Asood Al Rafidayn Thread 2017 edition (R)

Discussion in 'Iraq' started by Suren01, Dec 31, 2016.

  1. Suren01

    Suren01 Member+

    Apr 9, 2012
    Netherlands
    Nat'l Team:
    Iraq
    Good news guys :) We will move up 8 places in the FIFA rankings now that we won against Kenya.

    Another friendly will be announced soon for November. Probably Sudan or Palestine.
     
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  2. Iraqilambo

    Iraqilambo Member

    Aug 15, 2014
    Club:
    AC Milan
    This morning 37 year old Cahill played 120 minutes and scored twice to put Australia in the final play off matches to reach the World Cup.

    Meanwhile, in Iraq, we push our experienced legends away despite regardless of their form....
     
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  3. Yas-The-Gunner

    Aug 2, 2006
    London
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Iraq
    Haha I was just about to come on here and say that. Totally agree. I don't care what anyone says, Younis could have done a job for us in these qualifiers coming off the bench. Even just scoring headers like the one he did in the Legends game. Instead Radhi and the fans forced him out completely.

    We didn't even let him play the Olympics, instead we called up Hammadi as our overaged striker and we barely even used Hammadi in the tournament. Younis would have scored at least a hattrick in that South Africa game.

    From now on I want to see Ayman Hussein starting every game. Players like Mohannad and Marwan are decent but they've never really shown that much. Whereas Ayman really excites me and hasn't had nearly as many games. Although I do think it would be better to play him next to a more mobile striker as part of a front two rather than having a lone striker.
     
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  4. Yas-The-Gunner

    Aug 2, 2006
    London
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Iraq
    Also about the Australia game, it really upsets me that the dreams of thousands of suffering Syrians got ended by a team that isn't even from Asia. I've never been comfortable with Australia taking a spot away from other AFC countries every year, especially this year when it meant so much to Syria considering what's going on in their country.
     
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  5. Iraqilambo

    Iraqilambo Member

    Aug 15, 2014
    Club:
    AC Milan
    Experienced leaders are a huge benefit on and off the pitch. How many dressing room conflicts did Younis Mahmoud resolve by himself? I don't think it's a coincidence that Yaser alienated himself from the national team as soon as Younis was forced out. It's not just Younis too. Guys like Salam Shakir and Noor Sabri both left as a result of Radhi, and both those players could have offered more to us. We went from those legends as our team's leaders, to having Alaa Abdul Zahra wearing the captain's armband. The weak team mentality and lack of leadership really showed itself in our losses to KSA and UAE especially.

    Dropping Younis wasn't the only reason we didn't qualify, but it certainly didn't help our cause.

    Agree completely on Aymen Hussein. Based on what I've seen from him, he looks like a potentially special player for us. I've said this before, but he's the closest thing we'll get to a Younis Mahmoud replacement in terms of play style. Good Technique and a strong goalscorer's instinct.

    I also agree on Australia. They have no place in the AFC. Them joining Asia helps them much more than any one else. They take away a world cup spot from teams that would benefit much more from the experience and exposure of playing in a World Cup. It's a joke that the current Asian Champions are not even Asian.
     
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  6. Suren01

    Suren01 Member+

    Apr 9, 2012
    Netherlands
    Nat'l Team:
    Iraq
    Come on guys. We all know how great the likes of Younis, Noor, Salam and Rehema were back in their prime, but they were completely finished in 2016. With them, we struggled against the likes of Thailand and Vietnam. Well look how our team performed in the final round. With a little bit more luck we could have taken the playoff spot. Performed well against top Asian teams.

    The constant chopping and changing the manager costed us the World Cup spot. We wasted time under Salman, Alwan and even Shnaishel proved to be inept. Under Basim we are playing much better football and the team looks balanced. Too little too late..
     
  7. Yas-The-Gunner

    Aug 2, 2006
    London
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Iraq
    I'm not saying Younis should have started but I don't think anyone can doubt he could have been a threat off the bench. We took a 32 year old average striker Jassim Mohammed to the WCQ instead, and made our captain Alaa a player who literally disappears in every game. 100% Younis would have done a better job than both these two in both their respective roles.

    About the manager, I always said that Basim was my first choice. (Strangely it was exactly a year ago to this day that I said it). I didn't think Radhi was a bad appointment at the time but I was proved totally wrong. Bad team selections, awful style of football and poor results. I hope that I'm not proved wrong with Basim. If Basim proves to be a failure as well then we should give up on Iraqi coaches completely because no one will be better.
     
  8. Iraqilambo

    Iraqilambo Member

    Aug 15, 2014
    Club:
    AC Milan
    I completely understand your point, but it was obvious that pushing out Younis, Noor, Rehema, etc.. was entirely a political decision because we all saw who they were replaced by.

    Jassim Mohammed being brought in, with Alaa taking the captain's armband and Gassid making a return proves this. None of those players were as good as Younis and Noor even in their last days.

    Overall, the performances in the last round were a mixed bag. Solid performance where the ref screwed us in Japan, garbage performance in Australia and KSA in addition to ref screw ups in those games too. Our final games were our best but that was mainly down to the fact that there was no more pressure I think.

    Just to be clear, Younis alone wouldn't change anything for us. There were alot of mistakes made, and in my opinion, forcing him out was one of those mistakes. Other mistakes were constant rotations to the team which didn't allow the players to develop any chemistry, having players in wrong positions, constantly testing different formations, poor substitutions, not calling good players who could have made a difference. Poor structure to the league with many players not match-fit, poor attitude from certain players with no professionalism.

    My main point when it comes to Younis is that he was still scoring goals, and was a major presence in the team that the players looked up to for guidance during difficult games. We saw several examples of very experienced players who scored goals and were important for their teams in reduced roles during these qualifiers.

    Right now, it looks like Basim Qasim is doing well since the players seem more relaxed and the general play has improved. I think the teams he's faced are pretty weak which makes the performances look better.

    Lets see what happens for now. My personal opinion is that a decent foreign coach is always better than an Iraqi coach if he's allowed to work as he wants, but that doesn't seem like something that can happen in Iraq.
     
  9. Yas-The-Gunner

    Aug 2, 2006
    London
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Iraq
    I find it very strange that our FA was not able to appoint Marcos Paqueta after weeks of negotiating whereas Al-Shorta managed to appoint him within a matter of days with no complications...
     
  10. Iraqilambo

    Iraqilambo Member

    Aug 15, 2014
    Club:
    AC Milan
    The answer is that the FA didn't actually want a foreign coach. They wanted Basim Qasim, and all the talk of Paqueta, Zenga, etc... was baseless rumours spread by the FA to shut the fans up after Radhi was sacked.
     
  11. Kroosinator

    Kroosinator Member+

    Dec 12, 2014
    Club:
    Real Madrid
    That's not a bad idea ... get him to learn the league first then if he does good the FA can appoint him to the national team
     
  12. Suren01

    Suren01 Member+

    Apr 9, 2012
    Netherlands
    Nat'l Team:
    Iraq
    Basim is doing well with the team. The selections, tactics are all good and he proved it against strong opposition. Why replace him for a foreigner?
     
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  13. Iraqilambo

    Iraqilambo Member

    Aug 15, 2014
    Club:
    AC Milan
    I agree with this. No point to replace him now. Let him continue, since he's working well. I'd like to have him until the next Asian Cup and then we can reassess at that point.

    Upcoming gulf cup might be his first challenge though.
     
  14. Yas-The-Gunner

    Aug 2, 2006
    London
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Iraq
    I'm very happy with Basim at the moment. I have almost no complaints with things like lineups and squad selections which I constantly had with Radhi, we're actually playing attractive football at times and we're getting results against top Asian teams. He's also playing Hussein Ali regularly which I'm delighted with because he is an excellent young player; Radhi wasn't even calling him up. He's clearly a great coach compared to other Iraqi coaches, no manager has won more Iraqi league titles than him and he's won multiple cup competitions.

    But it is true that we've been playing without any pressure. The Gulf Cup should be a great test for us if those teams don't withdraw, very much looking forward to it. With our U17 and U23 teams also doing well, and games back to being played in our own country, we have a lot to be positive about. :)

    The only negative at the moment is our pathetic league. It's back to being a group stage system and the organisation is woeful. They haven't even announced how the group system will work or how many teams will play in the league and it's already October. How can teams prepare if they don't even know whether or not they'll be playing in the first or second tier. Another negative is being in the AFC Cup but hopefully that will change this season and we can play in the CL.
     
  15. Suren01

    Suren01 Member+

    Apr 9, 2012
    Netherlands
    Nat'l Team:
    Iraq
    I've heard that Jawiya and Naft are going to play in the CL, while Zawraa and Naft Al-Wasat are going to play in the AFC Cup.
     
  16. Yas-The-Gunner

    Aug 2, 2006
    London
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Iraq
    Pretty sure that's just nonsense rumours from the Iraqi media. Countries that have direct CL spots don't get to play in the AFC Cup as well.

    From what I understand, if Iraqi clubs pass the licenses, it will be Jawiya in the CL group stage, Zawraa in the CL qualifying round, and Naft in the Arab CL. (And if Zawraa loses the playoff, they do not get moved to the AFC Cup).
     
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  17. Suren01

    Suren01 Member+

    Apr 9, 2012
    Netherlands
    Nat'l Team:
    Iraq
    Iraq will most likely play Uganda in Karbala next month!
     
  18. Suren01

    Suren01 Member+

    Apr 9, 2012
    Netherlands
    Nat'l Team:
    Iraq
    Iraq will play Syria on 13 November in Karbala.

    Source
     
  19. Iraqipower

    Iraqipower Member

    Oct 20, 2015
    Yasin not called up, alaa recalled......

    Rebin asaad, frans dhua putros, humam, ali husni, sajad hassan called up
     
  20. Suren01

    Suren01 Member+

    Apr 9, 2012
    Netherlands
    Nat'l Team:
    Iraq
    Yasin clearly has a problem with the FA and coaching staff. I think it has something to do with his refusal to travel without business class and it escalated.

    Hopefully they'll solve this issue.
     
  21. Suren01

    Suren01 Member+

    Apr 9, 2012
    Netherlands
    Nat'l Team:
    Iraq
    BREAKING: Gulf Cup will be held in Kuwait between 22 December 2017 - 8 January 2018.

    Group B
    Qatar
    Iraq
    Yemen
    Bahrain
     
  22. Iraqilambo

    Iraqilambo Member

    Aug 15, 2014
    Club:
    AC Milan
    Ahmed Yasin, Justin Meram, Brwa Nouri, Ali Adnan will all miss the gulf cup because it's not recognized by FIFA. Brwa has Europa League to prepare for, Ali has regular league games, Justin and Ahmed have to rest for next season. Dhurgham only just returned to regular training so we might have Ali Bahjat as our LB.

    Apparently Yaser Kasim's dad said that Yaser is willing to return to the NT. I don't want him back. He's too much trouble, and I'm tired of him.
     
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  23. Suren01

    Suren01 Member+

    Apr 9, 2012
    Netherlands
    Nat'l Team:
    Iraq
    Saad Abdul-Amir and Ahmad Ibrahim will most likely miss the Gulf Cup as well. Rebin Asaad and Frans Putros are recalled
     
  24. Suren01

    Suren01 Member+

    Apr 9, 2012
    Netherlands
    Nat'l Team:
    Iraq
    Iraq's Gulf Cup schedule is announced:

    23.12 Bahrain - Iraq
    26.12 Iraq - Qatar
    29.12 Iraq - Yemen

    Saad Abdul Amir joined the NT after getting the green light from his club :)
     
  25. Suren01

    Suren01 Member+

    Apr 9, 2012
    Netherlands
    Nat'l Team:
    Iraq
    Reports that Ahmed Ibrahim will participate in the Gulf Cup!! Great news
     

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