A Realistic Look at Our Chances- How to Approach Group B

[BacheLot]

Good post, very realistic yet not pessimistic or envious of others. Dame khodeto professional member boodanet garm!
Our best bet is Portugal’s somewhat complacency in their final group stage match against TM, and that would happen, should they win both their first 2 matches And with a good goal margin, while Spain having lost or dropping points in their first 2 matches.
Nonetheless the key for us is to focus on beating Morocco in our opener, and then aim for a a draw or possibly even a lucky win against Spain. I have a feeling that we will play much better against Portugal than against Spain, especially if Portugal is assured of advancing to the next round by securing the first spot, prior to playing us, which almost guarantees Ronaldo’s rest day against us!
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Reasonable prediction..! But I feel there’s gonna be lots of stalemates in our group & Everything to play for all sides on the last match day ..!though we’d be presented with a higher hill to climb than other sides in order to advance on the last match day ..!
I highly doubt we’d be making it outa group, regardless of a very valiant effort..!
Spain to me will be the most likely group winner..!
If we don’t finish dead last yet again or if we manage @ least one more WC victory I’d be quiet content.

[BacheLot]

Great informative post..! Ty
I suggest we get us 3 main threads, each discussing scouting report of our 3 group opponents. Otherwise many good posts as such will get lost in too many similar threads ..!

So guys, let's have a real talk how we can play against all of our three opponents.

Our first task will be Morocco.

Morocco switches usually between offence and defence. Their main focus is defending.
Morocco starts with 4-5-1 formation.
If they attack or make pressure they switch into a 4-3-3 with two DM/CM and one OM.
Renard's idea in his system is having an advantage in the central position of the field playing, if you control this area, Morocco tries to attack through their wingers not from a central position!
That's the important part about their tactics. Ziyech and Amrabat are pretty fast and are very technical. Same goes for Belhanda, had the opportunity to watch is games when he played for Schalke, he is a great player, but inconstant. If you make pressure, if Ashkan ya Karimi have an eye on him we can take the wingers out. Belhanda is crucial, Ziyech and Amrabat get their passing usually from Belhanda. If Renard realizes Belhanda can't reach them, usually he send's Boussoufa to assist him. That means we have room and we can neutralize their midfield and destabilize Renard's system. Ziyech and Amrabat need to assist them too and Morocco will switch again to a 4-5-1 formation. The good part about them is, both Ziyech and Amrabat are attacking players, assisting the LB and RB will cost them much power and speed and they have deficits in defending.

Morocco's strengh:

+ Having fast wingers
+ Having a great OM player like Belhanda
+ Solid defence a great CB with Benatia
+ They know how to defend and they are quite defensive usually

Morocco's weakness

- Switching permanently the formation cost's much power
- Benatia is slow, he will have trouble with Azmoun or Saman, he had these issues in the Bundesliga
- Ziyech and Amrabat are too offensive
- The GK of Morocco is shaky

What's Iran's goal for the game?

Take out Morocco's midfield, try to neutralize the CM, Morocco needs to run for their system, we need to focus on the Wingers, if they're getting tired this can be our opportunity.
Don't park the bus permanently, if Morocco get's the opportunity to attack, we will get into trouble, both Ziyech and Amrabat are fucking dangerous, don't let them play their game.
If Morocco have to run permanently into counterattacks they will have big troubles.
Iran should not try it with crosses, Benatia is pretty good in the air, but shaky if you use your speed against him, Sardar time to shine!

FORMATION

                         Beiranvand
Ramin        Agha Jalal        Pouraliganji     Milad
-------------Karimi                  Ashkan
ARJ                         Saman                   Taremi
---------------------------Sardar

I would suggest we also play the 4-5-1 formation when we defend with two main "teams", that means our defence + Karimi, Ashkan are "one team" which try to make pressure in the CM-position Saman, ARJ, Taremi try to use the free space and pass to Sardar or try it with range shots, they build our "attacking team".

[Adesor Vafaseya]

Great informative post..! Ty
I suggest we get us 3 main threads, each discussing scouting report of our 3 group opponents. Otherwise many good posts as such will get lost in too many similar threads ..!

This was a lone thread initially but that post was grouped here in this thread, because (as usual) after the draw many similiar threads were opened.
For the time being we shall discuss matter in one compact thread, please!
thanks

[Surenas]

Yea, I didn't had the time for the other teams, but my initial goal, that we really focus on the other teams, making analysis of their formation etc.
But yea:
Now I have more time. All together

Our first task will be Morocco.

Morocco switches usually between offence and defence. Their main focus is defending.
Morocco starts with 4-5-1 formation.
If they attack or make pressure they switch into a 4-3-3 with two DM/CM and one OM.
Renard's idea in his system is having an advantage in the central position of the field playing, if you control this area, Morocco tries to attack through their wingers not from a central position!
That's the important part about their tactics. Ziyech and Amrabat are pretty fast and are very technical. Same goes for Belhanda, had the opportunity to watch is games when he played for Schalke, he is a great player, but inconstant. If you make pressure, if Ashkan ya Karimi have an eye on him we can take the wingers out. Belhanda is crucial, Ziyech and Amrabat get their passing usually from Belhanda. If Renard realizes Belhanda can't reach them, usually he send's Boussoufa to assist him. That means we have room and we can neutralize their midfield and destabilize Renard's system. Ziyech and Amrabat need to assist them too and Morocco will switch again to a 4-5-1 formation. The good part about them is, both Ziyech and Amrabat are attacking players, assisting the LB and RB will cost them much power and speed and they have deficits in defending.

Morocco's strengh:

+ Having fast wingers
+ Having a great OM player like Belhanda
+ Solid defence a great CB with Benatia
+ They know how to defend and they are quite defensive usually

Morocco's weakness

- Switching permanently the formation cost's much power
- Benatia is slow, he will have trouble with Azmoun or Saman, he had these issues in the Bundesliga
- Ziyech and Amrabat are too offensive
- The GK of Morocco is shaky

What's Iran's goal for the game?

Take out Morocco's midfield, try to neutralize the CM, Morocco needs to run for their system, we need to focus on the Wingers, if they're getting tired this can be our opportunity.
Don't park the bus permanently, if Morocco get's the opportunity to attack, we will get into trouble, both Ziyech and Amrabat are fucking dangerous, don't let them play their game.
If Morocco have to run permanently into counterattacks they will have big troubles.
Iran should not try it with crosses, Benatia is pretty good in the air, but shaky if you use your speed against him, Sardar time to shine!

FORMATION
Code:
--------------------Beiro---------------------
Ramin----Jalal-----------PAG---------Milad-
----------Ashkan------Karimi----------------
-----------------Saman----------------------
-ARJ-------------------------------Taremi----
-------------------Sardar---------------------

I would suggest we also play the 4-5-1 formation when we defend with two main "teams", that means our defence + Karimi, Ashkan are "one team" which try to make pressure in the CM-position Saman, ARJ, Taremi try to use the free space and pass to Sardar or try it with range shots, they build our "attacking team".








Next task is Spain:

By far the hardest one!
Guys, I think we don't have to talk about how f*cking good Spain is, how god damn superior Spain is.
BUT!
Is Spain unbeatable? Unfortunately yes
No ok, let's keep it serious.

What happend to Spain in the last 1 1/2 years?
They changed their system, they changed many players, but they kept their doctrine of having the superiority over the midfield.
What does that actually mean?
I choosed two games against a team, which plays similar to us in our defensive doctrine, two matches, where they managed once to beat Spain and one game where they where humiliated.
I'm talking about Italy.
In the UEFA EURO 2016 Spain started in with a 4-3-3 formation, quite offensive, but in reality it's more like an 4-6-0 formation
That means Spain is just focusing on the midfield, using their LB and RB to assist their wingers, they almost have everytime superiority, fast one touch football, super dangerous.


spain2016.png

Spain's line-up
In reality Spain played like this:




Which means 15, 18 and 22 are playing together and try to attack from the wings, same goes for 3, 5 and 16.
They attack together and secure the midfield with superiority of four to five players in the CM and OM and in the end they try to score via crosses to Morata.
Italy quickly realized this issue and played itself with 5 players in the midfield and neutralized the Spanish midfield, so the wingers are still super dangerous, but if they make a mistake there is not a superiority left in the midfield, because it's neutralized. Which means Spain's defence is too offensive, if they make a mistake, they're prone to counterattacks. Italy's final goal resulted like this. Italy won the game 2-0, they defended with 9! players and attacked with 6 players if they counterattacked.

Now one year later, Spain changed the system and they found a way how to handle Italy.
But what happend exactly?
Spain changed firstly many players, like now they play with Isco, Asensio, Koke etc. that means more stability and more defensive, so there is even on the paper not a single striker!


spain2017.png

In reality Spain played like this:

spain2017_act.png



Spain plays now more defensive and more compact, but still their main goal is attack through their wingers. In 2016 Spain's superiority goal was more in the CM and OM, now it's between DM and CM. They realized, if you want to defeat a defensive team, you better secure your also your defence and you try to play fast.
Italy managed wonderfully in 2016 to strech to game.
Spain had to walk more, because of Italy's pressing game, if you don't leave space for Spain, they are forced to play a game, which they don't like, so they have to walk, because passing doesn't help them to come closer to the goal.
Spain reacted and Italy reacted to in 2017, but with the false system. Italy switched to a more offensive system, they secured their defence now with just 6 players not 9 like in 2016, they started to attack with Insigne and Candreva and just tried to advance from the right side and tried it with crosses.

What's Italy's mistake?
Italy ignored the superiority of Spain's midfield, they thought let's try it from the winger position, way to predictable! If Alba or Carvajal get the ball from Insigne or Candreva they easily pass with the players in the midfield and Spain starts their attack, Italy has to run, Candreva and Insigne are missing in the defence and Spain comes like a steamroller.
40% of Italy's counterattacks started in 2016 in the central midfield, in 2017 just 29%, they ignored the fact how good Spain is, when you leave them place to attack via the midfield.

The conclusion is:

When you leave Spain the superiority in the midfield, you are done! 100% done! Spain wins, no doubts about it.
If you attack, if you start to pressure if you have a stunning pressing game, you can get Spain! They're not unbeatable, but almost, if you consinder their high-class players.

Iran's lineup against Spain?

--------------------Beiro---------------------
----Jalal-----------PAG---------Hosseini-----
Ramin---------------------------Milad-------
----------Ezzatollahi------Karimi------------
-ARJ-------------------------------Amiri-----
-------------------Sardar---------------------

5-4-1 formation, counterattack an 3-4-3 formation, defensive formation 5-5-0






Last task Portugal:

Is there a significant change in the tactics from 2016 UEFA Euro to the 2017 Confed Cup?

Our focus is on Portugal vs Iceland.

Portugal's formation was left side and right side the actual one:

portugal_act.png

Portugal also plays very offensive against us, but unlike Spain they don't focus so much on passing and superiority in the CM, they like to dribble, to run and creating space for their CM/OM to advance to the box.
We all know we have to keep 11 eyes on Ronaldo, but you can't take him out 100%. We need to keep our formation close, we need to play with a high pressing game and defend solid. We don't need that much a midfield focus like in the Spain game, but we need to defend as much as against Spain.
Portugal's weakness is if you attack from with fast wingers and try it with crosses. Almost every attack of Iceland came from the wingers, their CB's are a bit slow and Portugal's game makes them tired.
If we won our first game, then Portugal will attack 100%, because a draw could be enough for us, otherwise it could be possible that Portugal let us attack, so they can counterattack, but this is very unlikely, if they lose for ex. their first game against Spain and we won over Morocco.

Good for us, there is no major change in Portugal's tactic, which means King Queiroz knows his shit

My formation against Portugal would be:

--------------------Beiro---------------------
----Jalal-----------PAG---------Hosseini-----
Ramin---------------------------Milad-------
------------Ezzatollahi-------------------------
-------------------Saman---------------------
-ARJ-------------------------------Taremi----
------------Sardar/Karim-------------

It depends, both would be good for crosses.

[Surenas]

NOTE: The attached image for the 2016 actual lineup for Spain is somehow in the bottom of the post.

[Iranianarsenal11]

NOTE: The attached image for the 2016 actual lineup for Spain is somehow in the bottom of the post.

Yo that was a great post.. Damet Garm bro

[Omids]

Along with tactics i think CQ, a few months before the WC, should get club teams to play TM but allow them to have 12 - 13 players. This will not only enhance the passing ability of the team, lessen the space that TM will have, force the player to move much more without the ball and finally enhance our match fitness.

[ehsan singapore]

Yea, I didn't had the time for the other teams, but my initial goal, that we really focus on the other teams, making analysis of their formation etc.
But yea:
Now I have more time. All together

Our first task will be Morocco.

Morocco switches usually between offence and defence. Their main focus is defending.
Morocco starts with 4-5-1 formation.
If they attack or make pressure they switch into a 4-3-3 with two DM/CM and one OM.
Renard's idea in his system is having an advantage in the central position of the field playing, if you control this area, Morocco tries to attack through their wingers not from a central position!
That's the important part about their tactics. Ziyech and Amrabat are pretty fast and are very technical. Same goes for Belhanda, had the opportunity to watch is games when he played for Schalke, he is a great player, but inconstant. If you make pressure, if Ashkan ya Karimi have an eye on him we can take the wingers out. Belhanda is crucial, Ziyech and Amrabat get their passing usually from Belhanda. If Renard realizes Belhanda can't reach them, usually he send's Boussoufa to assist him. That means we have room and we can neutralize their midfield and destabilize Renard's system. Ziyech and Amrabat need to assist them too and Morocco will switch again to a 4-5-1 formation. The good part about them is, both Ziyech and Amrabat are attacking players, assisting the LB and RB will cost them much power and speed and they have deficits in defending.

Morocco's strengh:

+ Having fast wingers
+ Having a great OM player like Belhanda
+ Solid defence a great CB with Benatia
+ They know how to defend and they are quite defensive usually

Morocco's weakness

- Switching permanently the formation cost's much power
- Benatia is slow, he will have trouble with Azmoun or Saman, he had these issues in the Bundesliga
- Ziyech and Amrabat are too offensive
- The GK of Morocco is shaky

What's Iran's goal for the game?

Take out Morocco's midfield, try to neutralize the CM, Morocco needs to run for their system, we need to focus on the Wingers, if they're getting tired this can be our opportunity.
Don't park the bus permanently, if Morocco get's the opportunity to attack, we will get into trouble, both Ziyech and Amrabat are fucking dangerous, don't let them play their game.
If Morocco have to run permanently into counterattacks they will have big troubles.
Iran should not try it with crosses, Benatia is pretty good in the air, but shaky if you use your speed against him, Sardar time to shine!

FORMATION
Code:
--------------------Beiro---------------------
Ramin----Jalal-----------PAG---------Milad-
----------Ashkan------Karimi----------------
-----------------Saman----------------------
-ARJ-------------------------------Taremi----
-------------------Sardar---------------------

I would suggest we also play the 4-5-1 formation when we defend with two main "teams", that means our defence + Karimi, Ashkan are "one team" which try to make pressure in the CM-position Saman, ARJ, Taremi try to use the free space and pass to Sardar or try it with range shots, they build our "attacking team".








Next task is Spain:

By far the hardest one!
Guys, I think we don't have to talk about how f*cking good Spain is, how god damn superior Spain is.
BUT!
Is Spain unbeatable? Unfortunately yes
No ok, let's keep it serious.

What happend to Spain in the last 1 1/2 years?
They changed their system, they changed many players, but they kept their doctrine of having the superiority over the midfield.
What does that actually mean?
I choosed two games against a team, which plays similar to us in our defensive doctrine, two matches, where they managed once to beat Spain and one game where they where humiliated.
I'm talking about Italy.
In the UEFA EURO 2016 Spain started in with a 4-3-3 formation, quite offensive, but in reality it's more like an 4-6-0 formation
That means Spain is just focusing on the midfield, using their LB and RB to assist their wingers, they almost have everytime superiority, fast one touch football, super dangerous.


[ATTACH]17638[/ATTACH]

Spain's line-up
In reality Spain played like this:




Which means 15, 18 and 22 are playing together and try to attack from the wings, same goes for 3, 5 and 16.
They attack together and secure the midfield with superiority of four to five players in the CM and OM and in the end they try to score via crosses to Morata.
Italy quickly realized this issue and played itself with 5 players in the midfield and neutralized the Spanish midfield, so the wingers are still super dangerous, but if they make a mistake there is not a superiority left in the midfield, because it's neutralized. Which means Spain's defence is too offensive, if they make a mistake, they're prone to counterattacks. Italy's final goal resulted like this. Italy won the game 2-0, they defended with 9! players and attacked with 6 players if they counterattacked.

Now one year later, Spain changed the system and they found a way how to handle Italy.
But what happend exactly?
Spain changed firstly many players, like now they play with Isco, Asensio, Koke etc. that means more stability and more defensive, so there is even on the paper not a single striker!


[ATTACH]17631[/ATTACH]

In reality Spain played like this:

[ATTACH]17632[/ATTACH]



Spain plays now more defensive and more compact, but still their main goal is attack through their wingers. In 2016 Spain's superiority goal was more in the CM and OM, now it's between DM and CM. They realized, if you want to defeat a defensive team, you better secure your also your defence and you try to play fast.
Italy managed wonderfully in 2016 to strech to game.
Spain had to walk more, because of Italy's pressing game, if you don't leave space for Spain, they are forced to play a game, which they don't like, so they have to walk, because passing doesn't help them to come closer to the goal.
Spain reacted and Italy reacted to in 2017, but with the false system. Italy switched to a more offensive system, they secured their defence now with just 6 players not 9 like in 2016, they started to attack with Insigne and Candreva and just tried to advance from the right side and tried it with crosses.

What's Italy's mistake?
Italy ignored the superiority of Spain's midfield, they thought let's try it from the winger position, way to predictable! If Alba or Carvajal get the ball from Insigne or Candreva they easily pass with the players in the midfield and Spain starts their attack, Italy has to run, Candreva and Insigne are missing in the defence and Spain comes like a steamroller.
40% of Italy's counterattacks started in 2016 in the central midfield, in 2017 just 29%, they ignored the fact how good Spain is, when you leave them place to attack via the midfield.

The conclusion is:

When you leave Spain the superiority in the midfield, you are done! 100% done! Spain wins, no doubts about it.
If you attack, if you start to pressure if you have a stunning pressing game, you can get Spain! They're not unbeatable, but almost, if you consinder their high-class players.

Iran's lineup against Spain?

--------------------Beiro---------------------
----Jalal-----------PAG---------Hosseini-----
Ramin---------------------------Milad-------
----------Ezzatollahi------Karimi------------
-ARJ-------------------------------Amiri-----
-------------------Sardar---------------------

5-4-1 formation, counterattack an 3-4-3 formation, defensive formation 5-5-0






Last task Portugal:

Is there a significant change in the tactics from 2016 UEFA Euro to the 2017 Confed Cup?

Our focus is on Portugal vs Iceland.

Portugal's formation was left side and right side the actual one:

[ATTACH]17634[/ATTACH]

Portugal also plays very offensive against us, but unlike Spain they don't focus so much on passing and superiority in the CM, they like to dribble, to run and creating space for their CM/OM to advance to the box.
We all know we have to keep 11 eyes on Ronaldo, but you can't take him out 100%. We need to keep our formation close, we need to play with a high pressing game and defend solid. We don't need that much a midfield focus like in the Spain game, but we need to defend as much as against Spain.
Portugal's weakness is if you attack from with fast wingers and try it with crosses. Almost every attack of Iceland came from the wingers, their CB's are a bit slow and Portugal's game makes them tired.
If we won our first game, then Portugal will attack 100%, because a draw could be enough for us, otherwise it could be possible that Portugal let us attack, so they can counterattack, but this is very unlikely, if they lose for ex. their first game against Spain and we won over Morocco.

Good for us, there is no major change in Portugal's tactic, which means King Queiroz knows his shit

My formation against Portugal would be:

--------------------Beiro---------------------
----Jalal-----------PAG---------Hosseini-----
Ramin---------------------------Milad-------
------------Ezzatollahi-------------------------
-------------------Saman---------------------
-ARJ-------------------------------Taremi----
------------Sardar/Karim-------------

It depends, both would be good for crosses.

it sound morroco weakness is more than strenght, how can the center back be good and slow, we know azmoun is fast ghados can shoot from far, we should test thier keeper ,since he is shaky

[Surenas]

it sound morroco weakness is more than strenght, how can the center back be good and slow, we know azmoun is fast ghados can shoot from far, we should test thier keeper ,since he is shaky

No no, dadash, Benatia is a great one on one defender, but he lacks of speed if you are in a full sprint. If you try it Ali Karimi-like with dribbling, waiting, Brazili-Estyle then Benatia can handle you.

[ehsan singapore]

No no, dadash, Benatia is a great one on one defender, but he lacks of speed if you are in a full sprint. If you try it Ali Karimi-like with dribbling, waiting, Brazili-Estyle then Benatia can handle you.

we have fast players, ghoddos, azmoun,alireza,taremi, we hit them on counter they will be in trouble

[Adesor Vafaseya]

Guys to keep spirits up, Amoo Adessy found this vid, enjoy

[KeonKish]

Guys to keep spirits up, Amoo Adessy found this vid, enjoy

Great reminder that montazeri is absolute class.

Those crosses were all perfect.

It’s a shame that a player of montazeris quality never left Iran


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Iranianarsenal11]

Great reminder that montazeri is absolute class.

Those crosses were all perfect.

It’s a shame that a player of montazeris quality never left Iran


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

First of all, all real OG Team Melli fans know that video and religiously watch it at least once and month and remember how close we were to beating Argentina.

Also... KeonKish im so glad u brought up Montazari


Montazari hasn't been discussed lately.. at all for some reason. But he's HUGE... So so so so so so damn underrated.

When you think of a versatile player, you think of someone whos not great at one thing, but decent at a lot of things...
However, Montazari is one of those versatile players whos not only great at defending, but has high football IQ, passing, and can even play the full back or even wing position when needed!!

[igotloveforiran]

Iran in WC

Please, I know how unrealistic optimistic iranians can be.. just an advice.. dont expect to much..
Iran will not win a single game..0 pts
and we will lose 5-0 4-0 and dont even THINK to underestimate marrocco.. marrocco will beat us 3-0!
Im more realistic and save my heart than thinking the iranian way which goes like this:
"we beat marrocco..we draw spain and we can win portugal" Sorry iranians.. we wont even be CLOSE to win marrocko even..
Save your hearts already today.. its will be fun to see iran at WC though.. not many has the luck to experience that..but we will end up 0 pts as we clearly are the worst team in WC. Maybe im not iranian to you because im realistic..but that is the truth..iranian football will always be "ki-be-kie" football.. they will stress..they will hit under the ball 90% of the games... they will complain for a single referee faul.. but as a system iran cannot play football, they have never been able to do so ..
with that said.. go iran!! im just glad we made it to the WC

Oh yeah.. screw fifa ranking..again some iranian thinking "we are number 1 in asia bla bla lba" baba saket... please.. saket...

[KC McElroy]

I will be also glad if you take your post to the WC.