother right now, Azmoun is still at the beginning of his career, Daei is a legend, and hopefully Azmoun will also become one, and he certainly has the potential to even pass Daei.

And why the fvck do people mention Omar Abdulrahman? How can he be compared to Azmoun? It is an insult to bring his name up next to Azmoun, Son, Kagawa etc who have proven themselves among the best competitions/leagues in the world.
Are you guys seriously comparing Azmoun, who has played in the highest competition in world football, and scored against some of the worlds best teams, against a player whos only achievement is being rated the best player in a middle eastern league, that is probably below the level of our own league, where 50 year old European players go to retire? Not to mention that Azmoun also has more than 3x OAR's market value.