CQ Rebuilding job since 2014 WC

[lml]

In bold are the players that, at this point, are just about guaranteed to be going to be at the 2018 WC (Assuming we qualify). In italics are the players that may have a chance.

1 GK Rahman Ahmadi 30 July 1980 (aged 33) 10 Iran Sepahan
2 MF Khosro Heydari 14 September 1983 (aged 30) 49 Iran Esteghlal
3 MF Ehsan Hajsafi 25 February 1990 (aged 24) 62 Iran Sepahan
4 DF Jalal Hosseini 3 February 1982 (aged 32) 85 Iran Persepolis
5 DF Amir Hossein Sadeghi 6 September 1981 (aged 32) 17 Iran Esteghlal
6 MF Javad Nekounam (c) 7 October 1980 (aged 33) 140 Kuwait Al-Kuwait
7 MF Masoud Shojaei 9 June 1984 (aged 30) 50 Spain Las Palmas
8 MF Reza Haghighi 1 February 1989 (aged 25) 8 Iran Persepolis
9 FW Alireza Jahanbakhsh 11 August 1993 (aged 20) 7 Netherlands NEC
10 FW Karim Ansarifard 3 April 1990 (aged 24) 42 Iran Tractor Sazi
11 MF Ghasem Haddadifar 12 July 1983 (aged 30) 17 Iran Zob Ahan
12 GK Alireza Haghighi 2 May 1988 (aged 26) 6 Portugal Sporting Covilhã[117]
13 DF Hossein Mahini 16 September 1986 (aged 27) 22 Iran Persepolis
14 MF Andranik Teymourian 6 March 1983 (aged 31) 79 Iran Esteghlal
15 DF Pejman Montazeri 6 September 1983 (aged 30) 22 Qatar Umm Salal
16 FW Reza Ghoochannejhad 20 September 1987 (aged 26) 14 England Charlton Athletic
17 DF Ahmad Alenemeh 10 October 1982 (aged 31) 9 Iran Naft Tehran
18 MF Bakhtiar Rahmani 23 September 1991 (aged 22) 4 Iran Foolad
19 DF Hashem Beikzadeh 22 January 1984 (aged 30) 17 Iran Esteghlal
20 DF Steven Beitashour 1 February 1987 (aged 27) 6 United States Vancouver Whitecaps FC
21 MF Ashkan Dejagah 5 July 1986 (aged 27) 14 England Fulham
22 GK Daniel Davari 6 January 1988 (aged 26) 4 Germany Eintracht Braunschweig[118]
23 DF Mehrdad Pouladi 26 February 1987 (aged 27) 20 Iran Persepolis

Look at how many players have been replaced or phased out of the team over the course of 3 years! Only 9~ players from this team look like they are going to be at the next World Cup. What's more, if you compare the replaced players with the current crop (including the ones that aren't fit) you can't say that we haven't improved in just about every single department.

[Taz]

May the Haddadifars and Mahinis rest in peace and all and replacing two of the starting back four has been no small feat but to somehow replace the two 100+ capped talismanic beating heart(s) of our team and two players who stood out so much in terms of class, pedigree and experience as Nekou and Andranik so seamlessly is the real mark of CQ's work. I can't have been the only one who shat it slightly looking at Ando's tears and realising we've just lost those two come 2018.

Most teams would struggle with the loss of one figure of their ilk and have to go through years of randomers before managing to find something that is even close to respectable but CQ? Nah, I'll just make top class midfield replacements out of my current wingback and a 19 year-old debutant who I can give about 30 caps to by the time the tournament comes around and no one will even notice that we've just lost two of the nation's all-time greats in three years time. All with a national pool of players which to any normal person looks fairly crap. He's making wine out of water, I tell ya.

Just give the man a statue outside Azadi already.

[lml]

That was precisely put, Taz. Of course we miss seeing them on the pitch, but I can't say Iran's performances have been begging for them at all. It's absolutely extraordinary. The changes have been very gradual but looking back on 2014 now, it feels like a whirlwind.

[PersianLegion]

Bro you need to update the ages. They are all from 3 years ago.

[lml]

Bro you need to update the ages. They are all from 3 years ago.

Obviously they are, and the players' clubs are from three years ago too. I just copied it from the wiki. If anything it emphasizes the improvement

[Paradigm]

A. Haghighi did not get any play time in 2018. He was solid in 2014 over the first two matches.