Who should wear TM captaincy armband?

[Karimi 8]

When was this announced?

It hasn't been, but based on the past 4 years of team melli games, I believe that as long as he is invited, he will be the captain. He really cemented himself as captain last WC when he scored the late penalty against Portugal. Also I have seen some pre-match videos where Karim speaks to the players after Skocic. He appears to be looked up to as a leader, and I think he and Jahanbaksh so far have done a great job leading the team.

[Roozbeh-G2006]

Cap is for Players with usually sound/positive mentality and rather calm temperament but more importantly those who Lead by Example and leave everything they got on the pitch..! Next in line of importance is Experience/Leadership and someone who younger players often look up to and aspire to be ..!!
for me currently Amiri Personifies that role better than most... Mehdi would be my next choice..! ARJ aint can still be my 3rd choice.
HajSafi/Ansarifard anymore are only an emergency off the bench depth players, who have many of the qualities to wear the armband too ..! personally prefer to take a chance on a new promising talent than to take along the two of them who's performances throughout the years been avg. at best and often overrated/overvalued and by now seemingly the game at highest intensity and levels has already well passed them by..!

Yeah I think Amiri is the best currently. He ticks all the boxes for me too.

[TM4LIFE]

Captain needs to be someone well spoken, level headed, and with experience in high stakes games against tough opponents. It also needs to be someone with a good tactical eye and who is guaranteed to be a starter.

ARJ wore it well in qualifiers but I question whether he merits a starting position in the WC given his form vs someone like Allahyar.
For me it has to be Taremi. He just became champion in Portugal, played under a ton of media pressure, played in the last world cup. He has a great eye for how to break open a defense and isn't a hot-head in game.

[inarsenewetrust]

It has to be taremi imo. Amiri is great but not a figurehead.

In the key moments the team looks to taremi and azmoun. Nobody will look to arj who could very well be sitting on the bench.

Taremi is a bit older than sardar and a bit more serious / captain material. His experiences in Portugal and champion pedigree (he knows what is required to win at the highest level of European football, on our team only azmoun can also say that) , responses tk intense media scrutiny and will to win at all costs is clear.

He is the clear choice. I think most of skocic decision regarding ARJ as captain was to extract a bit more out of him performance wise which against Asian opposition in hindsight was an effective tactic and certainly galvanized him

[taremiscores]

ARJ if he is in form. If not, Mehdi Taremi. Mehdi has shown real leadership in the past couple years and is our best player as well. Sets a good tone.

[fary-jupiter]

im okay with jahanbaksch, he speaks english well.

[Roozbeh-G2006]

im okay with jahanbaksch, he speaks english well.

But why being able to speak english well is more important than anything else??

[Ghermez Agha]

The non-negotiables a captain needs is:

- professional attitude, period. No exceptions or any questionable characters.
- lead by example. captains need to walk the walk to match their talk, if you can’t lead in the field with good decision making and play then you’re not a leader (of course I’m talking about consistency here, everyone can have a bad game from time to time bust most need to be good).
- experience. this plays a HUGE factor for a number of reasons. usually the more experienced you are the more you’re familiar with sensitive situations that need a good leader to lead you through a tough or challenging time.
- alpha. If you cannot dominate and assert yourself with a physical presence on the field then you don’t deserve the armband. furthermore when the team gets out of hand and gets in the refs face for no reason (like we saw in the 2018 WC and 2019 AC) we need someone who can jump in there and tell his team to shut the heck up and focus and play the damn game. (Pathetic Hajsafi was not only not doing this but jumping in the ref after every whistle).
- likeable. If you’re not a team first guy and don’t have a great relationship with everyone in the staff and team then you cannot lead.
- needs to be able to speak decent English (so they can talk to refs comfortably)


……that said we don’t have anyone who embodies all of this. I would say Vahid Amiri is the closest one to embodying all of this although I don’t think he is alpha enough and doesn’t speak decent English. If Taremi didn’t have a track record of poor judgement/questionable attitude then he would be the obvious choice since he fits every other bullet I listed. Ali JB at the same time has been in great form for TM and really does check off all boxes so I’m ok with him being captain too, he would prob be my vote ATM.

There could not be anyone less deserving than Hajsafi. His track record of poor performances, his inability to keep his cool, his inability to lead by example all make him a nightmare of a captain.

[Roozbeh-G2006]

The non-negotiables a captain needs is:

- professional attitude, period. No exceptions or any questionable characters.
- lead by example. captains need to walk the walk to match their talk, if you can’t lead in the field with good decision making and play then you’re not a leader (of course I’m talking about consistency here, everyone can have a bad game from time to time bust most need to be good).
- experience. this plays a HUGE factor for a number of reasons. usually the more experienced you are the more you’re familiar with sensitive situations that need a good leader to lead you through a tough or challenging time.
- alpha. If you cannot dominate and assert yourself with a physical presence on the field then you don’t deserve the armband. furthermore when the team gets out of hand and gets in the refs face for no reason (like we saw in the 2018 WC and 2019 AC) we need someone who can jump in there and tell his team to shut the heck up and focus and play the damn game. (Pathetic Hajsafi was not only not doing this but jumping in the ref after every whistle).
- likeable. If you’re not a team first guy and don’t have a great relationship with everyone in the staff and team then you cannot lead.
- needs to be able to speak decent English (so they can talk to refs comfortably)


……that said we don’t have anyone who embodies all of this. I would say Vahid Amiri is the closest one to embodying all of this although I don’t think he is alpha enough and doesn’t speak decent English. If Taremi didn’t have a track record of poor judgement/questionable attitude then he would be the obvious choice since he fits every other bullet I listed. Ali JB at the same time has been in great form for TM and really does check off all boxes so I’m ok with him being captain too, he would prob be my vote ATM.

There could not be anyone less deserving than Hajsafi. His track record of poor performances, his inability to keep his cool, his inability to lead by example all make him a nightmare of a captain.

Well put. BUT ARJ isn't alpha enough. He is a very nice lovely guy. Speaks good english but can be a translator for the captain.

[DR Strangemoosh]

Alireza Jahanbakhsh is well suited for the role as our captain cause he speaks fluent English and has a calm temper.

He definitely has a calm temper off the pitch and is always measured and intelligent especially when talking about people, but on the pitch I am always so nervous as for TM in the last dozen or so games he seems late into challenges and gets very angry or frustrated, pushing and shoving and shouting. Actually ever since the fight with Kyle Walker I've seen this side of him and in almost every game I think he is on the verge of a yellow card.

I am still OK with him being captain if he continues his form for the last few TM games but he definitely does not have calm temper any more when playing for the national team!

Actually surprisingly the most calm on the pitch seems to be Sardar - he doesn't get into fights like Alireza does (for TM)

[Leicester City]

He definitely has a calm temper off the pitch and is always measured and intelligent especially when talking about people, but on the pitch I am always so nervous as for TM in the last dozen or so games he seems late into challenges and gets very angry or frustrated, pushing and shoving and shouting. Actually ever since the fight with Kyle Walker I've seen this side of him and in almost every game I think he is on the verge of a yellow card.

I am still OK with him being captain if he continues his form for the last few TM games but he definitely does not have calm temper any more when playing for the national team!

Actually surprisingly the most calm on the pitch seems to be Sardar - he doesn't get into fights like Alireza does (for TM)

Not trying to advocate captaincy for someone who takes to social media khayemaling Ali geda or kotlet (a polar opposite to someone like Masoud Shojaei), but didn't Azmoun square up with the referee after the Bahrain match?

[DR Strangemoosh]

Not trying to advocate captaincy for someone who takes to social media khayemaling Ali geda or kotlet (a polar opposite to someone like Masoud Shojaei), but didn't Azmoun square up with the referee after the Bahrain match?

I missed most of the Bahrain game - but usually he seems calmer these days - I could be wrong.

Alireza seems to start going in late for challenges and also reacting to things in the second halves these days. Having said that he wears his passion and pride more than any other player

[DR Strangemoosh]

It hasn't been, but based on the past 4 years of team melli games, I believe that as long as he is invited, he will be the captain. He really cemented himself as captain last WC when he scored the late penalty against Portugal. Also I have seen some pre-match videos where Karim speaks to the players after Skocic. He appears to be looked up to as a leader, and I think he and Jahanbaksh so far have done a great job leading the team.

Agree they all look up to him as a sort of player-coach. If he is on the pitch it would either be him or Hajsafi in general.

[Roozbeh-G2006]

Doesn't it worry/bother you guys that ARJ hardly starts and gets only a few minutes of play as a sub? What are they doing to him? The game before last he was brilliant, he started last game but was subbed just after half time. There were a few players far worse than him but they played to the end! WTF is going on? Is it because he is a pushover? Not enough assertive/demanding? I am really baffled.

[Leicester City]

I missed most of the Bahrain game - but usually he seems calmer these days - I could be wrong.

Alireza seems to start going in late for challenges and also reacting to things in the second halves these days. Having said that he wears his passion and pride more than any other player

To be fair though, the Bahrain game was from 2019 and I couldn't recall him doing such a thing since then. I just wish he doesn't throw his hands up at his teammates for his own sake, but personally speaking, I would be fine with seeing Azmoun as captain since I do not structure decisions on temperament.