Tag: Marc Overmars

Coach comments signal the end for Alireza Jahanbakhsh at Brighton.

One of the many difficult transfer decisions for Brighton and Hove Albion to make this summer is the future of Iranian winger Alireza Jahanbakhsh.

Alireza Jahanbakhsh has made just three starts in the Premier League for Brighton this season

Jahanbakhsh, 26, has started just three times from his nine appearances in the Premier League under Graham Potter and didn’t once complete a full 90 minutes.

He scored in his first start against Bournemouth last December and also netted a memorable overhead kick when he came off the bench in the following match against Chelsea.

It didn’t however result in a sustained run in the team for a player who joined Brighton for £17m in 2018 from AZ Alkmaar and is contracted until June 2023.

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His other two outings in the starting XI were during the 3-1 loss at Bournemouth and the 1-0 defeat at Everton.

He failed to make the Premier League matchday squad entirely on 19 separate occasions this season and his only run out since the restart was for the final 20 minutes during the 5-0 home loss against Man City.

Jahanbakhsh scored 34 goals from 79 appearances at his previous club AZ Alkmaar and reports from Holland suggest Ajax want to bring the Albion man back to the Eredivisie as a replacement for Chelsea-bound Hakim Ziyech.

In 2017/18 he was the leading goal scorer in the Dutch top-flight with 21 goals and finished joint third with 12 assists. Jahanbakhsh is the first Asian player ever to finish top goalscorer in a top level European league.

“He’ll be frustrated of course because he wants to play and I understand that,” said Albion head coach Potter. “He’s been great around the club, great with me, he gives his best all the time but he’s like any footballer – they want to play more.

“So it’s something we have to think about over the break and do what’s right for him and the club.

“But he’s a good player and he can help us. But again you can understand it from his perspective that he wants to play more regularly than he has.”

The contradictory comments of Brighton coach who barely managed to keep his team in the Premier League is a signal that Jahanbakhsh has no future in the club. However, the player has always insisted that he wants to remain and prove himself. Brighton wants to offload many high-cost players and Alireza Jahanbakhsh is one of them.

Marc Overmars saved Ghoochannejad’s career

Reza Ghoochannejhad
Reza Ghoochannejhad Photo: Matty Wijnbergen
Sat 21 Jun 2014, 05:59

telegraaf.nl

Reza plays first violin

by Jeroen Kapteijns

SÃO PAULO – In the heavily guarded training complex of Joaquim Grava belonging to top club Corinthians in São Paulo, where the base of World Cup participant Iran is located, it is a remarkable beginning of the training. While the other squad players, including some like NEC’er Alireza Jahanbakhsh, were doing a bit of fooling around with the ball against each other and a round cheating and stealing the ball or doing whatever tricks they can with the ball, Ghoochannejhad Reza (26) has his own rituals. The great hero of the Iranian football, who is speaking better Dutch than  Farsi , works on the edge of the field on his physical condition by doing a series of strength and power exercises

 

It’s funny in a football life. The Iranians had grown up in Leeuwarden and up to twenty months ago was totally unknown in his homeland, which he left with his family at the age of eight to establish a life in Netherlands. In the last World Cup qualifiers, Reza, as he conveniently calls himself, however created an unforgettable impression. The former player of SC Heerenveen, Go Ahead Eagles, FC Emmen and SC Cambuur scored the winning goal against South Korea, a result  which took Iran to its the fourth World Cup participation in its history. Meanwhile Charlton Athletic’s Ghoochannejhad in sixteen internationals  matches he found the target ten times already.

“He is definitely the star of the Iranian team,” says Shervin Gilani of the Tehran Times.”You can see that he has had a good training in Netherlands. In Iran, everyone expects Reza to score in this tournament. “

Ghoochannejhad is not only of  Iranian-Frisian origin with a tongue-twisting name , but an outstanding player as well. He is musically inclined and he was able in the past to play the violin. He also decided as a young footballer to study Law and Political Science at the University. On the field, he is distinguished by a combination of technical skill and a great purpose.

Marc Overmarc in Arsenal Jersey

However, it was a close shave or Ghoochannejhad would have never been admired at a World Cup. At age 21 he wanted to say goodbye to professional football. It was Marc Overmars, the current director of football affairs of Ajax, who pulled him aside and tried to persuade him from giving up , at his former club Go Ahead Eagles.

“You can say I saved his career,” said Overmars. “Reza had a lengthy rehabilitation from a cruciate ligament injury which complicated his come back and frustrated him. During a loan period at FC Emmen he got on the stand correctly. He argued that there was no future for him in professional football and had applied for transfer to the amateurs, because he wanted to focus completely on his studies. I spoke a lot with him and his parents insisted that he really needed to decide, otherwise his career would be over. It was his last chance. It’s very nice to see that he is now at the World Cup. It very nearly was run very differently. “

Now Ghoochannejhad will be playing today with Iran against the Argentine, with star ensemble like Lionel Messi and Sergio Aguero. In the scoreless draw against Nigeria, there was the best chance for Ghoochannejhad to score for Iran, but his header was parried by the goalkeeper. So far, the Iranians have always been extras on the World Cup with just one win in ten World Cup matches. With games against Argentina (Today at 18:00) and Bosnia-Herzegovina (Wednesday) at the door there also seems to run out of time.

For this tournament Reza  nevertheless seems to be optimistic to play a role. Significant one with Iran “We are no less than Nigeria and Bosnia-Herzegovina. We have a group with a good mix of young talent and experienced players. I think we’re going to fight,  to get the second place behind Argentina.”  Ghoochannejhad said, that does not look up to the confrontation with the potential World Cup winner. “The pressure is on Argentina. We have nothing to lose. It is up to us to show the same resilience as we showed against Nigeria.”