A renowned Iranian football critic believes that the media and football community have the right to criticize the Team Melli squad list, but ultimately the coach has the right to choose the players he wants.
According to the ISNA, the recent announcement of the players list for Uzbekistan match , was the target of some criticisms. The new squad of Team Melli will conduct its first training session in preparation for AFC Asian Cup 2019. Amir HajRezaei, a respected Iranian football expert, believes that, given the relatively short time between the FIFA world Cup and AFC Asian Cup, it is logical to see little change in the players l list.
* The selection of players is the right of the coach without a bargaining chip
Amir HajRezaei commenting on the new list of Team Melli, “First of all, I have to say that it is the coach’s right to select his players, but the media and football community has the right to criticize this list too.”
* It would been more rational for Azmoun not to be invited.
Several negative criticisms points of the team’s list, can be mentioned. HajRezaei added:”Vouria Ghafouri was not picked for the World Cup two months ago, presumably because he was not good enough, however, now he is selected! This is a contradiction. Sardar Azmoun left the team and informed the federation that he does not wish to play for Team Melli anymore, yet he is immediately invited by Queiroz! It seemed reasonable to me if Sardar Azmoun was not invited for at least once, and Queiroz could have spoken to him in a paternal manner , so that these occurrences and misunderstanding do not occur and treated well.
* The impact of the dispute between Queiroz and Branko is reflected on the list
“The other negative critique that can be added to the team’s list is that no players have been invited from the first and second ranked clubs of the League table,” the football expert said. “Another point to be noted is that only one player from Persepolis has been invited, which is the result of the ongoing dispute between Branco and Queiroz. These are the negative aspects of the team selection.”
* Macala is not satisfied with Khanzadeh!
In response to the question that ” given the poor performance of Khanzadeh in Qatar’s Al-Ahli team, and the recent criticism of Milan Macala, the coach of the team of his Iranian defender, was the selection of Khanzadeh, whose presence in Team Melli has always been criticized, the right move?” HajRezaei said: “I have not seen Khanzadeh play recently, but he was in the World Cup 2014 and 2018 squads, although he did not play any games for Iran. Milan Machala has become an second rate coach , much travelled and ubiquitous in the Persian Gulf countries, yet even he is not satisfied with Khanzadeh. This is probably because Khanzadeh is a weak defender and that was Machala’s concern.”
* Invitation of Sohrabian and Muharrami is a positive note of the list
HajRezaei pointed to the positive aspects of the squad list, explaining that inviting Armin Sohrabian and Sadiq Muharrami to a team of young and forward-looking players were among the positive points of the national team’s list. Also, given the short time between the World Cup and the Asian Cup, the principles were that the changes in the team should be minimal.
* The character of Queiroz is paradoxical
“I’m no longer interested in talking about Queiroz,” HajRezaei said in the interview with ISNA, saying he hopes this would be the last time he talks about the Portuguese coach. “He has a paradoxical personality that is evident in his statements and his offensive behaviors. Queiroz has a kind of intellectual instability. We criticized the Team Melli list, but anyway, the final say is the right of the team coach. However, no list can satisfy everyone.”
* Gouhari and Niazmand could have been invited
The football expert was asked whether it was better for the first team preparation, instead of selecting players such as Hossein Hosseini, Ramin Rezaian and Morteza PouraliGanji, who have not made any appearances since the World Cup 2018 and are way short of match fitness, players who have done well in the in the Persian Gulf League were picked, instead?. Such selection of new players will have both the experience of becoming members of Team Melli squad and continuing their work with more motivation. HajRezaei explained: “Ahmed Gouhari and Payam Niazmand are two great Iranian goalkeeping prospects who could have been included in the squad, but the short time between World Cup and Asian Cup could have been one of the reasons that Queiroz opted to not make big changes in the list.
* Queiroz no longer wants to fail in the Asian Cup
Queiroz had failed once in the Asian Cup and no longer wants to repeat this failure. The success of the team will put Queiroz in a much stronger bargaining position for negotiating his contract.