Allright. Decided to open this thread a little early, so we could discuss the friendly games. What are your thoughts after the two friendlies and what players/lineup do you think Ghotbi will use against N.Korea? The two problems that exists are the forward and left back posistions. A.Mohammad was tested in the second half against China and my opinion is that Hajsafi is the better choice. He had an ok game except for that blunder he made where stood in the wall when China had a FK, which led to their goal. FW pos: Hashemian is very slow. However I do think that we need him for his aerial game but he cant handle to be alone up there. Shojaei should be used as the second forward/attacking mid. What we also lacked from the China game is creativity in the midfield. We relied to much on playing on the sides. It's like we forced our attacking on on the wings rather than anywhere else. We unfortunately also saw this against Indonesia where we sent endless crosses without capitalizing on any of them. So it's rather evident that we need Karimi, Shojaei and Khalatbari in the starting line-up. Madanchi didn't do too well and neither did Zandi. Zandi's major problem is his lack of speed and nothing can compensate for that in order for him to be a starter in our next crucial match, imo. Khalatbari onced again proved that he should start. I guess we will be seeing the Aghili-Hosseini combination in the center-back posistions since no one else was tested in these two friendlies. Predicted lineup: Rahmati Kaebi.....Hosseini....Aghili....Hajsafi Ashoubi Kia.............................Khalatbari Karimi.....Shojaei Hashemian Score: I predict this match will end in a draw.
However I think there's also a strong possibility that Ghotbi will decide to go with a 4-2-3-1 system where two DMs are used. Line-up: Rahmati Kaebi.....Hosseini......Aghili......Hajsafi Ashoubi Ando Kia....................Khalatbari Shojaei/Karimi Hashemian
The game against China was pretty bad, but at least we have learned a few things from the match. Hajsafi pretty much has LB secured for the match against N.Korea. He didn't have an amazing game against China, but he certainly wasn't nearly as bad as many Iranians claim. I can only recall one instance when he made a bad decision which led to a risky turnover. To no one's surprise, he is extremely attacking-minded and prefers to push forward. He's not ideal for LB, but he's the best choice we've got. I also think he can develop into a strong LB if trained properly. His game-smarts and his speed compensate for his defensive deficiencies. He had some great ideas in the first-half, but his touch was a little off and Madanchi ruined a few of his plays. The only other possibility I see for LB is Kaebi, in the case where Heydari would play as RB. This is a safer decision than that of Hajsafi, but the option of having a strong left-foot in the line-up is very intriguing (it remains to be seen whether or not Zandi will start, given his sub-par performance against China). Make no mistake about it. At the moment, Khalatbari is more important and more effective for Team Melli than either Karimi, Zandi, Shojaei, or Madanchi. He's a complete player and he has consistently performed well for the team. The moment he steps on the pitch, plays are made and attempts on goal are achieved. He is indispensable to our starting line-up. Unfortunately we have trouble creating plays in a 4-2-3-1, which is Ghotbi's preferred formation. It is unlikely that he will abandon this formation for the N.Korea match, however: -------------------Rahmati--------------------- ----Kaebi----Aghili-----Hosseini----Hajsafi--- --------------Ando-----Ashoubi/Nouri--------- --Mahdavikia-----Karimi-----Khalatbari----- --------------------Hash----------------------- Shojaei may start instead of Karimi...
This is the 23-man list I would like to see in N.Korea: Goalkeepers: Seyed Mehdi Rahmati, Vahid Talebloo, Mohammad Mohammadi Defenders: Seyed Jalal Hosseini, Hossein Kaebi, Hadi Aghili, Mohammad Nosrati, Khosro Heydari, Pejman Montazeri Midfielders: Ferydoon Zandi, Andranik Teymourian, Hossein Kazemi, Mehdi Mahdavikia, Farzad Ashoubi, Masoud Shojaei, Ali Karimi, Mehrzad Madanchi, Ehsan Hajsafi, M.R. Khalatbari, Pejman Nouri Strikers: Arash Borhani, Vahid Hashemian, Mohsen Khalili
Yeah I don't understand the negative opinions towards Hajsafi. He wasn't exceptional, but by no means was he that bad either. He was pretty solid. Good thing about this kid, he's only 19! So he will develop into a better player, given he makes the right choices. It's really good that he gains some international experience. Madanchi shouldn't be used in LM, because in all honesty I haven't seen so many good scenes by him in this wcq-campaign or in any other games for that matter (except when he came on in the UAE game and very briefly made a positive contribution) Zandi shouldnt be started either as already stated. I think some people have a tendency to overrate the Cyprus league OR Zandi's performance there, because of their own preference or bias for Ferri. Don't get me wrong, he's not a bad player. But he lacks speed, to a some what enormous degree! And it overshadows his other football-attributes I'm afraid. But this is just my opinion. I absolutely agree on Khalatbari. He's hungry, his speed COMBINATED with his technical abilities is imo unmatched in our current squad. Maybe most importantly, he is the very equivalance of GHEYRAT!! We're in hundred procent agreement on what line-up Ghotbi will probably field. The importance of Nekounam can't be stressed enough! Such a shame he wont be there to help us.
My 18-man list for NK: GK: Rahmati, Talebloo DF: Kaebi, Heydari, Aghili, Hosseini, Nosrati, Hajsafi MF: Mahdavikia, Karimi, Zandi Khalatbari, Ando, Ashoubi/Nouri, Shojaei FW: Hashemian, Kazemian?, ? About the question marks: I sincerely have NO IDEA who else could contribute in this position. It's like they are all equally worthless at the time being. I put Kazemian (with a ?) in there, but I have to admit that it's because my own personal preference to this player. I'm thinking Madanchi is not a very bad idea, considering he's done pretty well there before and the serious lack of a dangerous forward. Khalili came out of an injury not too along ago (which his game have indicated). And everytime I see Borhani I get mad. lol
after seeing todays game i realized that we dont have any forwards nor any deffenders! we just have a normally good functioning midfield! if we get lucky the game will end in a draw and with a draw i mean 0-0 because we cant score thus it will not end 1-1 , 2-2 etc.. north korea is a stronger team compared to china and china "loole piched" our deffence..my heart says IRAAAAAAAAAAAAN but my brain says come oonnnnnnnnnnnnnn..u dont have a chance..sorry guys in TM team nemishe so dont have high hopes or you ll get hearth broken this summer!
DPR Korea vs Iran 6th of june, Saturday Different times 17.00 Local Time 12.30 Tehran Time 12.00 Dubai Time 10.00 CET (Berlin, Amsterdam, Stockholm) 09.00 London Time 04.00 AM Eastern 03.00 AM Central 01.00 AM Pacific 18.00 Melbourne Time Source: PFDC
Omidvaar bash doste azize man! I feel your anger or hopelessness, but I sincerely believe we will se a better performance from Iran, this coming saturday. I also predict a draw, but on the other hand I still believe there's a good chance we can beat them! I dont think we will loose. GO TM!!!
omid ke hast vali bazi az adamha to pfdc migan iran 10-0 mibare etc etc.. khejalatam nemikeshan bazia..
To be honest, I'm not so worried about scoring goals against N.Korea. I'm worried about our defense, however, and the fact that China was able to repeatedly split our defenders with dangerous through balls in the box. No, we didn't create many (practically any) scoring chances against China. But don't presume that we'll have the same problem against N.Korea. The 3 most creative players at our disposal are Khalatbari, Karimi, and Shojaei (in that order, in my opinion). Zandi is also a decent playmaker, but he's better individualistically. Karimi and Shojaei did not feature against China, and at least one of them will start against N.Korea (if not both). Khalatbari was used as a late-sub today (and he secured his spot in the starting 11, in my opinion), and the moment he entered the match he created a number of plays, including one of the only shots on target during the whole match (which he charismatically took himself). If any of the aforementioned players (let alone all of them) start against N.Korea, we will have a tenfold increase in scoring chances. This is the main reason I'm not so worried about the result of the match today (aside from our crap defense, which was already crap before the match).
to be honest, China's new attacking style has created this many chacnes against Iran (Also aginst Germany) So, do not be overly pessimistic, although I think N. Korea will be more aggressive. Good luck iran, your team dug itself a big hole now I hope we see improvement. Wont be easy as last few matches all against top three teams (KSA, DPRK, ROK)
ooo... I wouldn't underestimate N.Korea especially under Iran's given circumstances. Everybody knows N.Korea plays a frustrating 10 - 0 - 0 formation when playing against stronger opponents. We (S.Korea) had trouble exploiting their defence despite playing 5 (1W/4D) games against them. Also if I'm correct North Korea is unbeaten at home during this entire qualifier matches (since first round). Well, good luck to team melli
DPRK hasn't yet conceded any goal in Pyongyang. I think Iran will become the first team to score against them in the Kim Il-sung stadium in the 2010 WCQ.
Yeah, North Korea have been surprisingly good this WC-qualifying campaign. They are a team that defends with 10 men and offensively relies MUCH on counter-attacks rather than anything else. I saw the game they played agaisnt South Korea and was amazed by the quality of the north korean team. Hell they even scored a goal but unfortunately it wasn't over the line, according to the referees. Their number 12 is extremely dangerous in the air! I predict that we will draw, but I base my prediction mostly on the fact that we will probably go with 4-2-3-1 system using two defensive midfielders. Hence we could have a tough time (but not impossible) creating chanses. What worries me is actually scoring the goals. lol Our lack of a good dangerous forward is beyond sad. Hopefully Ghotbi decides with a 4-1-4-1 system. In this case probably Khalatbari, Shojaei and Karimi will be fielded. Anyway a draw is what I think the match will end on, but on the other hand beating them is not that out of reach, as some people claim, based on their impression of North Korea as a uber-defensive team. Well maybe they are, but by no means are they going to have an easy time defending against Iran.
Hopefully we will It's going to be hard, but we dont really (at least I dont) care about the other matches and statistics. We loot at the players we have at our disposal. I want to ask you south koreans in this forum a question, just out of pure curiosity. Who will you be rooting for in the DPR Korea-Iran clash?
Don't get me wrong... I am well aware that North Korea has caused scoring problems for most every team. Nonetheless, I am comforted by the fact that Iran plays well against North Korea and Iran indeed beat North Korea (2-1) in Tehran. Playing away from home, North Korea obviously fielded a defensive line-up, even by their natural ultra-defensive standards! Even so, Iran managed to score 2 goals on the unbreakable North Korean defense. As I said earlier, the North Korean attack is far more troubling to me. They have perfected the counter attack, and most every player on that team can accurately shoot from long-range (namely #s 10, 11, and 12). Number 12 (Jong Tae Se) is a beast that we have to seriously watch, particularly when he's in the air. Anyways, we have a good history in Pyongyang, and I hope we can once again show a strong performance against the North Koreans.
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKsXvSkPDWE&feature=PlayList&p=320E208FC7D3ECE8&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=1"]YouTube - iran national team[/ame] I can't recall when this happened, but N.Koreans (was it the fans or the players?) went crazy after the match. If I'm correct this was the last match Iran played at North Korea. N.Koreans could be looking forward for a revenge. N.Korean team is like a club team. Their squad is always the same which means their teamwork and chemistry is at its perfection. They sure don't play beautiful football but it's very effective. Iran will need to watch out for counter-attacks as well as occasional mid-range shooting.
Saudi Arabia used that formation against North Korea and suffered horribly, despite fielding a pretty strong line-up. But then again, Ghotbi probably knows how to implement it correctly, unlike the bozo who was coaching Saudi Arabia back then.
Ghotbi is most likely to field a 4-2-3-1 formation. There is also a slight chance that he'll use a flat 4-4-2, and I'm sure we'll see both formations at some point throughout the match. If I remember correctly, Saudi Arabia failed to actually field a true DM in the line-up. There seemed to be a gaping hole in the midfield for Saudi Arabia, and North Korea obviously exploited it. It's most certain that Andranik Teymourian will be one of the two starting DMs. It remains unknown, however, whom will accompany him. The most likely candidates are Farzad Ashoubi (who is new to the team and pretty unpopular, although I think he's decent) and Pejman Nouri (my preferred choice). Hossein Kazemi, who Ali Daei fancied, is unlikely to play a starting role.
He recently recovered from a tough injury, so he didn't feature in Iran's most recent matches. Ali Daei apparently didn't think he was fit enough to play. He did play, however, against Saudi Arabia in Riyadh (he was crap, though). He has experience playing in the EPL and the English Championship League. He's a workhorse known for his aggressiveness and his endless stamina (although he's certainly not as sharp as he was before his injury).
I honestly would like to see both Koreas qualify. But because of the way the north korean coach behaved in Seoul last time, (he said that they lost because we put some poisons into their meals. he was whining like a 2nd grade kid.) I wouldn't mind to see Iran beating them again.
I think this was the game where there was a 50/50 call for a PK against Iran and the ref decided not to award it. IIRC, the NK team surrounded the ref and started protesting like crazy and it took a while before things calmed down again. I think their bus got surrounded by angry NK fans as well.