Has nothing to do with me being die hard fan or not. Again we had this argument of the top level several times and i don't want go through it again. Australia won AC few years a go, but are they better than us? No, is SK better than us? They are not. Not even Japan at this stage. Iran is the best Asian team as we talk. Now is the time to take it to the next level and have a reasonable draw sure helps a lot, so it does make a difference.
People saying being in pot 3 and have a group of Russia, Mexico, Iran, Morocco or Belgium, Peru, Iran, Panama or Poland, Colombia, Iran, Nigeria Instead of being in 4 and have a group of: Argentina, England, Croatia, Iran or Germany, Spain, Iceland, Iran doesn't make a difference, Come on!!
The worst case scenario of being in pot 3 is getting Germany/Argentina/Portugal and England/Spain/Italy, while things may get more complicated being in pot 4.
The worst case scenario of being in pot 3 is getting Germany/Argentina/Portugal and England/Spain/Italy, while things may get more complicated being in pot 4.
Again, it certainly makes a difference if Iran wants to play football, but how different does Iran play against Argentina than it does against Iceland or Croatia? Not all that different.
Team Melli is a one-trick pony. Compact defense with the rare success on counters. This tactic works against almost every single team in the world and on a lucky streak it could actually take Iran very far. Like it did Greece in 2004.
I personally hate it but fuck it. If people like it, then so be it.
Team Melli is a one-trick pony. Compact defense with the rare success on counters. This tactic works against almost every single team in the world and on a lucky streak it could actually take Iran very far. Like it did Greece in 2004.
I personally hate it but fuck it. If people like it, then so be it.
We all agree i guess if we play Argentina 10 times, it doesn't mean it takes a Messi magic at 91st minute to win. Big teams like Argentina, Germany, Spain, France will find a way to score couple goals on Iran in normal situation, and as i said i don't think we purely park the bus, his team now count on very fast counter attackers and much more talented midfielders and forward compare to 4 years a go. His actually 4-3-3 with Taremi, Sardar and either of JB, Ghoddos will be quite dangerous in counter.
Iran is almost for sure in Pot 3
From pot 1, we have little chance against Germany and Brazil, bit more chance but still unlikely against Argentina and maybe Portugal, and better chances against France, Belgium, Poland and Russia. Reason being that the latter 4 teams have tough times against teams defending deep, though I would rate from the last 4 Belgium and Poland as those who might be more troubling because of the strike force.
From Pot 2, we should try to avoid Spain, Italy and maybe Columbia and Uruguay.
Pot 4, Serbia, Nigeria and maybe Ivory Coast should be avoided.
Ideally, we get into a group with France, Peru/Switzerland and Panama. We have almost zero chance in a group of death (Germany, Spain, Ivory Coast) and I would prefer to avoid a boring but tricky group (Russia/Poland, Iceland/Mexico, Nigeria/Serbia)
From pot 1, we have little chance against Germany and Brazil, bit more chance but still unlikely against Argentina and maybe Portugal, and better chances against France, Belgium, Poland and Russia. Reason being that the latter 4 teams have tough times against teams defending deep, though I would rate from the last 4 Belgium and Poland as those who might be more troubling because of the strike force.
From Pot 2, we should try to avoid Spain, Italy and maybe Columbia and Uruguay.
Pot 4, Serbia, Nigeria and maybe Ivory Coast should be avoided.
Ideally, we get into a group with France, Peru/Switzerland and Panama. We have almost zero chance in a group of death (Germany, Spain, Ivory Coast) and I would prefer to avoid a boring but tricky group (Russia/Poland, Iceland/Mexico, Nigeria/Serbia)
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BT has the point, if we play football yes it makes a difference but then again if are going to sit deep and wait for a counter then god should help in WorldCup . when was the last time we played a quality team ? almost 2 1/2 years ago against Chile and Sweden and ever since we never broke out of Asia . Are we a master of our domain ? Maybe so but Is Iran ready to take it to the next level ? Then That is up to discuss. We played our best game in 2014 against Argentina in Pot 1 and the worse against Bosnia in Pot 3, this is why I say it does not really matter whether be pot 3 or 4 . As of right now I believe with CQ style Iran play the likes of Belgium better than Honduras .
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BT has the point, if we play football yes it makes a difference but then again if are going to sit deep and wait for a counter then god should help in WorldCup . when was the last time we played a quality team ? almost 2 1/2 years ago against Chile and Sweden and ever since we never broke out of Asia . Are we a master of our domain ? Maybe so but Is Iran ready to take it to the next level ? Then That is up to discuss. We played our best game in 2014 against Argentina in Pot 1 and the worse against Bosnia in Pot 3, this is why I say it does not really matter whether be pot 3 or 4 . As of right now I believe with CQ style Iran play the likes of Belgium better than Honduras .
So with the tie against Russia, did Iran save themselves and go to pot 3? Last time I read an article it was saying that because of the tie vs Syria, we will be in pot 4. Upon further inspection, the wins v Toga and tie @ Russia counts and Syria is not as bad a we thought, they only lost 2-1 in the last playoff game to Australia. I hope all of that helps us is it finalized or do we have to wait until they release the latest Oct rankings? I know they are going to do the group draw next week. Good luck Team Melli, hopefully we did enough to save ourselves. I am asking because I am not 100% sure.
Again you miss the point, we are not entirely defending, and assuming what you say is true, these days lots of teamw in the world, even some big teams such as Portugal use this strategy to get result, so in 2017 attacking like headless chicken is not working, it became the game of strategy, sure everyone enjoy the beautiful football but it often doesn't happen, that is why the typical play maker role became useless in many teams because a lot of teams building their attack or counters from the wingers, so they solidify the midfielders with two more defensive minded midfielders and focus on speedy wingers and R and L backs.
Regarding to Bosnia match, again had nothing to do with being in pot 1 or 3. As it was discussed many times, we always struggled in the last match of World Cup, mainly because you need a strong bench to rely on when you play 3 games in 10-12 days, and we never had that bench, and therefore we struggled in our last matches in all of our WC participation, now it is time to improve this issue as well.
We actually played against some half decent teams in last 6 months, Russia this week, and Montenegro which almost made it to playoff, but it takes more than this if we want be well prepared for the next year, i mean look at the preparation U-17 had and the results they are getting, it is not an accident or coincidence.
Regarding to Bosnia match, again had nothing to do with being in pot 1 or 3. As it was discussed many times, we always struggled in the last match of World Cup, mainly because you need a strong bench to rely on when you play 3 games in 10-12 days, and we never had that bench, and therefore we struggled in our last matches in all of our WC participation, now it is time to improve this issue as well.
We actually played against some half decent teams in last 6 months, Russia this week, and Montenegro which almost made it to playoff, but it takes more than this if we want be well prepared for the next year, i mean look at the preparation U-17 had and the results they are getting, it is not an accident or coincidence.
Pot 3 or 4, we are really inferior to any team from Europe or S. America. The more physical they are, the less chance we have. We might not lose to Argentina worse than 1-0 but then we get hammered by Bosnia.
We are give or take in par with Asian teams but we won't be with them in one group so really who cares. So it leaves us North American and African teams, which are fairly comparable within the same pots excluding Mexico. So we need good preparation, number of friendlies, and a lot of luck!
I personally don't believe we should do worse than 2012. We have a younger more ambitious team (for the first time we will not field old farts in the WC stage) but a number of our players have WC experience, we are cohesive, we have a lot of players in 3rd level Eu teams but more than any time before they actually play for their respective sides, and we have no internal divide that we are aware of.
We are give or take in par with Asian teams but we won't be with them in one group so really who cares. So it leaves us North American and African teams, which are fairly comparable within the same pots excluding Mexico. So we need good preparation, number of friendlies, and a lot of luck!
I personally don't believe we should do worse than 2012. We have a younger more ambitious team (for the first time we will not field old farts in the WC stage) but a number of our players have WC experience, we are cohesive, we have a lot of players in 3rd level Eu teams but more than any time before they actually play for their respective sides, and we have no internal divide that we are aware of.
We played worst against Bosnia because we tried to attack and win and left space between lines. Iran is at its best staying tight and leaving no space. Just next time we should maybe avoid defending with 11 in our own field against a good team when the score is 0-0 in the 90th but maybe try to take the ball and the team towards their half. Even if we don't have the ball.
The key is always to keep the opponent away from your goal. Be it with or without the ball. That's something we have improved on since 2014.
The key is always to keep the opponent away from your goal. Be it with or without the ball. That's something we have improved on since 2014.
We are inferior to the GOOD teams in Europe and South America, we can beat or tie the middle of the road teams. When you say ANYONE then what we are going to lose to Bolivia, Venezuela, Estonia or Latvia I don't think so. We NEED to be in Pot 3 so we can at least have ONE crappy team in our group, if we are pot 4 then we are screwed and have no shot
I don't believe we have. How would we know anyway? We haven't played a dominant side since the last world cup.
Even against a pathetic Korea we got badly boxed in for continuous minutes at a time. Jalal Hosseini, as good a defender as he is, just sits way too deep and brings the entire team back with him.
We thought we had found a jewel in Ezzatollahi. Apparently we were wrong. The kid is not dependable. He could've been the key to breaking Nekounam's lazy and slow trend, but he's too hot-headed and not skillful enough.
Overall, Iran's offensive game and build-up play is extremely lacking. Almost as bad as it was in 2014. We don't even have the younger Shojaei and Dejagah anymore. And who the hell knows what this Ghoddos guy is capable of. He won't get much exposure before the WC anyway.
Defensively Iran is as good as a top 20 team can be (probably one of the best). But then again, that's only half of football.
Even against a pathetic Korea we got badly boxed in for continuous minutes at a time. Jalal Hosseini, as good a defender as he is, just sits way too deep and brings the entire team back with him.
We thought we had found a jewel in Ezzatollahi. Apparently we were wrong. The kid is not dependable. He could've been the key to breaking Nekounam's lazy and slow trend, but he's too hot-headed and not skillful enough.
Overall, Iran's offensive game and build-up play is extremely lacking. Almost as bad as it was in 2014. We don't even have the younger Shojaei and Dejagah anymore. And who the hell knows what this Ghoddos guy is capable of. He won't get much exposure before the WC anyway.
Defensively Iran is as good as a top 20 team can be (probably one of the best). But then again, that's only half of football.