AFC Champions League (2 of 2): Al-Ittihad vs Esteghlal | Sepahan vs Al Shabab: 11-03-2009

[Arash_Naeni]

Originally Posted by Kaz

The thing with Saba is that they are draw masters. They've drawn 16 games this year, won 10 and only lost 4 (the least in the league). They better win because drawing too many games is as bad as losing.

Kaz jan, i read your reply in PFDC, where you said Al-Ittehad is not a team Esteghlal should of steam rolled. I would like to give you a reply here for that post.

As a matter of fact, Esteghlal SHOULD of steam rolled Al-Ittehad, with the way Esteghlal have been playing they should, and WOULD of walked all over Al-Ittehad if they had not shown so much respect, sitting back and stepping away from their amazing attacking game and turning that into a defensive and sitting back approach.

Al-Ittehad you said have 2 titles in these recent years.
Last one being 5 editions ago in 2005.

Since then, even their own fans believe their team is weak, they are not the same Ittehad, and only qualified ONCE since their last tournament win, and that they finished 3rd behind Kuruvchi and Sepahan ( who managed to beat them home and away )

Al-Ittehad to be very true with you, should not of been a match for Esteghlal last night, but some how, Esteghlal turned a game they should of won, into a loss.

Individual failiure, coaching failure whatever the reason might of been.
Is the fact that Esteghlal should of walked all over Al-Ittehad dadash..

Al-Hilal has in these 5 years been much much stronger then Al-Ittehad that in fact i believe in Saudi Arabia even Al-Shabab has been stronger then Al-Ittehad for the past couple of years..
Saba went there, in probably the hardest away game in club level in Saudi soccer, and played their normal game, showed no respect to their 15 million dollar players and did their job, and got a point, a point that could prove very well deciding in whether they top their group or in fact finishing second.

I have no doubt in my mind that when Al-Ittehad comes to Azadi and if Esteghlal play their normal game..
Al-Ittehad will have nothing, i repeat nothing to say..
I just cannot understand why Esteghlal went into a shell and hid and let Al-Ittehad believe they are better then them..

[Kaz]

Maybe what you say could have been achieved, but Esteghlal after years of not going to ACL and being unfamiliar with other teams were not going to go in their toughest opponent's home and try and dictate play. They sat back and played on the counter. It was the smart move, the move that was more likely to pay dividends. Unfortunately, 2 goals in 5 minutes put away our efforts. I, like you, think we'll do much better in Azadi and 2ng legs in general.

P.S. since their last win they qualified twice. Once getting to the quarters and the other not getting out of the group - which for some reason last year only had 1 team qualify from each group.

[Arash_Naeni]

Originally Posted by Kaz

Maybe what you say could have been achieved, but Esteghlal after years of not going to ACL and being unfamiliar with other teams were not going to go in their toughest opponent's home and try and dictate play. They sat back and played on the counter. It was the smart move, the move that was more likely to pay dividends. Unfortunately, 2 goals in 5 minutes put away our efforts. I, like you, think we'll do much better in Azadi and 2ng legs in general.

I doubt the unfamiliarity of things should be an excuse..( to an extent i would agree )
Saba Battery quite a big example of such a thing, like i said, they went out there in possibly 1 of the hardest away games there is in Asia and played their own game.
And i know a few years ago Saba played AFC CL but that should definitely not be an excuse to say they were ready for a game away in Saudi Arabia.
As the teams they faced back then, were in no terms anywhere close to Al-Hilal.

And did very well at it, everyone in Asia are probably still shocked, even the Saudi fans in the Saudi forums praised Saba Battery and the way they approached the game.
Saba could of easily with Karimi's direction sat back and played a boring game...

And mind you, they did this with a couple of very very notable key players absent from the starting lineup. That either takes courage, or Firouz Karimi is just a bloody brilliant manager, he knew exactly how to approach this game like he said he would in the press conference..

Ghalenoi in my opinion is at fault, i know you will say differently but a coach like him, really seems to get scared in these big games.
You cant afford that in Asia.

And its not the 1st time its come and bit him in the behind, with these unnecessary precautions..

[oghabealborz]

Originally Posted by Arash_Naeni

Ghalenoi in my opinion is at fault, i know you will say differently but a coach like him, really seems to get scared in these big games.
You cant afford that in Asia.

And its not the 1st time its come and bit him in the behind, with these unnecessary precautions..

you are right there mate , his capacity is IPL ,anything above that and he is lost ,he don't have the charisma or guts and I am afraid the knowledge .

it was not just the one off game or because the ref was not kind to us ,this is just a cycle that keeps repeating .

why otherwise would you keep your star on the bench for 70 minutes and then replace him with a player that could have helped us keep the ball towards the end .

the guy just don't have the character of a top coach and you can't inject it to him ,becuase he never aknowledges his mistakes therefore he will never learn .

Remember his interview after his failure with team melli ,talabkar ham bood !

[Kaz]

You'll see, Saba is not going to do anything. They're great at holding teams but that's it. I do think GN was at fault, but GN approached it the right way. Had they gone gung-ho and lost it would've been more unforgivable. Hindsight is 20-20 I guess.

LOL, was on Ittihad's wikipage and amazed at the coaches they've had:

[Zob Ahan]

The only iranian team that has ever beaten Alettehad in KSA is Sepahan. Unfortunately it looks like this record will hold for a long time.

[Arash_Naeni]

Originally Posted by Zob Ahan

The only iranian team that has ever beaten Alettehad in KSA is Sepahan. Unfortunately it looks like this record will hold for a long time.

Sepahan has done extremely well against Saudi teams and in the past 2 years of AFC CL they have beaten both Al-Ittehad & Al-Shabab at home and also in their games in Saudi Arabia.
Sepahan are quite impressive against Saudi opposition..

[shayanm]

Originally Posted by Zob Ahan

The only iranian team that has ever beaten Alettehad in KSA is Sepahan. Unfortunately it looks like this record will hold for a long time.

Actually I think in the ACL final that Aliteehad won, they lost the first leg against a korean team 1-3 at home and then won with away with a big margin to claim the title.
non the less Sepahan's record against them and Alshabab speaks for itself.
now we appreciate Sepahan's results even more when we see esteghlal failed to win.

[Sly]

Originally Posted by shayanm

Actually I think in the ACL final that Aliteehad won, they lost the first leg against a korean team 1-3 at home and then won with away with a big margin to claim the title.

He said the only "Iranian" team.