Up until the end of the 70s we were the undisputed king of Asian soccer. We qualified for the World Cup when only 1 spot was available for all of Asia and Oceania, the Olympics (advancing to the quarterfinals), won the Asian Games and a hattrick of Asian Championships. To me it's not so much of what we have done since then but rather what we haven't done. In my opinion many of our regional rivals have taken the right steps while we have just faked them. The best examples I can use to demonstrate my point are Japan and the US.
Both countries were doormats up until the 90s. At that point they began investing in all levels of their national teams but especially the adult level. They both launched professional leagues. They hired competent coaches (Hans Ooft for Japan, Bora Milutinovic for USA). They increased the number of friendlies (the US averaged about 16 games per year in the 90s while in the 80s some years they didn't play at all) and regularly hosted tournaments against decent opposition (Kirin Cup for Japan and USCup for USA). Granted this last World Cup the US crashed spectacularly but on average not only are both countries expected to win their continental championship and qualify for a World Cup but also given a good chance of advancing out of their group which they have been doing every other tournament. Pretty much everything I wrote above is what I consider the key to success. Other countries might not have executed these points as good as Japan but they have done enough to cause us trouble.
From the points above I can only see us doing the coach part and even that at best is zoorchapooni due to sanctions. We do hire the best we can find but that often translates into no continuity from one coach to the next as completely different styles may be implemented. The fact that we are sanctioned also does not help a foreign coach as far as getting to know our players as many of them are unknown and it takes time for a coach to identify players he likes and to introduce them into the team. I wish we developed more Iranian coaches with the proper qualifications as that would mean being familiar with the players, no language barrier, and not neccesarily working for money but for gheyrat. I think in the 70s O'Farrell was our only foreign coach but most of our success came with Iranian ones.
Do we even have youth programs? A while back I had opened a thread asking where our youth players come from. The best answer I got was that they were nominated by coaches and once brought together the TM youth coaches would pick from them. But still does not answer the question of how the nominated players were identified and how many youth players don't get picked because they don't have a platform to be seen. I don't know much about Japan's system although I take it that it's good as Japan has been qualifying and advancing in your World Cups. The US had an entire youth setup in Brandenton Florida and now MLS clubs are required to have a youth program.
Our friendlies are again a victim of sanctions. Perhaps I'm missing a few games but in the past 10 years or so the only notable friendlies I can think of where against Brazil, Chile and Sweden. Playing former Soviet Republics or arab countries are more of the norm for us. It's better than nothing but these are the types of games to use to identify players, not test the main lineup.
What is our pro league doing that our amateur league wasn't already doing? In other words what did we change from our amateur league to make it pro? In words of my cousin in Iran, we simply changed the numbers on the jerseys from Persian to English. Perhaps that is why we are not getting the most from our players or worse missing out on players who don't see continuation of soccer as a career (in Iran). I was in the US when they launched their league and saw firsthand the amount of work that had to go into securing sponsors, TV deals, stadiums, investors, etc. and I kept telling myself I hope they just don't start calling Iran's league professional without changing anything but that's precisely what I saw happen.
So that brings us to where we are now. Many of the points have deep roots that can't be fixed immediately. Some of it is luck i.e. what crop of players are available for a stretch (compare the mid 90s or 2000s to 2009-11). The only factor we have immediate say on is the coach but even with that there is only so far it can take us considering all the other setbacks. We will have coaches, some better than others, but until the other issues get addressed we will not pass the hurdle of going to the 2nd round of the World Cup or winning the Asian Championship. So unfortunately the way I see things is that this is where we are and will stay as such until the other points get addressed. Or unless we get extremely lucky.
Both countries were doormats up until the 90s. At that point they began investing in all levels of their national teams but especially the adult level. They both launched professional leagues. They hired competent coaches (Hans Ooft for Japan, Bora Milutinovic for USA). They increased the number of friendlies (the US averaged about 16 games per year in the 90s while in the 80s some years they didn't play at all) and regularly hosted tournaments against decent opposition (Kirin Cup for Japan and USCup for USA). Granted this last World Cup the US crashed spectacularly but on average not only are both countries expected to win their continental championship and qualify for a World Cup but also given a good chance of advancing out of their group which they have been doing every other tournament. Pretty much everything I wrote above is what I consider the key to success. Other countries might not have executed these points as good as Japan but they have done enough to cause us trouble.
From the points above I can only see us doing the coach part and even that at best is zoorchapooni due to sanctions. We do hire the best we can find but that often translates into no continuity from one coach to the next as completely different styles may be implemented. The fact that we are sanctioned also does not help a foreign coach as far as getting to know our players as many of them are unknown and it takes time for a coach to identify players he likes and to introduce them into the team. I wish we developed more Iranian coaches with the proper qualifications as that would mean being familiar with the players, no language barrier, and not neccesarily working for money but for gheyrat. I think in the 70s O'Farrell was our only foreign coach but most of our success came with Iranian ones.
Do we even have youth programs? A while back I had opened a thread asking where our youth players come from. The best answer I got was that they were nominated by coaches and once brought together the TM youth coaches would pick from them. But still does not answer the question of how the nominated players were identified and how many youth players don't get picked because they don't have a platform to be seen. I don't know much about Japan's system although I take it that it's good as Japan has been qualifying and advancing in your World Cups. The US had an entire youth setup in Brandenton Florida and now MLS clubs are required to have a youth program.
Our friendlies are again a victim of sanctions. Perhaps I'm missing a few games but in the past 10 years or so the only notable friendlies I can think of where against Brazil, Chile and Sweden. Playing former Soviet Republics or arab countries are more of the norm for us. It's better than nothing but these are the types of games to use to identify players, not test the main lineup.
What is our pro league doing that our amateur league wasn't already doing? In other words what did we change from our amateur league to make it pro? In words of my cousin in Iran, we simply changed the numbers on the jerseys from Persian to English. Perhaps that is why we are not getting the most from our players or worse missing out on players who don't see continuation of soccer as a career (in Iran). I was in the US when they launched their league and saw firsthand the amount of work that had to go into securing sponsors, TV deals, stadiums, investors, etc. and I kept telling myself I hope they just don't start calling Iran's league professional without changing anything but that's precisely what I saw happen.
So that brings us to where we are now. Many of the points have deep roots that can't be fixed immediately. Some of it is luck i.e. what crop of players are available for a stretch (compare the mid 90s or 2000s to 2009-11). The only factor we have immediate say on is the coach but even with that there is only so far it can take us considering all the other setbacks. We will have coaches, some better than others, but until the other issues get addressed we will not pass the hurdle of going to the 2nd round of the World Cup or winning the Asian Championship. So unfortunately the way I see things is that this is where we are and will stay as such until the other points get addressed. Or unless we get extremely lucky.
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