We are tactically the best team in ASIA

[onebloodfool]

That pattern will remain intact after the return leg in Seoul, if we play the way we did today. We completely neutralized the koreans in every aspect of the game.

[Ali Doust]

The difference today was that we had two centre midfielders we weren't afraid to go at the defenders either left or right and hold the ball. We finally got to see how nice we could play if we could just link our defence into offence. I don't ever recall TM having 2 centre midfielder with the capabilities of Saeid and Ehsan.

[Tehranto]

Saeid and Ehsan are both ball-disrupters and their passing abilities and high-octane stamina allows them to transition easily from offense to defense and vice-versa. This is where their real assets come in. Thank God no more Hajsafi at LB.

Thank you Milad Mohammadi for moving to Europe and learning the art of being a modern-day left back (both defensively and offensively).

[Taz]

Be grateful for the times we live in. I don't imagine we'll have it so good for a very long time once the king relinquishes his throne.

[allan123]

Carlos Queiroz is a master defensive mind ofcourse the Queiroz football style is not actractive but is very effective.

[persian-eagle-13]

i think it is safe to say that CQ knows Korea like a back of his hands!! more so than Afshin Qotbee

[Karimi 8]

I never doubted Carlos. I don't know How we got him and how we managed to convince him to stay. But this guy is changing the face of our football and stands up to the federation. He is creating professionalism and professional soccer players in an unprofessional federation and environment. The guy is a legend and he proof is in the quality of the games.

[persian-eagle-13]

For the first time in my life I am watching TM games without stress, because I know we are going into the games with plans and not prayers and salvaates!! Even if we had lost today I would have been okay as I knew we had plans for every min of the game. previous to CQ, every game was a emotional roller coaster.

[Z Joon]

i think it is safe to say that CQ knows Korea like a back of his hands!! more so than Afshin Qotbee

This is a direct insult to a coach like Afshin Ghotbi that truly knows Korea like the back of his hand

[babak_iran]

This is a direct insult to a coach like Afshin Ghotbi that truly knows Korea like the back of his hand

[Kian Persepolis]

This is a direct insult to a coach like Afshin Ghotbi that truly knows Korea like the back of his hand

Can someone fill me in on this Ghotbi-Korea thing?

[Zamboor]

For the first time in my life I am watching TM games without stress, because I know we are going into the games with plans and not prayers and salvaates!! Even if we had lost today I would have been okay as I knew we had plans for every min of the game. previous to CQ, every game was a emotional roller coaster.

Amen, its not like the old days PLEASE SCORE A GOAL YES A GOAL NOW PLEASE DONT LET THEM SCORE for 90 minutes wanting to pull out my hair and scream. Now I watch and im like hey we can hold the ball we can pass the ball we dont need to depend on ali karimi dribbling the whole other team and scoring a winner to take us to the world cup cause our defence can actually hold possesion and put high pressure on the other team so they can create shit!

[Camran khan]

Can someone fill me in on this Ghotbi-Korea thing?

Ghotbi was South Korea's assistant coach between 2004-2007, so when we were going to face them he claimed that he knew them like 'the back of his hand', but when we lost everyone started to make fun of him for that statement.


It feels so good looking at the YouTube comments seeing all different nations in Asia agreeing that we are the best in Asia.

[Bessos]

TM in 2016:

- Did not lose a match.

- Conceded only 1 goal, against Macedonia.

- Won every match except the draw with China.

The last 2 matches for 2016 will be a friendly match with Thailand, and the WCQ match against Syria which is to be played in Malaysia. Realistically we can win both matches without conceding a goal. What a fantastic year for TM.

[Bi-honar]

Leaving the matches long in the past and focusing just on our recent qualification matches, tactically speaking:

* We were absolutely superior to Korea yesterday throughout the 90 minutes - no doubt about that.

* We were absolutely superior to Uzbekistan in the 1st half and I think our performance in the 2nd half was on par with them.

* We were absolutely superior to China in the 1st half but I found our performance sub-par in the 2nd half.

* I don't think we were tactically superior to Qatar at all.

I guess, there's a couple of things we may take away from that pattern and only time and the remaining matches will tell us what the case is (I personally hope it's the 1st one):

1 - We haven't really had decent friendlies for a while and with the rotation of younger players into TM, there was always going to be some sub-par performances before everyone found their place in the team and the team as whole gelled together - also with CQ finding the right combinations.

2 - Against weaker teams (especially Arab teams) where we are technically superior, we seem to be tactically lagging. That could be a mental thing or it could be that we're not offensively flexible enough to adjust to these teams (i.e. be a little more adventurous offensively) and this may be a tactical issue.

I think the next match against Syria and the return match in Doha would be a good litmus test for this. If we dominate these two matches like we did against Korea yesterday then I'm convinced that we not only have the most talented squad in Asia but we are tactically the best team along with Australia.

I really hope to see that because if that turns out to be true, we will be in a position for the first time ever to make it out of the group stage in the World Cup - and this is long overdue as every other big Asian team including Saudi Arabia have already managed this feat.