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    PFDC Team Melli World Cup Squad

    At the request of other members, I’ve created this thread.
    We will clean up Team Melli, find replacements, lock in players and decide on the starting eleven.
    Then we need to put pressure on Skocic to call these players up.

    The World Cup is in 8 months and this becomes a crisis situation if not dealt with immediately.
    The point of this thread is to have a non-debatable, strongest squad called up for the World Cup.
    We also need to collectively agree on the starting eleven.
    We need to be on the same page and put pressure on the staff members of the team to call these players up.

    I will update this thread with our finalised preferred World Cup squad once it is filled and collectively agreed upon.
    This thread should be pinned as it will be the foundation of our squad.



    The World Cup squad consists of 23 players. This is the best number of players per position in my opinion (and will change if the majority of members disagree):

    3 GK
    4 CB
    2 RB
    2 LB
    4 CM
    2 CAM
    2 LW
    2 RW
    2 FW


    Goalkeepers:

    Beiranvand
    Abedzadeh


    These two goalkeepers are locked in.

    Abedzadeh for his fantastic mentality, work ethic and reflexes. His confidence and footwork is superior to Beiranvand. However, he lacks in height and presence.

    But let’s talk about Beiranvand. Beiranvand is without a doubt a game changer. To me, he is not as talented as Abedzadeh, but what he offers makes him, in my opinion, untouchable and must be the starting goalkeeper.

    It’s fantastic that Abedzadeh got playing time because it taught Beiranvand to try harder. He learned that he has competition and if he doesn’t deliver then his place in the team is in danger.

    Beiranvand lacks match fitness but he looks focused when he plays for Iran, unlike his performances in Europe.

    Beiranvand’s qualities:

    - Experience (caps, World Cup appearances)
    - Team chemistry
    - Amazing physical presence on the pitch.

    Beiranvand is a different breed. He is firstly a warrior and a survivor. Secondly, he comes from the class of Carlos.
    He knows what high standards are and he demands it. He knows what good defending is and he commands it.
    This is our real captain. Give him the armband. This guy has balls unlike 90% of others.
    I loved when he lost his mind on the players when they defended horrendously against Lebanon. Such actions are game changers. It can literally save a game. Specially a high intensity match like a World Cup game.
    He doesn’t tolerate nonsense. He calls out players who don’t perform their defensive duties. He makes up for any defensive errors with his other superior abilities.

    Abedzadeh has fantastic reflexes like the double save vs South Korea showed, but when you have monkeys like Noorafkan and Nourollahi on the pitch, you have to save the team from such players mistakes without the players changing their behavior. This results in constant stress scenarios for Abedzadeh where he needs to deal with it alone.


    On the other hand, Beiranvand is essential because he will keep the defence on their toes. They won’t dare to play sloppy because the sergeant will hold them accountable.
    This will also teach them what they did wrong. This is more valuable than Abedzadeh saving us with no lessons learned by the other players around him.

    I would play Abedzadeh if Iran had an intelligent, organized defence and midfield, but we don’t.


    Third goalkeeper is between Hosseini and Niazmand. Hosseini because of his clean sheets and Niazmand for being a decent goalkeeper and in Europe.
    It's unlikely that the third keeper gets minutes at the World Cup so this player can be decided later on.




    Defenders:

    (CB):

    Kanaani
    Pouraliganji



    These two are the only two locked in Center backs.

    Kanaani is class. He is amazing. He is solid, with a big presence. It’s clear that he is on a mission. His mentality on the pitch is fantastic. He is currently our most reliable CB. He is always focused and is at the right place at the right time defensively. His two assists against Lebanon were world class. What a player. Why isn’t he in Europe? I wish we had two of him.

    Pouraliganji is our most intelligent defender, and he has time to recover for the World Cup. Hopefully he can perform as well.

    Hosseini is very questionable. He plays like an amateur at times, which actually makes him an amateur. He doesn't seem hopeless and can be guided with proper coaching, because he tries to do good and that’s a good sign.
    Considering that he is our only European center back who also plays regularly, he needs to be the backup choice. However, it doesn't lock him in at the moment.

    Khalilzadeh has the confidence to take initiative as he showed vs Son. This is his best quality. He takes action and sometimes it results in great decisions. However, at other times, he makes terrible decisions which can throw away the game. He will be 33.5 at the start of the World Cup. It's not terrible but also not optimal because we can't rely on him after the World Cup. This factor makes him a good backup player. He isn't locked in either but it’s good to know that we have Hosseini and Khalilzadeh as our safer choices for bench players if we fail to find stronger replacements.


    4 CBs is all we should bring to the World Cup. Two will start. Whoever that has knowledge of other CBs in the Iranian league needs to inform us in this thread of the absolute best CB in the league as soon as possible. If we fail to find anyone then the four above-mentioned will be the 4 CBs at the World Cup. Skocic will automatically pick these four anyway, unless we find someone better to pressure him with.


    Objective: Scout for the best CB in the Iranian league to replace Khalilzadeh or Hosseini, who could perhaps also challenge PAG & Kanaani for a starting spot. Maybe even take the spot of PAG if he doesn’t return to form.




    (RB):

    Moharrami


    Moharrami has a terrible tendency to daydream on the pitch at times. He gets destroyed regularly when Iran’s defence is lined up and the opponent sends in a through ball. He has zero awareness of his surrounding at times.
    When Iran holds the ball, he is our best RB. He also plays for Dinamo Zagreb which is good for his development. We have no other choice and have to stick with him as a locked in player. However, we shouldn’t lock him in as a starter, but at the very least he should be one of the two right backs in the squad.

    Hardani is in form from what I hear. He needs to be tested in that case, unless there are better options in the league.


    Objective: Scout for the best RB in the Iranian league to accompany Moharrami & potentially be the starter.



    (LB):

    ?


    Mohammadi has stamina and pace. He can also mark his opponent defensively at times. That’s it. He is usually invisible in transitional play. Runs up and down like a headless chicken as well. He is however one of the most capped players. He’s unreliable without good coaching. We have a serious lack of quality in our wingback positions. We can’t trust anyone in this position at the moment. I refuse to believe that no man in Iran can play decently as a left back.

    Noorafkan is an atrocious defender. I haven’t seen a worse defender in Iran’s history because Iran hasn’t had anyone worse in their history other than him.

    Noorafkan is a playmaker who likes to play offensively. He isn’t even a defender it’s obvious if you analyze him. He is as much of a defender as Messi is. Playing Noorafkan as a LB is like playing Otavio as a RB.
    I will post what I’ve previously posted about him, below this post. Because I’ve seen people still have him in their preferred team even after this round of games which shows that many Iranians are unaware of how unacceptable he is. If everyone knew, then no one would want him as a defender again. He is a LM, not a LB. I hope that someone can make Skocic understand that playing Noorafkan = free 3 points to every nation in the World Cup.

    Objective: Scout for the best LB in the Iranian league, and a backup as well because we have no one that is qualified at this moment. This is a crisis position. Aghaei is the only player I am aware of but I have no idea how good he is and if there are better options. We need to go all out on finding a solid LB. Naderi is also available in the Turkish league but I’m unaware of his qualities as well. Last time I checked, he got a red card in the Turkish league.


    Locked in Goalkeepers & defenders:

    Abedzadeh
    Beiranvand
    Kanaani
    Pouraliganji
    Moharrami


    Remaining slots in defence:

    1 GK
    2 CB
    1 RB
    2 LB




    Central Midfielders:

    Currently, we have the following CMs called up:

    Hajsafi
    Nourollahi
    Sarlak
    Kamyabinia
    Mehdipour
    Ezatolahi


    Another crisis position. Everyone except Mehdipour and Ezatolahi should be permanently removed from the team.
    Enough is enough. Skocic needs to wake up.

    Hajsafi - a captain who doesn’t perform his duties. He never shows leadership on the pitch. At times, he even is the most unprofessional one. He doesn’t talk to players who he sees make poor decisions. He is our most capped player and is 32, and yet, he decides to shoot with his weak foot when he is a defensive player, instead of passing an open Gholizadeh to his right. Hajsafi with all his experience and age has the same mindset of Luis Diaz.

    He is somehow a legend in every category. He gets picked by every coach Iran has. He is even sponsored by NASA. This legend has the most World Cup appearances out of any player in Iran’s history. He shares this glory with icons such as Mahdavikia, Teymourian, etc.
    What’s the point of playing a 32 year old experienced veteran who has no leadership as a captain, no skills on the pitch, slows the game down, can’t keep up with his man, sends rockets to Jupiter, makes inexperienced decisions on the pitch with all of his experience, etc.?


    Kamyabinia - 33 years old. Doesn’t even get playing time. Why not bring Ebrahimi instead?

    Nourollahi - How are you the star midfielder in Skocic’s team when you don't offer anything? He isn’t physical, technical or intelligent. He lacks in all departments of the sport (technical, mental, physical). If you are a small player physically, then you need to make up for it with your mental and technical abilities like Modric for example. I’m not putting those standards on us of course, I’m simply making an example of abilities required.

    Sarlak - Useless like Nourollahi. Same issues.



    Here is a potential solution. Call up Asadi and Cheshmi. Both are +1.90 m (+6 ft 3 in) and physically strong. Even if they are as bad as Nourollahi at football, they can at least be use their physique to be a wall and win the ball, which Nourollahi can't do either.

    I remember how poor Cheshmi’s composure was in the World Cup, but that was years ago and he will be 29 at the World Cup. Maybe he has matured.

    At the very least, these two can stand their ground in the midfield and be ball winning midfielders who can pass it forward to our playmakers.

    In fact, Nourollahi would get bodied against the midfield of teams like England or France (which some people want us to draw).

    If we all agree that Nourollahi is useless now, imagine what happens in the World Cup. I don’t want to see this horror movie.

    Iran lacks technical players in the midfield. It might be better to play these big guys. It gives us a Senegal-like presence, specially with Kanaani and Beiranvand behind them as cover.

    Also, these guys would improve our set piece defending, or crosses into the box significantly. They would also pose a threat when we have corners. We would also win more duels in the midfield and win the ball on goal kicks.

    This leads to Taremi getting more ball possession which is key for our success.



    Options of players to try out:

    Mehdipour
    Asadi
    Cheshmi
    Ebrahimi
    Amiri
    Ezatolahi

    Perhaps there are better options. If so, inform us.


    Objective: Try these midfielders out and scout for the best midfielders in Iran.




    CAMs:

    Ghoddos

    Ghoddos is our CAM. He should only be played here and nowhere else. If we want to win games, he needs to play every game because of his key passes to our forwards. He has great long shots as well.

    The issue with Ghoddos is that he can go invisible at times and doesn’t have the best chemistry with the team. This is why we need another good option here.

    Gholizadeh is a useless RW. He is one dimensional. All he can do is dribble like he’s Brazilian and pass. At times his vision is amazing. His decision-making is very poor. He goes invisible all the time and has poor defensive qualities.
    A suggestion is to try him as a CAM where I think he would perform much better. As a CAM, his main focus will be create scoring chances with key passes. Here, he can dribble players to find space in the middle as well to feed Azmoun.

    Salmani never got a chance to show his qualities even though he was called up before. He needs to be tested because we are in need of creative players to be able to score more goals.

    We can also use Taremi here because he can play as a world class CAM.



    Objective: Try Salmani.





    LWs:

    Allahyar
    Taremi

    One is full of potential, physical, technical and a pacy wonderkid. The other is world class. Taremi is needed all over the pitch because of his qualities. Therefore, I listed him as a LW instead of FW.





    RWs:

    Jahanbakhsh


    There are multiple players to test for LW/RW:

    Mohebi
    Hosseinzadeh
    Ghayedi


    Each of them offer different qualities.
    Comment if there are better options to test than these three.





    Forwards:

    Azmoun


    Options:

    Alipour
    Zahedi
    Ansarifard

    Ansarifard is a leader. He can change the players mindset at half time. I would honestly have him as a staff member instead. He is a good penalty taker though which is an issue of ours.
    Alipour is quick and is excellent at pressing. He could have a big role in the World Cup because not only is he a forward, but he can also impact our defending massively with his pressing abilities like Taremi. Carlos would worship him at this point if he still was coaching us. He needs a call up to be tested.
    Zahedi hasn’t been tested either.






    Potential players to test:

    Hardani - RB
    Cheshmi - DM
    Asadi - DM
    Gholizadeh - CAM
    Salmani - CAM
    Hosseinzadeh - Winger
    Mohebi - Winger
    Ghayedi - Winger
    Alipour - FW
    Zahedi - FW







    Why not have the absolute strongest possible team that we can have?
    We have this privilege. This isn’t club football where you have to wait until the transfer window opens to get replacements.
    We are not stuck with these horrible players who are unworthy of playing in this team. We have the right to demand for the best players. We have finished in the group stages 5 out of 5 times.
    We need to be stronger this time.



    Azmoun, Taremi and Kanaani need to play 90 minutes every single game at the World Cup. They are untouchable.


    Locked in players in the 23-Man Squad list:

    1) Abedzadeh
    2) Beiranvand
    3) Kanaani
    4) Pouraliganji
    5) Moharrami
    6) Ezatolahi
    7) Ghoddos
    8) Taremi
    9) Jahanbakhsh
    10) Allahyar
    11) Azmoun
    #BanNoorafkan

    #2
    My list of 23:

    GK:
    1. Abedzadeh
    2. Beiranvand
    3. Niazmand

    DEF:
    4. Moharrami
    5. Hardani
    6. Pouraliganji
    7. Kanaani
    8. M. Hosseini
    9. Khalilzadeh
    10. Ya Ali
    11. Noorafkan (by skin of his teeth)

    MID:
    12. Ezatolahi
    13. Ebrahimi
    14. Mehdipour
    15. Nourollahi
    16. Amiri
    17. Ghoddos
    18. Y. Salmani
    19. Jahanbakhsh
    20. Gholizadeh

    FWD:
    21. Azmoun
    22. Taremi
    23. Allahyar

    3 Standby (IF FIFA does expand to 26):
    Alipour, Hosseinzadeh, Ansarifard

    100 % OUT: Hajsafi, Mohammadi, Sarlak, Kamyabinia, Faraji, Gholami. Seriously if we bring any of these to the world cup in any capacity I prefer not to go.

    Only 1 spot is up for grabs and that is a left back spot (designated by Ya Ali): Options to try include Jafar Salmani (Esteghlal), Mehran Derakhshanmehr (Foolad), M. Naderi (Altay). If neither of these work I would rather include Amiri as starting/reserve left back and include another wing option in his place. This would most likely be hosseinzadeh.

    Comment


      #3
      Agreed with almost every point. Great post!

      Comment


        #4
        How is Majid Hosaini not a lock? He is the only defender we have playing in Europe. Are we suppose to find better qualified defender withing the next several months?
        "History is a set of lies that people have agreed upon,"

        Comment


          #5
          Originally posted by inarsenewetrust View Post
          My list of 23:

          GK:
          1. Abedzadeh
          2. Beiranvand
          3. Niazmand

          DEF:
          4. Moharrami
          5. Hardani
          6. Pouraliganji
          7. Kanaani
          8. M. Hosseini
          9. Khalilzadeh
          10. Ya Ali
          11. Noorafkan (by skin of his teeth)

          MID:
          12. Ezatolahi
          13. Ebrahimi
          14. Mehdipour
          15. Nourollahi
          16. Amiri
          17. Ghoddos
          18. Y. Salmani
          19. Jahanbakhsh
          20. Gholizadeh

          FWD:
          21. Azmoun
          22. Taremi
          23. Allahyar

          3 Standby (IF FIFA does expand to 26):
          Alipour, Hosseinzadeh, Ansarifard

          100 % OUT: Hajsafi, Mohammadi, Sarlak, Kamyabinia, Faraji, Gholami. Seriously if we bring any of these to the world cup in any capacity I prefer not to go.

          Only 1 spot is up for grabs and that is a left back spot (designated by Ya Ali): Options to try include Jafar Salmani (Esteghlal), Mehran Derakhshanmehr (Foolad), M. Naderi (Altay). If neither of these work I would rather include Amiri as starting/reserve left back and include another wing option in his place. This would most likely be hosseinzadeh.
          Where is mohebi?
          I agree with the list but i would cross nourafkan, nourafkan and add Zahedi

          Comment


            #6
            GK
            Beyranvand
            Abedzadeh
            Hosseini

            RB
            Rezaeian
            Moharami

            CB
            Kanaani
            Pouraliganji
            Khalilzadeh
            Hosseini/Yazdani

            LB
            Noorafkan
            Amiri/Hajsafi

            DM
            Ezatolahi
            Sarlak

            CM
            Noorolahi
            Amiri/Ali Karimi

            CAM
            Ghoddos
            Yasin Salmani

            RW
            Gholizadeh
            Allahyar/Zahedi

            LW
            Jahanbaksh
            Mohebi/Ghaedi

            FW
            Azmoun
            Taremi
            Ansarifard

            Comment


              #7
              What is this infatuation with Ghaedi?

              Comment


                #8
                Originally posted by PEJ View Post
                What is this infatuation with Ghaedi?
                At the Gucci store in the Dubai mall with his wife.

                Comment


                  #9
                  Originally posted by Preezy View Post
                  I remember how poor Cheshmi’s composure was in the World Cup, but that was years ago and he will be 29 at the World Cup. Maybe he has matured.
                  ??

                  Cheshmi made us nervous in the run up to the world cup, but his composure was fine in the Morocco game itself - or at least the same as the other defenders (after those dodgy first 20 minutes)

                  Are you sure you aren't mixing up his shaky preparation games with the match itself...? I remember we were all really happy with him on the iranian football forums... don't think there was a single criticism.

                  https://twitter.com/BabakGolriz/stat...19436557217792

                  He made the single best move of an iranian footballer during that tournament (that beautiful tackle, turn and long-pass) - it's not in his compilation video here, does anyone have it?

                  https://twitter.com/teammelli91/stat...98991996248064

                  Comment


                    #10
                    i wish iran coaches would see this

                    Comment


                      #11
                      GK

                      Beiranvand

                      Abedzadeh

                      Akhbari

                      D:

                      Rezaeian

                      Shoja Khalilzadeh

                      Kanaani

                      Pouraliganji

                      Hosseini

                      Noorafkan

                      Amiri

                      M:

                      Ezatolahi

                      Sarlak

                      Noorolahi

                      Yasin Salmani

                      Ghoddos

                      Gholizadeh

                      Jahanbaksh

                      Mehdippour

                      Hosseinzadeh

                      F:

                      Azmoun

                      Taremi

                      Ansarifard

                      Allahyar

                      Standby: Moharrami, Mohebbi, Alipour

                      Sent from my MAR-LX3A using Tapatalk

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Originally posted by PEJ View Post
                        What is this infatuation with Ghaedi?
                        Not as a starter, but if we’re going to invite the likes of Torabi and Hosseinzadeh then Ghaedi should be in discussion. Gholizadeh and Ghaedi are our two most technical players, if we are down or facing a high press we could use some like ghaedi who can create space with his technique. Having said that only if he shows ambition and leaves UAE.

                        Comment


                          #13
                          8+ months left to the world cup!

                          That includes almost half of the new season for most leagues including those in Iran and Europe where some of our players conduct their trade.

                          I understand that there may be some assumptions here for certain roles like goalkeeper but for other positions, it may be a too early to say for sure what the final roaster is going to look like at this point as there is still ample opportunity for new players to show eligibility or existing players to change form (ideally getting better).

                          In the last world cup, CQ changed the squad significantly in the last 8 months prior to world cup.

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Hope to se Ghaedi in the squad!
                            .....
                            .....
                            Supporting Team Melli

                            Comment


                              #15
                              Originally posted by Keshwardoost View Post
                              Hope to se Ghaedi in the squad!
                              Not me

                              Comment

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