Editorial: A Day to Fear/I want a 4-6-0 – Part II

Time was running out for Iran and things were starting to get desperate. Hashemian was not available and his replacements were simple not good enough. Daei had to try new ideas during very hard and windy times. I suggested a Roma inspired 4-6-0 idea. Karimi was out of shape and only a shadow of himself but still possibly the best option upfront. I wanted to see Shojaei, Mahdavikia and Madanchi around Karimi. In Nekounam’s absence I wanted Andranik to run the show in defence and Mobali in offence.

A year later and a year wiser I’m claiming that Karimi, Mobali and Andranik would made a difference on that sad day none except for the Saudis want to look back to. Karimi was the super sub that never came on. Andranik was the ball winning midfielder who never won any balls and Mobali was the midfield general who never ran any show for Iran.

Daei’s team considering the circumstances was impressive. Though the team was only impressive until they fell apart the second they went ahead. More goes back to the bigger picture rather than anyone or anything else as Esteghlal and Sepahan reminded us all of a few days and weeks later, over and over again.

In my previous analysis I talked about a detail that Ghotbi is working very hard on these days. I pointed out players that were not defensive-minded whenever the whole team was (the second the team went ahead). Frankly, Iran (when leading) was defending with 7-8 players instead of 11, attacking with very few instead of 11 and counterattacking with 3-4 players (those who didn’t do their work in defence).

Nekounam is one of the best midfield generals ever in Iranian football. One of his biggest strengths is that he will not give away ball possession to the opponents. His first-touch game is as good as anyone’s and a great asset to any team that wants to keep ball possession. Mobali doesn’t have Nekounam’s physics but he does have many of his great qualities.

Mayelikohan who failed miserably with the Olympic team took an offensive Mobali and played him in a defensive midfield role. For this he was heavily criticized but now years later we know he was ahead of his time. Mobali was truly missed in Daei’s team; he was missed whenever Iran was ahead. Just like the team needed players like Andranik and Kazemi to win the ball back, the team needed players like Mobali besides Nekounam to keep ball possession. Iman with his great passing game would alone involve several of those players that weren’t at all involved in attacking whenever Iran did have the ball.

6^th of June 2009

In my previous Korea DPR analysis I’ve concluded that the country most certain has the worlds most disciplined national team. With discipline comes good foundation for a good defence and together with a 5-4-1 formation comes the world’s most defensive-minded national team. During 2008 and 2009 I’ve seen this team play 450 minutes of football against South Korea. South Korea with an organized offensive game and too little individual skill struggled for about 447 minutes or so. That’s three goals during that endless amount of time; one thanks to a goalkeeping blunder and a second was a game-winning goal only at the buzzer. My point is that South Korea missed players like Karimi, Shojaei and Khalatbari. They simply missed players with their individual skills who could do that little extra on their own.

Korea DPR will most likely play their usual game against Iran. That means defending with eleven men on their own half and counterattacking with Chong Tese, Hong Yong and Mun-in Guk. In this game and during these 90 minutes home-turf advantage is not going to be what it usually is. Korea DPR wants to counterattack rather than keep ball possession and Iran desperately needs to score and go forward with the whole team. Ghotbi rightfully has pointed out the small open space that will appear in front of the opponent’s two fullbacks (behind Hong Yong and Mun-in Guk) whenever they will switch from attack to defence, the big question is what to do with it?

Ghotbi might and probably will go with the safe and sound cross tactics. I would opt for the 4-6-0 idea where Karimi, Shojaei and Khalatbari would do what they do best. Having said that here’s my eleven for 6^th of June…

Rahmati; Kabi-Hosseini-Aghili-Ashjari; Andranik-Kazemi/Mobali; Mahdavikia-Shojaei-Khalatbari; Karimi

Ps. Naif Hazazi would later get his sweet revenge as he almost single-handedly inspired the Saudis to two famous comebacks against Iran and the UAE…

For part I click here