Alireza Jahanbakhsh @ Brighton & Hove Albion | 2019-2020

[mattigil]

Albion winger Alireza Jahanbakhsh won't give up on his dream to crack Prem


Albion*winger Alireza Jahanbakhsh has revealed he is not giving up on his dream to crack the Premier League.

The Iran international at last has his first league minutes under Graham Potter after going on as sub in the 2-2 draw against Wolves.

He hopes to kick on from that and says he has not thought about leaving the club when the transfer window opens in three weeks’ time.

A loan switch would appear a feasible way of securing more playing time.

But, in The Argus today, Jahanbakhsh says he still wants to show*Albion*fans what he can do.

He told The Argus: “Every player wants to play. There’s no doubt about it.

“But I’m happy here, to be honest, with the environment and the way the team is playing.

“It has been a year-and-a-half I’m here but I haven’t shown what I’m really capable of doing and that makes me feel a little bit disappointed.”

Asked whether he would look to get away in January, he replied: “I haven’t been thinking about it but I’m going to work hard to get my chance, my position.

“I’m going to work hard to get more minutes.”

Jahanbakhsh also speaks about asking to play for Albion under-23s and his disappointment at being left out of the Iran*national*squad.

Albion are currently missing widemen*Jose Izquierdo*and*Solly March*to injury.

Jahanbakhsh came into the 18 to face Wolves with Aaron Connolly ruled out by a dead leg.

The Republic of Ireland striker is likely to be available for Monday’s trip to Crystal Palace but midfielder*Dale Stephens*is suspended.

https://www.theargus.co.uk/sport/180...am-crack-prem/

Looks like he's still trying to fight for his place at Brighton, so loan might not happen in January. Just a matter of waiting and seeing what happens, but if he comes off the bench against crystal palace at the weekend and scores or assists then his fate could massively change and fans could get behind him.

[Ghermez Agha]

Where are all the geniuses who swore ARJ was unhappy and was treated poorly by his team mates/nobody liked him

[BacheLot]

^football players and coaches alike, spew a ton of rehearsed, regurgitated, diplomatically sound, PG remarks when asked such leading questions in media ...!!
you still have to read in between the lines...!!
all that is confirming is that as i predicted earlier, he aint going anywhere at least until this coming summer..!pothead hinted at such in his earlier remarks too..!
still doesnt change the fact that the club/coach clearly dont fancy him and would prefer him offloaded the least costly means and as soon as possible..!

good decision from ARJ to stay put at least till summer and continue to train hard ..... like i said before he still has more Leverage over the club than the coach/club over him.... hence they'll be forced to feature him in first team sooner than later and more and more as summer transfer season arrives and hopefully that gives his manager more time to find him a note-worthy suitable alternative club meanwhile too..!

[Farzadfarhangni]

^football players and coaches alike, spew a ton of rehearsed, regurgitated, diplomatically sound, PG remarks when asked such leading questions in media ...!!
you still have to read in between the lines...!!
all that is confirming is that as i predicted earlier, he aint going anywhere at least until this coming summer..!pothead hinted at such in his earlier remarks too..!
still doesnt change the fact that the club/coach clearly dont fancy him and would prefer him offloaded the least costly means and as soon as possible..!

good decision from ARJ to stay put at least till summer and continue to train hard ..... like i said before he still has more Leverage over the club than the coach/club over him.... hence they'll be forced to feature him in first team sooner than later and more and more as summer transfer season arrives and hopefully that gives his manager more time to find him a note-worthy suitable alternative club meanwhile too..!

Yup. I am sure it is in his contract that he has to show up to practice and practice hard or the club can void his contract. So, in an interview with newspaper, he has to stay "I love the club, I practice hard and fight for a position"....

The only thing I got from this article, and I am really really reading in between the lines, it that he kept saying the head coach, manager and not use his name like Graham or Mr Potter... which might indicate a bit of a strained relationship there....

[Farzadfarhangni]

Yup. I am sure it is in his contract that he has to show up to practice and practice hard or the club can void his contract. So, in an interview with newspaper, he has to stay "I love the club, I practice hard and fight for a position"....

The only thing I got from this article, and I am really really reading in between the lines, it that he kept saying the head coach, manager and not use his name like Graham or Mr Potter... which might indicate a bit of a strained relationship there....

Sorry, I was referring to the more detailed interview he had on the Bighton web page. The Argus just used just portions of that interview to write their article.

[BHAFC]

Yup. I am sure it is in his contract that he has to show up to practice and practice hard or the club can void his contract. So, in an interview with newspaper, he has to stay "I love the club, I practice hard and fight for a position"....

The only thing I got from this article, and I am really really reading in between the lines, it that he kept saying the head coach, manager and not use his name like Graham or Mr Potter... which might indicate a bit of a strained relationship there....

This is an almighty stretch.

I’m not sure if it’s a cultural difference, but you’re reading in to it too much. I can’t think of any players who would call their manager by their real name like that. It would almost always be ‘gaffer’ (or boss) if it was an English player but if ARJ hasn’t picked up on colloquial terms like that then he’d probably stick to saying the coach/manager.

I played football to a pretty high level for a few years; not professional but not far off and I would never have dreamt of calling any of my managers by their Christian names - it’s a respect thing.

Hope that clears things up

[Nokhodi]

ARJ usually calls the manager a gaffer.

[BHAFC]

Looks like he's still trying to fight for his place at Brighton, so loan might not happen in January. Just a matter of waiting and seeing what happens, but if he comes off the bench against crystal palace at the weekend and scores or assists then his fate could massively change and fans could get behind him.

Our fans still want him to do well and are still behind him. A lot of them don’t think he’ll turn it around, but that doesn’t mean we aren’t behind him. We’d love him to do well.

^football players and coaches alike, spew a ton of rehearsed, regurgitated, diplomatically sound, PG remarks when asked such leading questions in media ...!!
you still have to read in between the lines...!!
all that is confirming is that as i predicted earlier, he aint going anywhere at least until this coming summer..!pothead hinted at such in his earlier remarks too..!
still doesnt change the fact that the club/coach clearly dont fancy him and would prefer him offloaded the least costly means and as soon as possible..!

good decision from ARJ to stay put at least till summer and continue to train hard ..... like i said before he still has more Leverage over the club than the coach/club over him.... hence they'll be forced to feature him in first team sooner than later and more and more as summer transfer season arrives and hopefully that gives his manager more time to find him a note-worthy suitable alternative club meanwhile too..!

I actually agree with a lot of the first part of your post. It’s very rare for a player to come out and say they want to leave in the Press so his quotes shouldn’t be read in to too much. However with a few injuries in the squad this is a great time to try and force himself in to the first team.

However I disagree that if he stays we’ll be forced to play him more & more. I don’t quite get your logic there.

[jdilla]

A lot of positivity from Brighton fans in the comments [emoji122]

https://twitter.com/OfficialBHAFC/st...234402817?s=19

[Doctor DOOM]

ARJ usually calls the manager a gaffer.

Only when his manager's first name is JAFFAR

[diz]

Albion winger Ali J has put the time in and now wants the rewards

THIS was supposed to be a big season for Alireza Jahanbakhsh.

That is certainly how he saw it.

Such belief was not based on feats in front of goal last term.

He was as disappointed as anyone by his lack of goals and assists.

It was founded more on how he felt about settling into our league and our country.

And memories of how things progressed gradually for him in the Netherlands after his big move from Iran.

Jahanbakhsh had some tough moments last term after a record £17 million deal which brought him from AZ Alkmaar.

njury and a trip to the Asia Cup did not help him.

His army of Iranian fans could not understand why he was not setting the Premier League alight – and why Albion were not selecting him.

He spoke about his frustration at not scoring a goal after leading the Eredivisie with 21 the previous season.

But he could see the ups and downs as an investment which he expected to be paying out by now.

It hasn’t happened like that and freely recognised as much after coming off the bench against Wolves on Sunday for his first league minutes of the season.

Jahanbakhsh scored five goals and suffered relegation with NEC of Nijmegen in his first year in Europe, although two goals in the final regular season fixture took their survival fight to a play-off.

In season two, he flourished, albeit at a lower level, being named the second tier’s best player helped by 12 goals and 18 assists as promotion was secured.

It was a similar tale after moving on to AZ. Three goals in his first season, ten in his second and then 21, plus 12 assists, in a dazzling third campaign.

Those three seasons in Alkmaar came after Jahanbakhsh opted to stay in Dutch football when the Seagulls first tried to sign him in 2015.

Now things have changed. His ideal scenario would be to stay at the Amex, play and impress.

But chances of that have been thrown into doubt by a slow start to his second season.

Jahanbakhsh told The Argus: “Every player wants to play. There’s no doubt about it.

“But I’m happy here, to be honest, with the environment and the way the team is playing.

“I’m still learning and I try to adapt myself to the way the manager wants me to play.

“I’m going to work hard to get more minutes.”

Asked if he could look to move on loan, he said: “I haven’t been thinking about it but I’m going to work hard to get my chance, my position.

“It has been a year-and-a-half I’m here but I haven’t shown what I’m really capable of doing and that makes me feel a little bit disappointed, to be honest.

“The first year was the year I had to learn Premier League, maybe a little bit too excited because of things going on. A different level and everything.

“I was pretty sure this season would be quite a good season for me.

“I have learned a lot. I had to adapt myself to the country, to the weather, to the culture, which is different to what I am used to.

“I have been in good shape. I have been enjoying training and everything and I’m going to work hard to get more chances.”

The landscape has changed at Albion since Jahanbakhsh signed for Chris Hughton, a manager who played 4-4-2 and 4-4-1-1.

Following the principle of two players per position, that meant four genuine wingers in the squad.

During the two seasons chasing promotion, Hughton (once he had settled on his personnel) selected from Anthony Knockaert, Solly March, Jamie Murphy and Jiri Skalak.

Skalak was still there, but not used, in the first Prem year but the three wingers who remained in favour, namely March, Knockaert and the newly-signed Jose Izquierdo, totalled 101 league appearances between them, combining starts and as sub.

Jahanbakhsh pushed the winger compliment back up to four last term and looked promising in, for example, the early-season draw at Southampton.

But tactics and formations have changed. The role of genuine wingers in a Potter team is probably a 1,000-word topic in its own right.

Most of the attacking width has been offered by players coming from deeper or drifting from more central areas.

To that end, Potter had an early-season look at Jahanbakhsh at right wing-back.

The player himself said: “We have spoken with the manager that he wanted to see what’s going on in a different position for me.

“I have been fine with that but there wasn’t probably the right timing.

“There is a long season so we will see maybe there is change at some time.”

Jahanbakhsh was sent on wide right against Wolves to give “a bit of legs” as Potter put it.

He said: “It had been a while. I have been in good shape and training well but the manager is the one who selects the starting line-up “I have been working hard since pre-season and waiting for my chance.

“I have been trying to get into the way the manager wants to play.

“It’s different to how we used to play here.

“It has been good weeks. Week in and week out I try to work hard.

“As a professional player, you always have to train well and be in good shape and be ready. That has always been my situation on the bad days.

“I am still learning. I try to train the way he wants us to.

“For now, the manager decided to use players who can play, let’s say, that way.

“Other players like me are part of the team.

“But I have always felt good and worked hard, never made any excuse.”

Jahanbakhsh has posted on social media to say he is enjoying training.

Equally, Potter does not have a bad word to say about his efforts.

But is it a case of him not fitting the plan? Is he just not suited to the league? Or maybe just not quite good enough?

Potter was pleased when Jahanbakhsh asked to play in an under-23s league game against West Ham.

He provided a moment of class to send Bojan Radulovic away for the opening goal.

But he looked a frustrated figure as he went off midway through the second half in a 3-1 defeat.

He said: “It is always good to have minutes so we had a small chat with the manager if I wanted to play in that game “I really wanted to play. I just tried to do whatever the manager of the 23s wants and be back in good shape.

“Hopefully I get more minutes and I can show myself as much as possible.”

If that happens, it could lead to an international recall.

Iran are struggling to progress from round two of the lengthy Asian qualification process for the next World Cup finals.

Defeats in Iraq and Bahrain have left them probably needing to win the two return fixtures, both in June, to go through to phase three.

But a lot can happen between now and then.

Jahanbakhsh said: “I have missed the last two camps.

“The first one, I was injured.

“The second one was because I didn’t have game minutes for a long time.

“The manager in the national team decided to call up other players who are playing.

“They are in game shape.

“That is what happened and hopefully it’s not going to happen again.”

https://www.theargus.co.uk/sport/180...wants-rewards/

[Ardalan]

Pas in fasl khahad shod "Mahdavikia-Thomas Doll". JB che sabri daare. Pas agar injoore bayad omidvaar bood ke Brighton aslan natije nagire taa Ali-Reza

betone dar tarkibe team jaa peyda kone.

[BacheLot]

Only when his manager's first name is JAFFAR

more like Fluffer than gaffer, in case of pothead

[BacheLot]

A lot of positivity from Brighton fans in the comments [emoji122]

https://twitter.com/OfficialBHAFC/st...234402817?s=19

very encouraging indeed..!!
thanks for sharing..!!

[Roozbeh-G2006]

I think we should stop badmouthing BHAFC because it is doing what it needs to and no player is bigger than a club. Ali is the best person to judge his situation than anyone here. It is time to chill out not just with Ali but our other legionnaires. Only support and well wishing them can help their situation.