The inclusion of Karim Bagheri, assistant coach of Champions Persepolis in the technical or administration cadre of Team Melli former, has raised many questions and debates.
Former head coach of Esteghlal and former Team Melli player, Parviz Mazloomi opined about Karim Bagheri joining the technical staff. He said “ I have known Karim Bagheri for many years. He was a disciplined and good-natured player whose standards were high in terms of technique and personality during his playing days, but I do not know how he is technically and whether he is technically effective in the technical staff of Persepolis or not. However, I hope Bagheri can help the national team with his experiences.”
Many people perhaps have a similar opinion to Mazloomi. Bagheri is still an unknown quality in the field of coaching. His only experience is with Persepolis, where it is difficult to judge on how his presence has influenced the team as a whole.
However, a few experts suspect that Bagheri’s presence as an observer is for order and discipline, ensuring that the players remain orderly and behave responsibly. Despite Mazloomi’s denial of any knowledge of that aspect of Bagheri’s appointment, he, however, added that “Karim has been a great player and even in the most difficult times when Persepolis was in crisis, he has been able to manage the players well as a Team Captain and I still wish he could be productive in the national team.”
One of the biggest shortfalls of Iran’s football has been the attitude and the indiscipline of the players. In the last couple of years, there has been plenty of embarrassing situations where Team Melli was let down by the bad attitude and petulant behavior of supposedly professional players on or off the field. The semi-Final match against Japan in Al Ain in the AFC Asian Cup 2019 was the biggest example of Iranian players meltdown and subsequent heavy defeat. That match should be taught at every club in Iran so these mistakes are not repeated.
Dragan Skocic is new to National Team coaching, He will be dealing with players in Team Melli that a few weeks, were at each other’s throats in the league matches involving Persepolis, Esteghlal, and Sepahan. Poor discipline, constant protest at referees, petulant attitude on the field, childish goal celebration and at times total failure to commit the most basics of skills required has marred Iran. A strong character like Bagheri might be too little and too late, but given the circumstances. it is not a bad idea at all for him to be present in the camp to keep a watchful eye.
No matter how skillful a coach is and highly successful if his tactical plans are not implemented on the field due to the attitude of the players or their poor tactical discipline, such a team will not be going far.
Both Iran’s defeats against Bahrain and Iraq were results of poor tactical coverage. A needless penalty gave Bahrain the edge, while the might of Azmoun and Taremi failed to find the net, and then the last-minute poor defensive coverage in Amman against Iraq, lead to Iraq’s winning goal.
There is not much to hope for from the administration of the FFIRI as has been historically witnessed for decades. Their failures are institutional, The failure to arrange any friendly games before these crucial matches, is yet another proof that no matter who is running the football federation in Iran, the culture of incompetence, disorganization, and ineptitude prevails in that federation responsible for Team Melli affairs. Therefore, small measures such as giving Bagheri a seat on the bench might miraculously assist Team Melli to pass through these dire straits to the next round of the World Cup qualifiers.