How accurate is this article about the Iran side? (feedback needed within 24 hours!)

[OzzyOscy]

I've been asked to contribute to a one-off charity-led e-magazine covering all the teams at the World Cup. I'm basically the only guy they know of who knows anything about the Iran team, as a half-Iranian.

But I only know the basic stuff (I haven't been able to follow Team Melli properly) and had to do some research to be able to help them with an article.

So basically I was hoping to get feedback on if it's ok, or at least generally accurate, and if I've missed anything (or anyone). Unfortunately the deadline is Friday noon BST, so I'm hoping for some immediate feedback.

I'll just post the stuff I'm only 95% sure on (how they play, who's likely to start etc.), so it might be a bit disjointed, it's just a rough copy for now.

Thanks in advance, and I look forward to talking about the team next month when they beat Spain and Portugal 1-0

==============================================

THE MANAGER

Iran pulled out all the stops to get the right man in 2011. 7 years later, Mozambique-born Portuguese coach Carlos Queiroz is Iran's longest serving manager since their very first in the 1940s...

...Things looked equally bad for Iran in the final qualifying stage of his first campaign, after a few poor results and Iran needing to win all of their final 3 games, including away to rivals Republic of Korea...

...Carlos has become hugely popular and respected by the public. However his contract expires at the World Cup and he has a rocky relationship with his employers, which has seen him 'resign' several times and reportedly apply for the currently vacant Cameroon job. Still, the fans have everything crossed that he stays...

IRAN

...Iran have established themselves once more as arguably the best team in Asia under Carlos Queiroz.

...a tough group draw including Portugal and Spain... Queiroz will be concentrating more than ever on a defensive discipline and counter-attacking threat...

LIKELY FIRST TEAM AND TACTICS

...Though confident in building attacks with quick one or two-touch passing, Iran at a World Cup will be well drilled in defence, keeping men organised behind the ball and giving the opposition no space, breaking with frightening speed when their opponents commit too far forward. Expect a 4-5-1 against Portugal and Spain, but potentially a 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3 against Morocco in a winnable game...

...2018 sees many new, younger faces mixed with the veterans. Indeed, Queiroz has been ruthless with his squad, entirely omitting several former regulars in favour or inexperience and youth

Queiroz raised eyebrows by excluding former #1 Alireza Haghighi from the World Cup squad, meaning Iran have no experience in backup. In goal will now undoubtedly be Alireza Beiranvand... He also provides an attacking threat, as his throws can reach the opposing half. On the break, this can even lead to assists.

Another surprise omission is Jalal Hosseini... the 36-year-old was dropped to the standby list. Only Queiroz knows now who will partner Morteza Pouraliganji in that key area of central defence.

Ramin Rezaeian and Milad Mohammadi are the speedy full backs who can provide attacking opportunities in midfield too. Although defence is a priority, they provide an extra threat of a speedy dribble down the flanks.
If you don't see Vahid Amiri starting, he is guaranteed to come on as a substitute. The versatile attacker played every single qualifier, as either starter or sub.

Saeid Ezatolahi is a central midfielder who can defend and attack. He's key to breaking up the attack before launching a counter-attack himself. Played in all first 9 final round qualifiers, he's only 21.

Masoud Shojaei is the outspoken and progressive leader of the side. He, along with Ehsan Hajsafi, were supposedly 'banned' by Iran after being "forced" to play against an Israeli club, but Queiroz ignored this and picked both. 2 years after naming Iran's first ever Christian captain, he made veteran attacking midfielder Shojaei captain last year, despite a previous ban for political reasons.

Ashkan Dejagah also captains the side, if fit. The Iranian switched from Germany to Iran when Queiroz became manager... He's still an Iran regular but the 31 year old had been without a club since summer 2017 before joining Nottingham Forest, only to require surgery in February.

There is particular excitement about attack.

Saman Ghoddos is an exciting prospect who plays for Östersund. He was integral to their debut Europa League season, providing goals and assists in wins over Galatasaray, PAOK and in the group stage. He then assisted both goals in the 2-1 win over Arsenal. He originally played for Sweden, but Queiroz made the offer to switch and, after not receiving a call-up to Sweden's next squad, the 2017 Allsvenskan Forward of the Year chose Iran.

Right winger Alireza Jahanbakhsh is the first Asian player to become top goalscorer in a major European league...

Striker Karim Ansarifard wasn't far behind, scoring 17 league goals in just 25 matches for Olympiakos...

...Current and previous Iranian Footballer of the Year Mehdi Taremi...

...Reza Ghoochannejhad, another European youth international plucked from the diaspora by Queiroz... will find himself down the pecking order.

In just 31 games, Sardar Azmoun has scored 23 goals, leading to the inevitable 'Iranian Messi' and 'new Daei' comparisons.

*(The final 23 has yet to be announced, currently it's a 24-man squad so one more player needs to be cut.)

UNHERALDED PLAYER

Saman Ghoddos

CHANCES OF PROGRESSION

Iran will take it one game at a time and see where they end up. Progression to the knockouts is an unthinkable dream scenario. This is not a nation that is planning their second round opponents.

Iran are underdogs in every match, but will be quietly confident going into each one after the Argentina match in 2014.

A win against Morocco or a shock point (or 3) against Spain and Portugal will be something to be proud of. Seeing their bright attacking talents combine with some goals and style would be nice too.

[Iranianarsenal11]

Don't know how this doesn't have any posts under it yet:

Amazing article!! I really couldn't find anything I didn't like about it. Love the addition of Ghoddos and his marvelous Europa League resume.

Also, welcome to PFDC! Even though you are half-Iranian, just remember Iranian's love to round up, so half is really full

[Adesor Vafaseya]

welcome to our forums

...Things looked equally bad for Iran in the final qualifying stage of his first campaign, after a few poor results and Iran needing to win all of their final 3 games, including away to rivals Republic of Korea...

This was Ali Daei / Afshin Ghotbi WCQ2010 campaign, when Daei after losing to Saudi Arabia in Azadi was fired and Ghotbi took the team with 3 games left and 3 needed wins.

...Though confident in building attacks with quick one or two-touch passing, Iran at a World Cup will be well drilled in defence, keeping men organised behind the ball and giving the opposition no space, breaking with frightening speed when their opponents commit too far forward. Expect a 4-5-1 against Portugal and Spain, but potentially a 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3 against Morocco in a winnable game...

Iran doesn't play 4-2-3-1 under Carlos Queiroz, this was from Branco Ivankovic era, unfortunately the media still stuck with this formation and always reports the line up wrongly. Under CQ Iran plays a mixture of 4-1-4-1 and 4-3-3 in the same game. According to CQ himself his line up is always 4-3-3.
In fact what CQ did, he moved away from the old 4-2-3-1 from Brano Ivankovic era and brought a more modern formation.

Saeid Ezatolahi is a central midfielder who can defend and attack. He's key to breaking up the attack before launching a counter-attack himself. Played in all first 9 final round qualifiers, he's only 21.

I would only add that Ezzatolahi received an unfortunate Red Card in the qualifiers vs South Korea and cannot play the first game vs Morocco.

[littlepersia17]

I guess the article could mention the notable absentees from the 23 man squad going to the WC.

All Team Melli fans are in disbelief that Jalal Hosseini, Vouria Ghafouri, and Kaveh Rezaei we’re not included. It’s pretty big news that we have dropped our captain just before the WC squad selection, even though he is fully fit.

I guess that’s the real insight on Team Melli right now, which will seperate this article from any other generic articles about Team Melli.

[Ghermez Agha]

This was Ali Daei / Afshin Ghotbi WCQ2010 campaign, when Daei after losing to Saudi Arabia in Azadi was fired and Ghotbi took the team with 3 games left and 3 needed wins.

Amu jan he got it right - we got some poor results by tying Qatar at home and losing to Lebanon away that’s what put us in a tough position going into our last 3 games of the 2014WCQ campaign (CQs first) we needed to win all 3 matches against Qatar away, Lebanon at home and South Korea away to guarantee WC berth.

[OzzyOscy]

Don't know how this doesn't have any posts under it yet:
Amazing article!! I really couldn't find anything I didn't like about it. Love the addition of Ghoddos and his marvelous Europa League resume.
Also, welcome to PFDC! Even though you are half-Iranian, just remember Iranian's love to round up, so half is really full

Thank you very much! It's not even the whole article so this is good news!

I didn't want to seem spammy so I didn't post a link to the mag that it will be in yet, but I will do. You just have to donate to get a copy, but maybe I'll be allowed to post the finished article here.

While I was researching (and waiting to be approved for this forum), I read the whole '23 man squad' thread and learned a lot more.

It wasn't much fun looking at all the line-ups and tactics of every friendly and Third Round group match to figure things out, especially as info might not be 100% accurate (they confuse all the Hosseini's!). But on the plus side I now know a lot more about my team.

Ghoddos excited me when I researched him. That is an immense record in the Europa League. He can definitely help get a goal or 2 against Morocco and Portugal if not Spain.

welcome to our forums



This was Ali Daei / Afshin Ghotbi WCQ2010 campaign, when Daei after losing to Saudi Arabia in Azadi was fired and Ghotbi took the team with 3 games left and 3 needed wins.



Iran doesn't play 4-2-3-1 under Carlos Queiroz, this was from Branco Ivankovic era, unfortunately the media still stuck with this formation and always reports the line up wrongly. Under CQ Iran plays a mixture of 4-1-4-1 and 4-3-3 in the same game. According to CQ himself his line up is always 4-3-3.
In fact what CQ did, he moved away from the old 4-2-3-1 from Brano Ivankovic era and brought a more modern formation.



I would only add that Ezzatolahi received an unfortunate Red Card in the qualifiers vs South Korea and cannot play the first game vs Morocco.

Thank you for the input.

2010 and 2014 had similar campaigns, but 2014 had the happy ending with Queiroz.

Queiroz joined in 2011 and the final group stage of qualifying for the 2014 World Cup was in 2012. Iran's first 5 matches opened with a 93rd-minute winner in Uzbekistan and a win against South Korea, but also included a home draw with Qatar, a loss in Lebanon and a loss at home to the Uzbeks. I don't remember exactly where that left Iran but I remember at the time Queiroz was getting bashed because Iran pretty much needed to win their tricky remaining 3 games.

I remember trying to calm people down saying "well if Queiroz wins every remaining game to qualify, he will be a legend", and that's what happened! I might tweak or cut that bit anyway.

I've seen a lot of people here putting players in line-ups in 4-2-3-1. From the website I used that showed formations, apparently Queiroz has been trying out 4-5-1/4-1-4-1, 4-2-3-1 and 4-3-3 in friendlies. I don't think I looked at the formations for qualifying because the opponents would be significantly lower quality than at the World Cup. So I don't really know for sure.

I will add that in about the suspension somewhere, because it really blows the Morocco tie wide open. I might have to change my prediction from 1-0 Iran to 1-1...

I guess the article could mention the notable absentees from the 23 man squad going to the WC.

All Team Melli fans are in disbelief that Jalal Hosseini, Vouria Ghafouri, and Kaveh Rezaei we’re not included. It’s pretty big news that we have dropped our captain just before the WC squad selection, even though he is fully fit.

I guess that’s the real insight on Team Melli right now, which will seperate this article from any other generic articles about Team Melli.

I don't know how much I can write in the article, I'll probably round up the exclusions briefly instead of putting them for each position like I did with Haghighi and Jalal. I think interestingly all of the exclusions I know of can be explained. I think it's actually refreshing to see a manager pick players who are fit and make the tough decisions for the team to keep it balanced, rather than rely on qualifying performance and name. I'm also half-English so I know what happens when you bring your best players but they're unfit or not in form! You end up like England!

[Mansoor]

Hi Ozzy,

Iran plays 4-3-3 in just about every match. Queiroz likes the dynamic of this formation. He changes the formation of the three midfielders depending on his game plans. He prefers V-shape-three-midfielders with one CDM and two players to left and right. One of the two usually plays more defensively and closer to CDM. In this squad, Hajsafi plays to the left of Ezatollahi with more defensive duties. Also, Ezattollahi is suspended for the first match and he is still trying to find a replacement after dropping Ali Karimi due to injury. He has tried Cheshmi, Montazeri, and Ebrahimi for CDM. Ebrahimi is also recovering from injury.

Queiroz is still undecided for the right mid. For the right mid, his first choice is Dejagah but he has been injured. He has tried Ansarifard there. He may try Rezaeian there if he decides to put more defensive player like Montazeri at right back. His three midfielders are his pressure points during defensive phase, especially against strong team like Spain and Portugal, and he needs more speed, specially to turn and run.

Like I said, Queiroz likes the dynamic of his 4-3-3. When Iran loses position, the two wingers drop back to line up with the two left and right midfielders forming 4-1-4-1. When Iran gains position, the wingers move up near CF to form classic 4-3-3. He also like to create illusion with Taremi as the left winger. Taremi often sneaks in front of CF Azmoun when Azmoun draws the defenders and creates space behind the defensive line.

Queiroz has also switched to reverse V at times with two defensive midfielders and one in front, often referred to as 4-2-3-1. But it is still considered 4-3-3 in our coaching classes here in US. He sometimes switches between V and reverse V during the match depending on how the game evolves.

Queiroz has also played 4-4-2 a few times in second half. It is his plan B. Rarely used.

Expect Iran to play 4-3-3 with V shape in midfield for all three matches, giving position and taking the space, counting on dangerous counters from top 3 forwards, Jahanbaksh, Azmoun, and Taremi.

Hope this helps with tactical info.

[eerooni]

This part is concerning..”reportedly apply for the currently vacant Cameroon job. Still, the fans have everything crossed that he stays...’

[OzzyOscy]

Hi Ozzy,

Iran plays 4-3-3 in just about every match. Queiroz likes the dynamic of this formation. He changes the formation of the three midfielders depending on his game plans. He prefers V-shape-three-midfielders with one CDM and two players to left and right. One of the two usually plays more defensively and closer to CDM. In this squad, Hajsafi plays to the left of Ezatollahi with more defensive duties. Also, Ezattollahi is suspended for the first match and he is still trying to find a replacement after dropping Ali Karimi due to injury. He has tried Cheshmi, Montazeri, and Ebrahimi for CDM. Ebrahimi is also recovering from injury.

Queiroz is still undecided for the right mid. For the right mid, his first choice is Dejagah but he has been injured. He has tried Ansarifard there. He may try Rezaeian there if he decides to put more defensive player like Montazeri at right back. His three midfielders are his pressure points during defensive phase, especially against strong team like Spain and Portugal, and he needs more speed, specially to turn and run.

Like I said, Queiroz likes the dynamic of his 4-3-3. When Iran loses position, the two wingers drop back to line up with the two left and right midfielders forming 4-1-4-1. When Iran gains position, the wingers move up near CF to form classic 4-3-3. He also like to create illusion with Taremi as the left winger. Taremi often sneaks in front of CF Azmoun when Azmoun draws the defenders and creates space behind the defensive line.

Queiroz has also switched to reverse V at times with two defensive midfielders and one in front, often referred to as 4-2-3-1. But it is still considered 4-3-3 in our coaching classes here in US. He sometimes switches between V and reverse V during the match depending on how the game evolves.

Queiroz has also played 4-4-2 a few times in second half. It is his plan B. Rarely used.

Expect Iran to play 4-3-3 with V shape in midfield for all three matches, giving position and taking the space, counting on dangerous counters from top 3 forwards, Jahanbaksh, Azmoun, and Taremi.

Hope this helps with tactical info.

Super helpful and makes things clear!

This part is concerning..”reportedly apply for the currently vacant Cameroon job. Still, the fans have everything crossed that he stays...’

Cameroon revealed the 70+ applicants for their job, and Queiroz was one of the names.

Which is surprising because apparently Cameroon's federation is in even more of a state than Iran, so at best it'd be a sideways step for a man who could get any decent club or international job.

ESPN I think broke the story, with their source being Cameroon itself. It's been widely circulated by the Associated Press, with the likes of BBC also reporting it.

But I also feel like it wouldn't be surprising if Cameroon completely made it up. So I made sure to put "reportedly", because if it was official I would've expected uproar in Iran.