You are right, Iraqi football as a whole needs a revamp. We need a proper league firstly and an FA to actually run the league properly. Players should not be run into the ground being forced to play competitive football during Ramadan. The clubs need to get licenses for the AFC Champions League so the top Iraqi players get experience playing against the elite players from the top teams in Asia, rather than the useless AFC Cup. We need to invest in our youth league and get coaches to teach players the essentials at a young age. We need to get rid of age fraud entirely to allow our players to develop properly. And we really need to get the stadium ban lifted. These are all realistic targets that we can achieve if our FA was willing to. If we had all that and we were still failing, then I would look solely at the coach. Right now, it's a mixture of the coach's fault, the dire state of Iraqi football in general and also many of the players themselves just not being good enough. We have a Norwegian second division player starting every game, even the Norwegian top division is unknown let alone the second division, that says something in itself (even though Sulaka has been quite solid for us so far so nothing against him but he really needs to be playing at a higher level).
The mistake in this thinking is that you are implying that Australia right now are as good as they were back then, or that Japan were the same as they were then, or that the players Zico had then are of the same level as the guys Radhi has. Jordan back then were easily better than this saudi, or the current australian team. oman was a useful team as well. Japan were very strong as well, with Honda and Kagawa at the height of their form and we played an incredibly close game against them with khaldoun, Muthana and Hussam Kadhim in the lineup. Australia were aging, but still better than where they are now - the only games they lost back then were against Oman and Jordan which shows the strength of that group. Even then, we would have done better if we didn't have the pointless Brazil friendly days before playing Australia or if Zico had not been replaced with a moron like petrovic. It's not the same thing. Zico had a team in transition with many players who had no clubs, Radhi has players at various European clubs, and a group who have played together at many youth tournaments together for years now. Give Zico this team and the same amount of preparation that Radhi has had, and I am certain we'd get at minimum 3rd place. This group is weak. The fact that KSA might finish top is proof of this.
I believe you are wrong, give zico this team with these circumstances and I guarantee you a spot in the world cup.
Under Radhi, we almost tied this game if not for referee mistakes !! Their first goal was offside, the equalizer we scored was the first goal in 16 years against Japan and their winning goal came in the 95th minute.. And who decided to bring Khaldoun, Muthana and Hussam in the lineup? It was him. If you blame Radhi for player selections, you may as well blame Zico for bringing mediocre players in the squad which costed us matches. Again, it's the head coach's responsibility who he selects and Zico called up clubless players. Even though I dont believe this, let's say that this happened and Zico led our team to the playoffs or World Cup. What would this mean for the footballing structure in Iraq? Our league is light years behind the others. We are not producing players like the 80's and 90's anymore. Our players are acting as amateurs, not caring about their fitness and diets (unlike all the other countries including KSA and UAE). You have to realize that Saudi Arabia and UAE improved in every aspect. They invested in their football and look what they've got. A strong league, proper youth system and ultimately a solid national team.
I can't believe people are still defending Radhi. The man is simply not a good manager. Why can't we pass through the pitch instead of hoofing the ball? Why can't we overwhelm the Saudi midfield when our midfield is far better? Why isn't Osama Rasheed or Bwra Nouri chosen? Why are all our players underperforming? Squad selection, tactics and formation are all aspects controlled by the manager and the manager should take responsibility. Why can't we play the same kind of posession football we played in the Asian cup? We actually passed the ball instead of hoofing it to Hammadi and Allah Kareem.
Again, you are implying that this Japanese team is as strong as the one in 2012. It's not even close. The team we have now has more talent than 2012, and Japan is weaker than back then. It's logical for the game to be more even. Zico was working with what he had available. Zico was not making player selections, we all know this very well. At the same time, there weren't really that many players available back then who could make a difference. This was at a time where the 07' guys were finishing up, and before Ali Adnan's generation + expat players were coming in. Radhi gets more blame because it's clear he is working with the FA in terms of player selections and the obvious and well known corruption in that process. This corruption is part of the reason why Zico left which is another reason why I don't blame him for squad selection. Not sure what point you are trying to make here. If Zico was still with us and we got to the world cup, it doesn't need to affect anything else. It just means we got to the world cup which is the main goal of the team. My point that I've been saying over and over is that we have two problems: 1. The coaching in Iraq at all levels (from the club level to the national team) 2. IFA which works with nepotism, greed and shortsightedness. You are focusing on one problem and ignoring the other. Radhi takes blame just like the FA. They hired him because he will play their game. If it wasn't the case then places on the national team and training camps would not be for sale, but they are. I blame Radhi for his incompetent mismanagement of the team and I blame the FA for hiring him and creating this corrupt environment in he first place. Our league will improve with time. We have new stadiums coming, hopefully that will open the door for ACL qualification which brings money and attracts players to the league. We don't have the money to build a league like in the UAE or KSA but we don't need that really. We need good facilities (which is being built) and we need better coaching. That being said, those improvements to infrastructure and youth development is what will get us to the top of Asia. I am still adamant that even without it, and in our current state, there is no excuse for us to be behind The Saudis and just barely better than Thailand. The UAE and Saudi teams are not solid. They are average teams profiting off of our disorganization and the drop in level of Japan and Australia. In any of the past qualifying years those two teams would have no chance.
Iraqilambo said something before that I fully agreed with which was that Radhi has taken nearly all of the experience and leaders out of the team. Who do young players like Alaa Mhawi and Amjad Attwan look towards when we go a goal down or we're on the backfoot and need inspiration? There needed to be someone like a Younis/Rehema/Salam at least on the bench who can be an example for these players, give them advice as they've experienced it all. The captain Alaa Abdul-Zahra has achieved nothing with Iraq in nearly 10 years and is invisible every game...
Some of you really need to take a look at the bigger picture. There is a decline in Iraqi football and it has nothing to do with the coach.. We had so many coaches and it was nothing different. Look at our 2007 generation and look at our team now. We don't even have players close to Nashat, Qusay, Younis because we are not producing players. This has everything to do with our league and youth system. The whole system is based on corruption and it's getting worse day by day. Example: If you noticed, our local players run out of gas after the 70th minute. You never know what you can expect from them. Today Alaa Mhawi is a talent, tommorow he is totally out of form. The result of our league. The only reason we can somehow compete with the top teams in Asia is because of our expats. Take Ahmed Yasin or Ahmad Ibrahim out and we're finished. I'm not saying Radhi is the perfect manager for this team, but who is going to take his place? At the very least he is trying out new tactics and he is forming a team. I want him to continue with the team until 2019, and then be replaced by a decent foreign coach who can take us to the next level.
That's because Yaser Kasim was in the midfield . But it seemed like our tactics was not to play any short passes but to just try to hoof it .
First, sorry for the wall of text, but there are several points I want to make. I understand what you are saying and to a certain extent I agree. There is no worthy replacement for Younis, Nashat, Rehema, etc... and the league struggles massively from corruption which is killing talent. There is no figure in Iraq like Ammo Baba who had the personality and knowledge to develop and find talents, and the way that everything is run is completely backwards. At the same time, we still have talents and players who can lead the team, even if they are not as great as the last generation. Ali Adnan is a player who has proven in the past that he can be a leader on the pitch and he is good enough to compete against any team. Ahmed Yasin is a very skillful winger, Husni as well. Ahmed Ibrahim is a strong and reliable CB and Rebin Sulaka is showing that he could be good enough to partner with him. Saad Abdul Amir is a very good DM, and the closest thing we'll get to replacing Qusay Munir IMO. We have available to us Osama Rashid, Justin Meram, Brwa Nouri, Rebin Asaad, Sherko, even Yaser, I think we can salvage him with a coach who is understanding with him and better leadership in the squad. Our local players are weak in many ways, but our national team, at this point, doesn't rely entirely on them. Most of our key players are in leagues outside of Iraq. There is a good backbone for a team, and if we had better leaders and if Radhi/the IFA called the actual best players available we would not have collapsed as we did in these qualifiers. I know you will disagree here, but I think one of the biggest mistakes was forcing Younis out. He was our #1 goalscorer in the last round, he leads the players on and off the pitch, he keeps the players grounded (which is a major issue, guys like Dhurgham have become arrogant after getting famous) and he helps resolve issues in the team before the become unmanageable - I firmly believe that the issue with Yaser wouldn't have gotten this far if Younis was still there. UAE still call Majid Nasser and Ismail Matar, australia still call 37 year old Cahill and the Japanese still have a use for Kawashima and Hasebe. Why can't we use our veterans in key matches? Especially when they have proven over and over that they still have a role to play? If not Younis, we could have had Noor Sabri, or Rehema. They don't necessarly need to start games, but their presence in the squad is important. Why is Gassid in, but Noor out? Why is Alaa Abdul Zahra in, but Younis is out? I think Radhi has problems personally with the 07 players and for this reason he didn't want them. At the same time, he recognizes that he needs experience in the team, so he brought Alaa and Gassid, but it didn't work for him because those two players are not leaders. Just because they are old doesn't mean they can lead. I don't expect us to win the group, or even qualify for the world cup, but I expect to see us actually compete. I have seen no progress under Radhi. Different tactics every game, weird line ups all the time, no cohesion, no understanding between the players, nothing. It's been almost a full year with Radhi, and after 12 games, we are no better than we were when he started.
We should have relied entirely on our expat players along with a foreign coach in this second round.What's the worst that could've happened that hasn't so far? There's alot of talent out there and you use what's at your disposal.Yes we know that we need to revamp the entire system in Iraq, but we're talking about now .This was a golden opportunity that slipped because of those criminals in IFA.I for one didn't expect Japan and Australia to be beatable in this qualifications.Rahdi is a coward and so is every member in the the IFA that hasn't resigned yet.They don't give 2 shyts about the team.
We barely tied Vietnam and Thailand in the previous round. Now we competed well with the top teams in Asia (almost won against Saudi Arabia, almost tied Japan, tied Australia) so there is no doubt we made progress. The question for me remains: If Radhi leaves, who is going to take over? What are our options? This FA is not able to bring in a foreign coach. We all know that and we have seen it in the past. Apart from that, I think it's very clear that we lack quality in the team. We managed to win the Asian Cup in 2007 under Vieira, not because he was a good coach but we had the talent available. Under Sidka our team looked decent, but I think we simply had a complete and solid team. The only reason I want Radhi to stay is because I want stability. We have nothing to lose now. Let the guy build a new team and when it's the right time, let a foreign coach take over for the 2022 World Cup qualifiers. This happened in the early 2000's when Adnan Hamad built a new team and Vieira took it to the next level. Forget Younis and forget Noor. If we commit a mistake like that again, we'll get into the same trouble for the next couple of years. We have to continue with the same group of players + a few additions like Osama or Brwa. Give them confidence and use it as backbone for this team.
The table says different...Iraq are 5th. But is that really the case? Iraq ended last in their previous WCQ 2014 group. These and the complaining about referees are just excuses.
Are you guys (and girls?) really discounting the lack of proper youth football infrastructure and training? You can have the best coach on earth and even good players but you need to be constantly producing great players and nurturing them if you want to be successful long term. You can't expect to bring in 24 year olds pretending to be 18 and expect them to develop and gain alot more ability. Its quite late at that point. You can't expect great results when most kids play on team and are told only to win... not to learn tactics, or how to pass or how to communicate... That is why Japan, Australia and South Korea even at their worst still qualify and produce a half decent result. Where as everyone else is just relying on talent or luck and a combination of.
What does Iraq's positions have to do with what I said. Yes, we are trash, but that doesn't mean the other teams are good.
Nobody is discounting this, read the posts that have been made. We know what the problems are. We are not sending 24 year olds, at most our overage players 1-2 years over with a couple players as outliers. This doesn't change that much either. Youth development happens at the club level, not the national team. That's why Nigeria can send a team of 30 year olds to U20 cups but still produce star players all the time. We produce lots of talent even with our current problems.
You don't build at the senior team though. All of that work has to happen at the lower levels of the football pyramid. With the senior team you take the best players you have available, no matter the age, and you fit them together in the best way possible to get results. The players at this level understand tactics, passing, team play, etc.. and they know how their team mates on the team play. These players have been together for the past 4 years at least with guys like Ali Adnan, Dhurgham, Mehdi Kamil, Faez, Hameed, Muhannad, all have played together for longer than that. When it comes to the senior team, it is all about man management and tactical knowledge. Nothing more and nothing less. Radhi has shown that he has problems with man management - had major issues with Yaser, created problems with Brwa by dropping him with no reasoning, having a vendetta against anyone from the 07 generation, constantly criticizing the players every time he is interviewed. He has major issues with tactics which we've seen over and over in the qualifiers. Van Marwijk absolutely schooled him in the last match. Radhi saying he's building a team is a joke - he has been playing with basically the same team that Hakeem Shakir was using minus Younis. He added in Rebin and a Mahawy because of his performance at the olympics and that's all. He's built nothing in a year. We could even argue that things are worse than before. Everything started to fall apart after Akram Salman was fired, and alot of it coincides with Yaser's drop in form, and Younis starting to get forced out. What we need is a change right now before we are screwed for the Asian Cup next year. We can't replace him with another Iraqi, because it's clear there is no Iraqi coach good enough for the job. Minimum change is that we need to have an experienced foreign coach in charge of the team. Let him manage the team as he sees fit, and support him with making his own call ups and give him friendlies. Replacing Radhi with another Iraqi will change nothing. This is what we've been doing for years and it doesn't work, because we are basically replacing one incompetent coach with another. If it was in my hands, I would throw whatever money the FA has available at Zico and try to bring him back. I would involve Nashat Akram and Harris Mohammed and have them them develop a program and structure with Zico that the national teams at all the levels would follow. We need more professionalism in the way that the Iraqi league is run and how each clubs manages it's teams. That's a program that will yield long term results. We won't get anything just by leaving Radhi in charge long term. What I am suggesting is impossible in the current environment, which comes to the key need for Iraqi football: The fans need to rise up and remove this FA. Protests and support from former players need to happen. We need to be persistent it can't stop until we get change. I think we will all agree when I say that the #1 problem is the FA. Even if it takes government intervention and we get a ban from FIFA, I'm ok with that because the IFA needs to be dissolved and rebuilt.