Iran vs China Player Ratings | Post Match Discussion

[Tehranto]

CQ had the boys training after the game.

You can watch the video here: https://twitter.com/XHSports/status/773178836091412480

[Bi-honar]

If we can obtain 7 points from our next three games (Uzbekistan, South Korea, Syria), we'll be in a very good position.

Good post Nader jaan... just wanted to discuss this particular point a bit more. We can't really afford to drop points against S. Korea in Tehran or Syria period, so the only 2 points we can potentially afford to drop would be against Uzbekistan.

Uzbeks are a funny team though and last time they had the same record at home as they did on the road (2W-1L-1T). Because of that and the fact they beat us last time in Tehran, and the fact they're already ahead of us in the table, they'd be a dangerous team to drop points against.

I know this is not what you meant, but I don't think we can afford to play for a tie in any of our next 3 matches... if we get one, we'll have to deal with it but I hope it doesn't happen.

The boys seem to crack a bit under pressure, being young and inexperienced at this level and all, so going back to Azadi in an absolute must-win against Korea would not be a good situation - definitely not for our nails!

[Z Joon]

Seems like Chinese team was promised 1.95 mln USD if they won against Iran!

[Nokhodi]

Mazdak said there is a good chance we face Turkey before Syria's game.. I wished it was before the games vs Uzbak and Korea.

I doubt it. TM probably has to go to Malaysia for the Syria game and CQ won't want the team to travel and play too tough of a game before the Syria game.

[OFFSIDE_1]

It's not a disaster by any means Offside jaan, but we've put unnecessary pressure on ourselves going into the next two important matches against the two strongest sides in the group (other than ourselves of course).

I think overall people put too much value in ties... ever since they changed the pointing system a tie is not a hell of a lot better than a loss... don't forget 3 ties = 2 losses so it's nothing to write home about.

Having said that, I don't think we should be giving up on TM or panicking yet... we always have a tendency to get off to a shaky start and after two matches we're still in better shape than we were last time around and frankly almost all of our other campaigns.

But it would have been nice if we weren't in must-win situations for our next two matches already... the 3 points were there for the taking and China looked TERRIBLE in the 1st half.

We kind of let them get into the match in the 2nd half, so I think a lot of the disappointment comes from that, not necessarily that dropping 2 points is the end of the world or all hell needs to break loose now.

Of course, the good news is that at this early stage it looks like we're guaranteed at least that third spot even if we have more screw-ups!

Bi-honar jan, true that a tie means you get 1 point only, however, it also means your opponent does not get 3 points either :-)

[Iran_19]

I doubt it. TM probably has to go to Malaysia for the Syria game and CQ won't want the team to travel and play too tough of a game before the Syria game.

Is playing in Malaysia against Syria 100%?

[littlepersia17]

Iran vs China Player Ratings | Post Match Discussion

Not sure what positives to take away from that game.

What's the point of qualifying for the WC, if we're going to play this ugly brand of football and comeback home in no time to start this vicious cycle again.

If crosses, and weak half-hearted long shots is a tactic of CQ, I'm not sure then if he is better than any of our other domestic coaches.

Please tell me if any of you are happy if we play like that in the WC as well?

[04041374]

We can be lucky to watch the games on a HD stream

Just like the EURO games, many people inside Iran couldn't even watch the game since IRIB didn't buy the rights and the game was only accessable to those, who had a digital receiver, which is not affordable for many Iranians.

Instead IRIB showed a movie during the game.

And there is no such thing as full speed internet.

[Kavian]

We really have shortage of good intelligent players in TM at the moment.

Jahanbakh, the promising youngster, has been nothing but a big disappointment. With a dismal performance both during Qatar and China game, he is unlikely to remain as part of the starting eleven.
If it wasn't for the goal he scored against Qatar I would have give him a pink slip today. How does he get to play in Holland top league, if he can't provide a simple pass.

Shojaee never was and will never be specially at this age an intelligent player. His game always very unpredictable. Does mindless moves, losses the ball in critical situations. Insists on doing his worthless dribbling. Gets emotional over a tackle and then gives up the game to contest ruling ..and then comes and attack from behind to commit a stupid foul. How may times have we seen this from Shojaee. I am tired of this guy. Please someone get him out of TM.

Mohammadi, brainless as his replacement haji safi . We really miss Pouladi in this role, although he is not known to have much brain neither. May be Beiakzadeh would be a better choice here.

Shojaiean, what is with this guy and his funny move when he receives the ball. This guy closes his eyes when he crosses. Really poor!

The above is why we didn't win today ... Sardar had no one to supply the ball to him. A couple of good balls were provided by Gucci who did decent crosses. I think he should be starter.

[Tehranto]

We had some real good chances, just none converted. Jahanbaksh missed an absolute sitter after Shojaei created space for him and gave a great pass. What a missed opportunity.

Unfortunately, ARJ and Amiri were our weakest players today and didn't do much on the wings.

[Kavian]

We can be lucky to watch the games on a HD stream

Just like the EURO games, many people inside Iran couldn't even watch the game since IRIB didn't buy the rights and the game was only accessable to those, who had a digital receiver, which is not affordable for many Iranians.

Instead IRIB showed a movie during the game.

And there is no such thing as full speed internet.

IRIB CH3 started to show the game, but all of sudden it went blank and then came the movie .... I thought it was rather strange!

[krol]

The main takeaway from this game is this is what happens when your key players on offense are having an off day.

This was an away match in bad weather on a crappy field--and we still outplayed and dominated the opponent and created more than enough chances to put the game away. What let us down more than anything was 1) Azmoun being uncharacteristically off with his finishing, and 2) Jahanbakhsh being embarrassingly bad. Most of us could have taken those shots and crosses and done just as poorly as he did! He was depressing to watch today. But it happens. I also understand why Queiroz was hesitant to pull him out: First, we had already burned one sub due to injury, and second, as the Qatar game showed, ARJ can be quiet all game but turn it on in one play and get you a goal.

For what it's worth, Korea tying Syria in Malaysia is worse than Iran tying China in China. We're still in good shape. On to the next match.

[diz]

For what it's worth:

France tied Belarus today (yes Belarus) in a 0-0 draw. France is in the bottom of the group, but guess what, no one doubts that France will still qualify

Argentina tied Venezuela today (yes Venezuela) in a 0-0 draw. Guess what, no one doubts that Argentina will still qualify.

Iran tied China today (yes China). Guess what, half the members in this forum doubt Iran will qualify.

Let's get over our self-defeatist attitude, take the point from today's match and move on. Next time, the 50-50 chances will go our way, as long as we keep creating them, which I don't doubt we will.

[NFL]

over the course of two games, I think Sardar has been our weakest player on offense. He is just too stationary.
specially considering that CQ's tactics are more defensive than offensive, Sardar has to be more mobile and active. I understand he is very young and learning, but staying in the box and waiting for the ball to come to him isn't going to get him many chances to score. he is far more dangerous when he receives a pass while running into spaces than when he stays in the box waiting for the ball.

[diz]

For what it's worth:

France tied Belarus today (yes Belarus) in a 0-0 draw. France is in the bottom of the group, but guess what, no one doubts that France will still qualify

Argentina tied Venezuela today (yes Venezuela) in a 0-0 draw. Guess what, no one doubts that Argentina will still qualify.

Iran tied China today (yes China). Guess what, half the members in this forum doubt Iran will qualify.

Let's get over our self-defeatist attitude, take the point from today's match and move on. Next time, the 50-50 chances will go our way, as long as we keep creating them, which I don't doubt we will.

Update: Mexico tied Honduras today (yes Honduras, ranked #84 vs. Mexico's #14 ranking, a much bigger ranking difference between Iran and China).