TM-News-Vol. 6

[Futbaldoost]

TM had another great practice this evening. In the morning players did weight training at the hotel. I have included a selection of the practice photos below and I have provided the link to all the photos. Practice was held at 19:30 Manama time which is the same time for the Monday match vs Bahrain. It was really hot with a temperature of 97 F and 42% humidity that made it feel like 103 F. It was a high spirited practice session and the starting 11 of the HK match practiced with Karim Bagheri in the beginning. The photos look great and you get a sense of unanimity, cohesion, determination and camaraderie in the body language of players. You also get a sense of fun and play that is always required for winning. The last practice will be held tomorrow evening.

Go TM!

Link to the Farsi report of the practice: http://ffiri.ir/fa/news/8289/%D8%A8%...AC%D9%85%D9%87

Link to all the photos: http://ffiri.ir/fa/news/8288/%D8%AA%...86%DB%8C%DA%86

[Abtin]

The guys seem focused, and working hard, I have a good feeling about tomorrow!

[Kiarash]

TM-News-Vol. 6

Judging from the final photo, it seems like Torabi and Pouraliganji might start against Bahrain (players without blue shirts).

[Gol Bezan]

Gol Bezan Analysis: Iran 🇮🇷 vs 🇭🇰 Hong Kong | Preview: Iran 🇮🇷 vs 🇧🇭 Bahrain

https://youtu.be/VkOw8OwaMgs

[milad_b]

^^^^ Poorali ganji was not injured Arya jan, he was suspended
.
We were playing in a crappy pitch , and most of these players have been next to each other after 1-2 years . We have a new coach who is trying different formation and game plans in order to reach his optimum formation. You expect them to play Tiki Taka ???? They say if a team doesn't play for 10-14 days they will lose their chemistry, our team hasn't played next to each other for 1-2 years !

Don't like this podcast ! its full of false negative points.

[Gol Bezan]

^^^^ Poorali ganji was not injured Arya jan, he was suspended
.
We were playing in a crappy pitch , and most of these players have been next to each other after 1-2 years . We have a new coach who is trying different formation and game plans in order to reach his optimum formation. You expect them to play Tiki Taka ???? They say if a team doesn't play for 10-14 days they will lose their chemistry, our team hasn't played next to each other for 1-2 years !
Don't like this podcast ! its full of false negative points.

My bad I meant to say suspended, even had it in my notes.

I disagree with your points, I think you're overestimating Hong Kong. And as far as I'm concerned, the match itself was played to a very poor standard, regardless of the pitch conditions.

Also regarding formations, my point was, yes he should be looking for a good formation to play, however if a simple 4-4-2 can't work against HONG KONG, and he's forced to change it in the second half, that's definitely, without doubt, a worrying sign.

It's a negative episode because it was a negative performance, simple as that, we aren't here to celebrate a win which involved players like Taremi and Azmoun not pulling their weight and looking for excuses.

[milad_b]

My bad I meant to say suspended, even had it in my notes.

I disagree with your points, I think you're overestimating Hong Kong. And as far as I'm concerned, the match itself was played to a very poor standard, regardless of the pitch conditions.

Also regarding formations, my point was, yes he should be looking for a good formation to play, however if a simple 4-4-2 can't work against HONG KONG, and he's forced to change it in the second half, that's definitely, without doubt, a worrying sign.

It's a negative episode because it was a negative performance, simple as that, we aren't here to celebrate a win which involved players like Taremi and Azmoun not pulling their weight and looking for excuses.

I do understand where you coming from but that would only apply when this team had played 10-20 matches next to each other. I also agree with the 4-4-2 as I'm not fan of it aswell. However this was the first time this team played next to each other after year or months , so critising them for not finding each other is a bit harsh. You must agree to that. If you watch Taremi's interview , he said our first training with these players was on 29th of may! How do you expect them to play a passing football without any good preparation. I think Instead of critising these guys you should critise IFF for their lack preparation. The kish camp wasn't even ready and its still not fully ready. They took Hong Kong game as a friendly game.

In the podcast you guys mention that this team is the same team that played in WC18 . First of all thats not entirely true and even if it was, you guys surely don't expect them to remember everything after 3 years! Lol i don't even fully remember what ate last week, how do you expect these guys to remember 3 years ago.

Regarding azmoun and taremi , both players were told to play calm game and avoid injuries or any caustions by the ref. You can even see how azmoun react when the ref falsely doesn't call fouls on him. He doesn't object to any false calls by the ref and instead he starts having a converstation with ref trying to make friends with him lol. same with taremi ! clear penalty was not call on him and they didn't even object to that !

Overall, I think criticising team melli after one game is so unprofessional. Specially now that they got the points that we needed.

[Gol Bezan]

I do understand where you coming from but that would only apply when this team had played 10-20 matches next to each other. I also agree with the 4-4-2 as I'm not fan of it aswell. However this was the first time this team played next to each other after year or months , so critising them for not finding each other is a bit harsh. You must agree to that. If you watch Taremi's interview , he said our first training with these players was on 29th of may! How do you expect them to play a passing football without any good preparation. I think Instead of critising these guys you should critise IFF for their lack preparation. The kish camp wasn't even ready and its still not fully ready. They took Hong Kong game as a friendly game.

In the podcast you guys mention that this team is the same team that played in WC18 . First of all thats not entirely true and even if it was, you guys surely don't expect them to remember everything after 3 years! Lol i don't even fully remember what ate last week, how do you expect these guys to remember 3 years ago.

Regarding azmoun and taremi , both players were told to play calm game and avoid injuries or any caustions by the ref. You can even see how azmoun react when the ref falsely doesn't call fouls on him. He doesn't object to any false calls by the ref and instead he starts having a converstation with ref trying to make friends with him lol. same with taremi ! clear penalty was not call on him and they didn't even object to that !

Overall, I think criticising team melli after one game is so unprofessional. Specially now that they got the points that we needed.

Again, I expect more against Hong Kong. They could have not played a game for 5 years, and I'd still expect better, I guess that's just the standards I look for against a team ranked 144 and we still concede a goal against them.

If that performance was against let's say Bahrain tomorrow, I would not be as critical.

I agree with you, IFF have totally screwed us, as per usual. But that performance was not good enough against Hong Kong regardless of everything, simple as that.

[Farzadfarhangni]

We Iranian fans, (sorry to generalize, not all, but probably most) have a bi-polar condition. Before the game, we are all shivering that this Hong Kong team can surprise teams and can get a draws and possibly win against Bahrain and Iraq and we should take them seriously. Once we beat them, we are all upset that we did not destroy them 10-0. This is a good Hong Kong team and you'll see that in their next two games.

Few notes about the game...

- Hong Kong had not played for over 18 months and bunch of new players, etc... so we did not know what to expect. We had to approach the game generically.
- They had 10 guys behind the ball all the time, which means there are no spaces to pass to. Hence why we saw a lot of sideways passing between Ezatolahi and Nourollahi...
- We could not afford to lose possession easily as you saw how quick Hong Kong was on counter attacks and ultimately, they were able to score.
- This was really our friendly game where we were trying new formation, reintegrating Jahanbakhsh and Ezatollahi, playing Amiri as left back, Moharami coming back from injury, etc...
- Pitch was awful...
- Taremi and Azmoun were obviously ordered to save themselves for the Bahrain game
- We should have had a penalty or two and we missed some wonderful opportunities...

A penalty call and taking one of our chances would have made the score 5-1 and I think everyone would have been happy with that.

I thought we did alright for our first game given all of the above.

Go TM....

[sarbaz]

Our performance vs. HK was average and I am happy with that.
This was our preparation match before the Bahrain game and Skokic did not want to show his hand anyway.
Tomorrow's game vs. Bahrain is the MOST important, if we don't win tomorrow , it's all over.
Inshallah we will win , I am optimistically hopeful.

[Lorestani]

Whoever thinks Taremi and Azmound were told to "save themselves" has no clue about football, sorry to say.

[teammelli91]

^ Not save themselves. But it’s not uncommon for coaches to take key players out early on in the second half considering the state of the teams situation in the qualifiers. Or after we’re up 2-0 to order them to hold possession rather than go full on attack. To conserve energy/prevent muscle soreness. After Amiri scored off the deflection, considering the hot/humidity of Bahrain, Sardar and Taremi came off. Made sense.

[Futbaldoost]

Here are a selection of the photos from the last TM practice this evening in Bahrain starting at 7:30 pm local time (same time as the match tomorrow). It felt hotter than yesterday since humidity was at 54% compared to 42% yesterday. The boys were full of energy, determination and fun. They had a great practice session. The practice report below from IFF says that the game plan will be different compared to the match vs HK because it's a different match and technical team wants to go in with the best possible lineup. IFF president, Azizi Khadem, was there to support TM players and later joined them at dinner. I think it's great that he did that and I think he will be there at the VIP section in the stadium yesterday. He is showing character by coming to the Manama rather than stay in his air conditioned office/home to watch the game. I have a selection of photos below with links to both the report and full set of photos.

Link to practice report and dinner photos: http://ffiri.ir/fa/news/8299/%D8%A8%...B1%DB%8C%D9%86

Link to all practice photos: http://ffiri.ir/fa/news/8300/%D8%AA%...B1%DB%8C%D9%86

Go TM!

Selection of photos from practice and dinner:

[milad_b]

^^^^^^
Lol haj karim owing the hell out of Taremi

[sarbaz]

Damet garm Futbaldoost
Thank you for the pics and your report.
now its up to bacheha to show us the real Iranian Gheyrat tomorrow and win this absolute crucial game.
Ya Ali Madad