Match #34 - Iran v. USA

Without Pulisic and McKennie at their best or near best, the US is often transformed from a very exciting and capable side whose midfield (buttressed by Adams and Mussah and with speedy outlets from the flanks through Dest and Weah) is among the best, to something a lot more ordinary. Something we have seen in a comparison of the first half with the last 20 minutes in each of their games at the group stage.

 

You need to analyze the aggregated number to judge a team.

Those two players (playing at a club) had very good passing accuracy. However, Iran as a team had very poor passing for three games, which affected their result.

I do not think tactics would affect passing accuracy that much. Direct teams can have high passing rates also. Highly skilled teams can beat high pressure with fast accurate passing if they are skilled enough. Your accuracy tends to suffer when you play a more skilled team.

Ecuador changed their tactic and play very different team - their passing accuracy was 80%, 79%, and 77%. Narrow range (3%).

Lets forget about the first game which could be an abnormally. Iran didn't really show to be a technical skilled team against Wales or US. I found them under par, and not close to France, Spain, or Brazil.

 

Iran is out and no longer relevant. But the pass accuracy rate for Iran was 77% against the US, i.e. the same as Ecuador's against Senegal.

 

My point is that Iran loss can't be attributed to physical limitation (they didn't gas out) or a really bad game plan (they kept the score tight and was alive until the end). IMHO, Iran didn't have enough technical skills to pass out of US press and high intensity game, and weren't accurate and technical enough (didn't beat players one on one) to consistently build promising attacks. Time and time again Iran bad passing let them down.

 

I was impressed with Iran's fans. The atmosphere was fantastic. Iran played their hearts out for the fans.

On to the Netherlands who haven't lost a match since June 20 2021 (14-0-5)

 

The criteria you use shifts too much to explain away the facts...
To be sure, our best player wasn't sharp enough against the US when it comes to making some critical passes, but I don't think Taremi needs to convince you or his technical skills.

 

On my mind I was making arguments and giving examples on why I thought Iran was technically limited. But fair enough, we agree to disagree; which at the current world climate fells like a small miracle. Enjoy the rest of the cup.

 

Fair enough. But the 2 players (Taremi and not healthy/fit Azmoun) who actually did poorly in the criteria you emphasize, usually have excellent passing skills.

 

That is a moot point because it first hit the US player's arms. Again, it would be a weak call, but based on the latest precedent, which is, any contact of ball to hand in the box = penalty, that should have been a penalty. The ref also denied a clear foul on ghoddos late in the game on the wing, and he did not even look to VAR to the Taremi incident late on (even though it wasn't a penalty, but softer things have gone to VAR). This was a no nonsense ref, an anomaly, and who did not abide by basic precedent that 90% of refs do.

 

That's irrelevant here. USA is relatively poor at scoring and defending, and that is how matches are decided. Whatever Netherlands have been, they are clearly better than this US side result-wise and are the clear favourites.

 

Yet CQ decided to play him as a midfielder, then he hustled all game and messed up his chances up front due to being exhausted. All so an injured out of form Azmoun can sit up front and do nothing, chasing long balls, the same long ball strategy that failed against Japan in Asian cup and any other time. Also Azmoun did not contribute to defense, leaving us exposed.

 

USA has allowed ONE goal in the group, and it was a needless PK. How is that poor defending ?

USA strength is their speed and energy, and when Ecuador showed that in their game against the Dutch, the Dutch looked like an amateur team.

So I expect a similar result.

UEFA is vastly overrated in general.

I favor US in this match.

 

USA-Wales. Wales is a poor side, and USA allowed a goal. Even this out of form horrible coached Iran side beat Wales and did not allow a single goal. Wales did not create anything against Iran.

USA-England, England played conservatively. But I give it to the US, it was a good result still to hold England to no goals.

USA-Iran, USA defense was exposed on a few occasions and they needed luck to not concede. USA defense is not bad, but they are expected to struggle against a side like Netherlands.

Again, this is a speedy and talented US side who plays good possession football, but they lack finishing and they don't have the best defense. They will not go far. This is not a result oriented team.

 

Don't tell me you are from the States and you believe CONCACAF is better than UEFA? Yes the USA has a good team, but pipe down, last 4 WC had been won by 4 different UEFA teams.

 

Not to mention, the Iranian attack played terrible yesterday. The number of opportunities wasted and horrible decisions made when attacking was something I’ve never seen in a World Cup before. It’s like they didn’t know how to score or what to do.

 

No I'm not from the US, and I actually don't particularly like the US team but I just call it as I see it.

Holland was poor, and UEFA as a whole is just vastly overrated compared to the rest of the world.

I think Hokland will struggle against the US.

 

Don't forget Taremi at Porto is playing with a different level of players than Iran has.

 

So you're not from the US but you don't have a explanation that the US played against 2 UEFA teams and didn't won 1 match, and their best players are in European leagues who are part of the UEFA Confederation right?

On a serious note, my prediction for this tournament was 7 UEFA teams in the last 16 and 4 on the last 8, let's see if I get it right.

I do believe the USA has very good chances of beating the Dutch, mainly because this Dutch side beside Gakpo they don't have particularly great players for the level required of a classic Dutch NT.

 

Yes, but don't forget he finished (joint) top scorer in Portugal with Rio Ave even before he moved to Porto. And Taremi has great stats with Iran too and his striking partner upfront, Azmoun, was the highest goal scorer in the history of the Russian premier league with 110 goals! And in Iran's 4-3-3 formation, the other flank forwards for Iran include Feyernord's Jahanbakhsh (2018 top scorer in the Eredivisie) or Gholizadeh who is a pretty good player for Charleroi in Belgium.

Taremi, like other good players, has some games where he can be mediocre. But while he had a mediocre game against the US, his overall stats and performances even in this World Cup were good.

 

I like Taremi, and yes he was quite good in his first season at Rio Ave under Carvalhal. He already had the quality on him, just think he stepped up his level at Porto, first because he has better players around him, and second because his coach Conceição actually is a good one individually improving players.

 

I agree. I too think Conceição is a very good coach. In fact, my favorite Portuguese coach. And I agree that Taremi is a better player now.

 

The problem for the US is that two of its players, Pulisic and McKennie, aren't going to be 100% even if they suit up against Holland.

 

I quite honestly think if portuguese clubs were bold enough they would scout better in Iran, I know there are huge clubs there and in Asia overall, but if some of Iranian players arrived at a good age at Portugal or let's say the Dutch League they probably would develop to reach the Premier League, La Liga or Serie A.

Of course it's not easy for a player on that part of the world where he can play for massive clubs or he can earn a lot of money in some Gulf States, or he can even move to Russia or Turkey, be it by good wages or cultural ties, to leave that and move to clubs bellow the level of Porto, Benfica, Sporting, Ajax, PSV, Feyenoord, etc, but clubs like Braga, Guimarães, even Famaliicão should scout more in Asia, I am a big fan of Japanese players.

This to say if Iran has the chance to export and develop players using the example of Taremi, on the other side we have good examples like Egypt where with Al Ahly or Zamalek they actually are able to produce and keep the majority of their top players and compete in Africa.

Or the bad example being Turkey where their clubs actually pay good wages but they didn't developed their youth teams, and the tactical standard of Turkish coaches isn't really nothing to be impressed about.

 

McKennie was not 100% even entering this tournament. Was out for 3 weeks with Juventus and just got back to the team for the start of the World Cup. Pulisic said he’ll be ready to go for Saturday — I believe him!

 

I like the US team but I took note that on the second halfs of their 3 matches they dropped massively their performance.

Could it be related to the fact that the options on the bench aren't on the same level or is it the pressing done on the first half that makes it impossible to sustain on the second half?

Anyway I don't see Netherlands favourite on this one if they don't step up their level.