The body positioning though...eyes on the ball, but body going into the defender. He's perfected this. It's like an experienced NBA player that goes up for the three point shot but also falls into the defender to get the "and 1".
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https://tribunaexpresso.pt/entrevist...ele-o-bichinho
TRIBUNE INTERVIEWS
“Taremi is incredible, he always asked for more, more and more. The Iranian national doctor had a nickname for him: 'the bug' ”
Sebastião Macias is a performance coach for the Colombian national team, where he works with Carlos Queiroz, but joined the Portuguese technical team still in Iran, halfway through qualifying for the 2018 World Cup, where he met Mehdi Taremi and Ali Alipour, Iranian strikers who play in the FC Porto and Marítimo. Sebastião Macias praises their quality and, above all, recalls Taremi's willingness to learn, improve and work: “Right at my first training session, I had a question with Professor Queiroz at the end. He is a player who seeks to know more, seeks to grow. And whenever he could, he was working with us at the gym ”
Sebastião Macias is 30 years old and joined the technical team of Carlos Queiroz, in Iran, in 2016. He was present at the World Cup, in the Asian Cup and also in a Copa America, already with the selection of Colombia, where he now works DR
Last season came Taremi, this year Alipour (Marítimo) arrived and goalkeeper Amir has been in Portugal since 2015. But in Portugal, there is not much tradition of looking at the Iranian player.
As you said, at least my generation is not used to seeing Iranian players in the Portuguese league and very little even in the European leagues. I remember Ali Karimi [Bayern Munich, Schalke 04] and Ali Daei [Arminia Bielefeld, Bayern Munich and Hertha from Berlin], who were great players. But, trying to answer your question, I don't know why myself. I would say that, eventually, there may be some difficulty regarding the credibility of an Asian league and its connection with the European championships. That may be the first difficulty for the conditions to come together to see more players, in this case, Iranians for the Portuguese league or for European leagues. I think these three players who are in the I League see a little fruit of the success of Prof.Carlos Queiroz in the selection and the other Portuguese coaches who have been to Iran, such as Toni, Rodolfo [Correia] and Oceano. It is the result of the combination of the good work that the Portuguese coaches did there and the players, who had opportunities, as in the World Cup, where they played against Portugal and won Morocco, which was a historic victory.
When you were there, did Iranian players talk a lot about wanting to play for Europe?
Yes, it was one of many approaches. I was in a context of selection only, that is, I knew very little about the clubs, and what I knew was what the Portuguese players and coaches transmitted to me. But, in relation to the conversations, yes, there is a very big dream of coming to play for Europe, really big.
On top of that, being you Portuguese, perhaps that captivated curiosity the most.
Exactly, there were always constant questions. In the technical teams where I had the privilege of working in Iran, many were ex-players, so their theme and main questions were these: what was it like to play and train in a big club, how do you get there, etc.
But doesn't an Iranian player, who is in a big club in the country, get, on average, a good salary already? In other words, is the ambition to come to Europe more sporting than anything else?
I don't want to be saying something that I haven't lived or experienced, but I think the national team players are at least well paid for the Iranian context, but I have to tell you, and I believe, whoever comes to Europe, has come for the dream professional, rather than financial, which shows a very large character. I know that they come for essentially professional reasons.
Do you remember the first contact with Mehdi Taremi?
The first concentration where I was with him was in Italy, in the mythical internship center of the Italian team [Coverciano], and I remember that the first image I got was, at the end of the training, that he went to Prof. Carlos Queiroz and take a doubt about a movement between the central and the lateral. And I remember, at the time, Prof. explain and Taremi's interest is constant. Afterwards, I worked with him personally and I was with Taremi a lot at the gym. He was a super player and a super athlete, even a hard worker. I do not forget.
Taremi seems to be a shy and modest guy, from the outside he doesn't seem to be one of those players who will soon talk to the coach after the first training session.
A correction: this was in the first training session where I was, but I entered the middle of the qualification process for the 2018 World Cup. He was already a player more than referenced by the technical team, he had already been in more stages. It was my first training session and it stuck with me, which jumped out at me, which is good, because, even at the beginning of an internship that will take 20 days, having a player at the end of the afternoon training, and I even think which was bidiary, had this approach to Prof. Carlos Queiroz. They stayed there for a few minutes talking. It stayed in my memory because I could immediately see that he was a player who seeks to know more, seeks to grow, that click left me. Then, over time, there were no doubts.
Did you always play forwards in the national team? Or did you leave more close to a wing?
As we played with Sardar Azmoun [Zenit St Petersburg], who is another great striker, and both were very good, we had to make both of them play. We played in 4-3-3 and, personally, I think one of the positions he does very well is that of the left striker. But he came to play with us as a forward too. We had this model and it always fit very well to the left, but I met him playing in the club as a pure 9, alone in the front.
We saw in Rio Ave that it associates very well with those who play behind it.
Yes, due to its technical characteristics and tactical values. He is a forward who has the ability to play alone, with others, in the left wing of a 4-3-3 and even in the right, but I think he likes the left side more, I never asked him [laughs].
What impressed you most about Taremi, during the time you worked together?
A lot of things. Today, before the interview, I was even reviewing what I knew about him, the qualification process and then the Asian Cup, and I see a lot of good things about Taremi. For now, he is a spectacular professional, five stars, a team player and very honest and hardworking. As a player, I see enormous physical potential. As a player, he has a very good game reading, in addition to technical skills. It is very complete in every way, he was one of the players that we missed a lot when we left. He's a great professional.
Ali Alipour is also advanced and arrived this summer at Marítimo. What can you tell me about him?
I saw him, for the first time, playing alongside Taremi at Persepolis. Taremi was almost out of the game and they both played ahead. I really like Alipour, but it's a little bit different from Taremi, due to his height [1.81m vs. 1.87m]. He has the ability to associate and play between lines, to look for balls on the back of the defensive line and is also a player who gets into the defensive process a lot. In the last year, we saw Taremi making great interceptions and tackles in the opponent's offensive organization, even against the big clubs, and Alipour also participates a lot in those moments, it is a great advantage. It has the ability to shoot, essentially, right foot, and easy finishing.
You are almost describing Taremi, then.
They have similar profiles. Honestly, I prefer to wait and see in the Portuguese league, but I also have hope for Alipour, he is a good player. In the national team, fortunately, we had good strikers: Sardar was very well known, there was Taremi, then Karim Ansarifard, who at the time was an Olympiakos starter, and we also had Alireza, who was one of Brighton's most expensive signings , if I'm not in error. We already had four, five players and Alipour had some difficulty getting in, but that was not why he didn't have much quality.
How was your work with the players, within the context of your technical team?
In the qualifying phase, we worked individually with the players during the week, and Taremi and Alipour, whenever there was an opportunity, were there. The greatest contact I had with Taremi was in individualized work, in the gym, in speed. He was a player who loved to do this training. He started working with us and was already doing very high loads at the end, accentuated for what they were used to doing. Both he and Alipour surprised me, because he is also a strong player, with a very interesting weight-to-power ratio. Taremi is incredible. I remember that the doctor had a nickname for him and called him 'the bug'. In a dear way, but saying that he is a powerful striker, with a very good speed for his stature and his wingspan.
With the functions you have, did you end up being the one who, on the technical team, spent the most time alone with the players?
Yes, yes, also because Taremi had a time when, under other circumstances, he worked with us a lot, I spent a lot of time with him in the gym doing speed tasks, with and without a ball, and he was a player who always asked for more, More and more. Even in terms of the gym, he lifted a lot of weight.
Was there anything at the time that he wanted to work specifically?
We had a high-performance center, made by us, and a large training center, which for Iranian players was a great innovation, as it did not exist for football or for any sport. So much so that it attracted them a lot. And both Taremi and Alipour, almost whenever they could, took a break and went to work with us. And I remember perfectly working the running technique with Taremi, the speed outs, short movements, quick steps, rotations ... We had a small synthetic turf inside the gym, where we made a transfer after the strength work and they liked it a lot. We did a very interesting job due to their great desire to want to work.
And willingness to improve?
I have no doubts. A few days ago, I exchanged a few words with Taremi and he is a very motivated player, I hope he continues, he and Alipour.
Do you still talk to them regularly?
Not with Alipour recently. I am not a person to talk to the players much, that is, when I see a great goal or that there is a need to send a private message, but I let them live their lives. By the way, when Taremi went to FC Porto, obviously the other members of the technical team that were with him in Iran congratulated him, we were very happy.
Taking into account Sérgio Conceição's game model and the way FC Porto plays, do you think Taremi will adapt?
I think so. Sérgio Conceição knows perfectly the team he has, now he is getting to know Taremi better and I think he has everything to work out.
Assuming that he will play with Marega next door, a striker who attacks the space on the back of the defensive line much more, can Taremi be the link that connects and touches the ball for players who come in front of the goal?
I think so, we have to wait and see. He has all the characteristics to play for FC Porto that we all know and in the model of Sérgio Conceição.Comment
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Mehdi on Portuguese sports news: "Grande Penalidade"...no further translation necessary
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No translation necessary? Most of us here don't speak Portuguese dude. I think I made this comment to one of your previous posts.Originally posted by diz View PostMehdi on Portuguese sports news: "Grande Penalidade"...no further translation necessary
For others, here is the translation to the text with the red border:
"Iranian won a penalty in the first game for fc porto"Comment
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Bro, relax. I was pointing out the part of the headline that said "great/big penalty"...the rest can be inferred. Feel free to post all the translation for my posts from Portuguese media (I don't speak it, but do my best if it's in text format that Google Translate can easily convert; this is a pic, so I can't just plug it into Google translate, and I don't have time to type it all out).Originally posted by mahestan View PostComment
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Yeah I don't speak Portuguese but I understood the translation immediately lolOriginally posted by diz View PostComment
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Don't want to speak for him but tbf it seems like he wanted to share that even though Taremi had a few minutes of playing time, he was featured in the article?Originally posted by mahestan View PostComment
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How about just enjoy that our boy is being featured all over Portuguese sports news, and if you're so inclined, please add to the discussion with your excellent translation skills. If you'd like to advance to be a moderator on this forum, then I'm sure you can lobby the Webmaster about what is/isn't "super informative" on this discussion forum.Originally posted by mahestan View PostComment
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Still, i too would appreciate a brief translation with some big articles in languages i do not comprehendOriginally posted by diz View Post
Thanks for posting the news too BTW!Iran deserves better, TM deserves better.
O.G from '97 & still here
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O Jogo: Man Utd is interested in Telles, but are trying to avoid a costly bidding war for him. No offer has been received as of yet and United are studying what to propose. Telles had 2 goals and an assist in Porto's opener win agasinst Braga (including taking the PK that Mehdi won). If the transfer occurs, it may further improve Mehdi's chances as the potential PK taker in future matches (much like at Rio Ave).Comment
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Telles to Man U would almost guarantee him becoming top scorer barring any injuriesOriginally posted by diz View PostComment
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