Damn, I realise I didn't include Nekounam. In that case Mobali would maybe take p.nouris place in the roster. It all depends on the friendly matches. Hopefully Ghotbi realises the importance of testing players lika Nosrati, Kazemian, Mobali etc...
do you iranians can create the magic in front of 80000 north korean crowd as we did in tehran although u were 120000...along with that is if u lose in northkorea then saudi will be atleast in contention for third place..best of luck
Apparently Ghotbi has emphasized a 4-3-2-1 ("christmas tree") formation in preliminary training sessions with the players. http://www.persianfootball.com/forums/showthread.php?t=74100 For those that are unfamiliar with the 4-3-2-1, it is a well-balanced formation that emphasizes attack through the center of the pitch (rather than the wings). Of course, with ambitious and risky full-backs, attacks can also incorporate the wings. I can see such a formation working with the following line-up: -----------------------Rahmati------------------------------- ----Heydari-----Hosseini---Montazeri-------Ashjari----------- ------------M'kia-----Andranik----Khalatbari--------------- ------------------Karimi-----Shojaei------------------------- ---------------------Hashemian------------------------------ On Navad Ghotbi said something about Zandi most probably playing an important role as a sub, so I didn't include him in the line-up. Also, Aghili is absolute crap right now, and I expect another defender to replace him During attack, I think the formation would look more like a 4-1-4-1, with Kia and Khalatbari pushing further. Call me crazy, but I still can't get myself to replace Hash in the starting 11. Borhani can't play alone up top, and neither can Kazemian or Rezaei. Moreover, Khalili is nowhere near match-form. We're unlikely to dominate possession in the N.Korea match, so Hash can only help us. He'll stand-out on set-pieces, especially since our team will lack aerial strength and size. Normally, I wouldn't use Mahdavikia as anything but a winger. However, he played very well against Saudi Arabia as a RM, not a RW... Thoughts?
arent there any good subs for hashemian? he isnt the old hashemian from what a saw in the last game and he could be risky against the speedy N.koreans
I definitely share your concern regarding Hash. However, I really don't think there's a better choice right now for a solo-striker up top. The N.Koreans are definitely speedy, but that shouldn't concern Hash, as he's not a defender. Also, we seriously lack aerial strength at the moment, and Hash still provides better service in the air than Borhani, Kazemian or Madanchi. Ideally, we could entrust Khalili with Hash's duties. Unfortunately we don't live in an ideal world and Khalili is far from top-shape, having recently recovered from a serious injury. This 4-3-2-1 formation really emphasizes ball movement in the midfield, so the solo-striker up top will truly be a target-man expected to finish, and not create, plays. For such a role Hash will probably be just as effective, if not more so, than the alternatives. Anyways, I'm still a little skeptical as to whether or not Ghotbi is practicing a 4-3-2-1. It's a fine formation but it's very rarely used. Furthermore, Ghotbi is known to favor the 4-2-3-1 formation, which is a safe bet for a tough away match.
man you guys are cracking me up, iran that is. afshin was my youth club coach for about 4 years in southern california. i mean he would be at the crappy fields setting up cones with his dog from 4 pm till 10 pm or later every night coaching a bunch of youth teams. then driving all over so cal to games all weekend. running camps, etc. he busted his ass to become a top youth coach in LA. to be honest, i never thought he had the knowledge for soccer to make it THIS far. he is a very smart person and is a slick, smooth politician/salesman. way to go afshin. if you wanna know something funny, he used to call us "koonies" if we were screwing around. sometimes "kooniejans". he is a good guy. he was married to a white lady named mary but i heard they got divorced. his youth program was agss, afshin ghotbi soccer school, became american global soccer school. the best players he produced were peter vagenas and john o'brien
Afshin Ghotbi was selected as an assistant by the likes of Guus Hiddink and Dick Advocaat. It's extremely impressive how far he's gone in his incredibly young coaching career. The guy obviously has exceptional knowledge of the game. As you've noted, he's obviously a hard-worker. I hope he brings great fortune to Iran in these tough times.
Trust me, there aren't any good subs for Hash in the striking position, really. We need his aerial game. And I'm still clinging to hope, that he gets his act together for this vital match. If he doesn't step up and do some good work for the final mathces of the campaign, I'll be very dissapointed at him. But then again, he also needs the proper support from midfield, so it depends on all players. Damn when was the last time Iran had some dangerous hungry strikers? Oh, Vippe my friend, my line-up would look almost exactly like yours if ghotbi decides to take this direction (4-3-2-1). So glad to see mahdavikia in your line-up I don't know about Montazeri though. It appears that the training camp is going well. I think ghotbi will put together a well organized team. It will be interesting to see the first friendly. Which has now been changed to Thailand btw, in Azadi. Good step!
Well, I still have trouble believing that Ghotbi will use 4-3-2-1 and not 4-2-3-1 against N.Korea... He has always favored the 4-2-3-1. I haven't read for myself from an official source that Ghotbi is seriously practicing a 4-3-2-1, and it's obviously very easy to misreport it as a 4-2-3-1. We'll have to wait and see. Montazeri is probably the fastest CB we have, and we'll definitely need speed when we face the N.Koreans. Nosrati is (or at least was) pretty fast for a CB, but his current form is yet to be determined. Ghorbani is slightly injured and has temporarily left the training camp. Rahman Rezaei has a great deal of experience but he somehow manages to still make amateur mistakes all too often. Honestly, I never thought much of Montazeri. He's great for a 3-back system, but he might be too attacking minded for a 4-back system (he's constantly found in the middle of the pitch). He may be a liability, but at the same time his style of play is a breath of fresh-air from Aghili's constant long-balls to nowhere.
trust me our only problem is the deffence...remember mexico 2006? the could end 1-1 but we received 2 goals in less then 10 minutes or something from what i remember...
Yeah I agree, imo our defence was horrible in mexico match, but OK the other matches. But we have two current major problems in our national team that has enabled the other team to score on us relatively easily. 1. Horrible defence, both as a whole but also occasional individual mistakes. 2. team melli practically goes to SLEEP after scoring a goal and taking the lead. This is probably why we saw two goals in 10 minutes. We particularly saw this against Saudi. This is a disease that just need to go away... I hope Ghotbi really put some emphasis on this issues, because I'm not having it anymore! I think the aghili-hosseini combination in center has been one of the worst we've had in recent times. I think we HAVE to replace Aghili. He was horrible last acl-match and was at fault on 2 goals. There is some candidates, and I think that speed is a very necessary ability when looking at replacements. Two slow center backs (espeically against a fast team like north korea) is a nightmare. Vippe have suggested Montazeri. Nosrati is certainly also an option. It remains to be seen which one will be more fit. Who knows maybe ghotbi decides a R.rezaei-Nosrati/Montazeri combo. It will be very exciting to see what plans he has in mind.
Absolutely. It's as if we're cursed... This has happened so many times to our teams, and it's like we never learn! Exciting? Hmmm...... Exciting= when we try new attacking combinations NERVE-RACKING= when we try new defensive combinations
lool...true that! Anyway, Thailand friendly cancelled. Instead we're playing Indonesia. What a cirkus. I'm not shocked and can't say that I care anymore. This is beoynd ridiculous. All I care about now, is that team melli gets some match practice against whoever.
I'm very happy to see that Thailand was immediately replaced with another team, though. It's so ridiculous that so many members on PFDC are ridiculing this preparation match and bashing Indonesia. First of all, Indonesia has improved dramatically over the past couple of year. Secondly, Indonesia is only a bit weaker than Thailand. In Indonesia's most recent matches, they tied Australia's B-team 0-0, tied Oman 0-0, and lost to Thailand 2-1. The difference in strength between Indonesia and Thailand is entirely negligible for the purposes of a friendly match. As you've said, we just need to get some real match-practice. To be honest, if I could choose between playing Thailand or Indonesia, I would probably choose the slightly weaker team (Indonesia) simply because we'd get the same match-practice and probably leave the pitch with more confidence and higher morale ahead of the N.Korea match.
Believe me that was my reaction too; and I was surprised at PFDC people mocking it so much. 1. Great that Iran replaced the friendly so quickly. 2. Indonesia satisfies all the requirements for the friendly.
I guess you're right. We played Indonesia in Asia cup and they were not that bad. Maybe they have improved more from that time. I was just stating how ridiculous it is that teams just keep cancelling on us. But in this case, it was probably for the best I just hope that this friendly is completely finalized, so that even indonesia dont cancel the match. lol
Actually, we didn't play Indonesia in the Asian Cup. We played Malaysia (W 2-0), who is certainly worse than Indonesia. Indonesia beat Bahrain 2-1, lost to Saudi Arabia 1-2, and lost to S.Korea 0-1. These are fantastic results for a team from SE Asia! Plus, they have improved since then. As you've said, let's just hope this friendly match actually happens!
Oh shiet, thats right. Don't know how I managed to mix up the two. Wasn't my intention to be so ignorant. I guess Asia cup is a big blur in my mind since we didn't achieve so much. Anyway those results are certainly quite impressive. I didn't know that, thanks for filling me in on that. Hopefully they will be a good match. The most important thing is that team melli gets 90 minutes match practice. And Indonesia is certainly not a walkover-team, as indicated by the results they've gotten.
According to seemingly reliable news updates on PFDC, Rahman Rezaei has left the camp due to personal reasons, and Ashjari has left the camp due to injury. Bagheri and Gholamreza Rezaei have also been ruled out due to injuries. Everyone is worried about Ashjari's absence, and rumors have begun to float that Ghotbi is experimenting with Alireza Mohammad at LB. Ironically, when the 40+ player-list was released last month I said that I'd prefer to start Mohammad at LB rather than Ashjari. I said "to be honest, I'd rather have him play LB than Ashjari. He's much faster and a match better defender. He's a great wing player, so I think he'd be fine on the left" (p. 5 of this thread). I still think Mohammad is a very decent choice for LB, although we will definitely miss Ashjari's crosses and indirect kicks. Other potential replacements for Ashjari are P.Nouri and Kaebi, who can move to the left and allow Heydari to start at RB if necessary. Alenemeh and Nosrati are also options for LB, but I highly, highly doubt either of them will start. It appears that most fans are more fond of P.Nouri than Mohammad for LB, but I certainly am not. I happen to like Nouri very much, but I really don't think he's a good LB. His best position is clearly DM, where I think he would thrive next to Andranik in a 4-2-3-1. The main problem I see with Ashjari's absence is not the void that exists at LB, but rather the absence of a strong left-foot in the starting line-up. Ghotbi earlier suggested that Zandi would play an important role coming off the bench, but now that Ashjari is out, Zandi may very well have a set place in the starting 11. If that's the case, we may find either Mahdavikia, Shojaei, Khalatbari, or Karimi coming off the bench, which is unfortunate. Obviously our starting 11 will depend entirely on the tactics that Ghotbi has in mind (wing-play, formation, aerial attacks, etc.).
I prefer Nouri. But to be honest, is because I really never seen anything from this Mohammad. But if he really has the quality, he'll surely be tested What position would Zandi play if he were to have a place in starting 11, do you think? My problem with Zandi (and it's a seriously big one): This player is TO SLOW. And I can't honestly say that his ferocious left shot can ever compensate for his lacking speed for him to be a starter in the national team. However he is also a very smart player, but I just cant put him in the starting 11, in any system what so ever. In my honest opinion I would rather see him as a sub. Rahmati Heydari....Hosseini....?.....Nouri/mohammad Ando Kia.............................Khalatbari Karimi.......Shojaei Hash This can be interpreted as a 4-1-4-1. But imo it's not. I have seen a tendency from both Karimi and Shojaei to help out in defence. This system is certainly not a static but a dynamic one. Both Karimi and Shojaei can gain the ball in our side of the field and start an attack with their fantastic playmaking-ablilities, especially Karimi. And I just cant see Zandi replace ANY of the players in the starting 11. I think Nouri has some pretty descent crosses and he can take freekicks. But it remains to be seen if he gets the nod from Ghotbi. Otherwise, I really dont know. But I dont think that this problem is a huge one, but it's certainly a big blow that Ashjari got injured.
Wait a min...Are we talking about Mohammad in PP? Is he invited? lol Because I dont know if I would be so comfortable with him, because he usually plays at the right side.
Hahaha... Yes, Alireza Mohammad from PP. He's a RB but as I explained earlier, he is a natural winger and he can be effective with his speed and skill on either flank.
Damn, I completely missed that! hahaha What do you think Ghotbi will do? I think he might use Nouri. Just as long it's not Nosrati, since that's not his natural position.
Tha match against China is June 1st. As far as time I have no idea. But it will surely come up on PFDC soon. I dont know whether or not the friendly against the chinese club team is a confirmed fixture. Hopefully so!