Tag: Marc Wilmots

Taj and Wilmots to meet for termination of the contract.

After a lot of speculations and what looked like a covert operation, the FFIRI seems to have reached the decision to terminate the contract of the current head coach of Team Melli, Marc Wilmots.

The president of the Iranian Football Association FFIRI Mehdi Taj who attended the AFC awards ceremony, has left Hong Kong to arrange a meeting with Marc Wilmots or his lawyers in Istanbul with the objective of terminating the Belgian coach contract on mutual consent. It is believed that the groundworks for such termination has been completed and the meeting will be a formality to end what was a bitter and dark period of Team Melli history under the ineffectual Wilmots.

This would be Wilomts third successive sacking from his post after he was dismissed by his country’s federation in June 2016, and then came his short tenure with Ivory Coast, where he left his job  in November 2017 “by mutual agreement” where he had only been in the role six months, but paid the price for his failure to guide the Elephants to a fourth successive World Cup 2018.

With Iran , Team Melli is in serious risk of elimination from the World Cup with two successive defeats in the group qualifications rounds. It seems that the World Cup is Marc Wilmots’, Achilles Heel.

Branko Ivankovic is the leading candidate as successor , however there is still a major financial settlement that needs to be sorted out by Persepolis club before the Croat will agree to return back to Iran.  The president of that club has admitted that their former coach (Branko Ivankovic) is negotiating with the Iranian Football Association to become the national team coach after Ivankovic emphatically turned down Persepolis club offer to return to his old job.

Ivankovic is still very bitter with Persepolis club specifically his last few months with the club, not just because the club failed to respect the contract and held his wages for several months, but because of all the troubles and the turmoil that was created in the team led by a few players to undermine his authority and hinder his job.

Although Branko, as he is popularly known in Iran amongst the fans, has not signed up yet, it is believed that if FFIRI can guarantee regular payment of his wages, Ivankovic will sign to lead Team Melli for his third time.

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Ivankovic’s pre-condition to coach Team Melli.

Branko Ivankovic is claiming 960,000 Euro arrears from Persepolis Club.

While the Croat coach is negotiating the possibility of coaching Team Melli with FFIRI and has met with the Iranian Ambassador in Croatia regarding this matter, he insists on settling the accounts with the Iranian Champions. The former Persepolis and Team Melli coach has given two conditions to the Iranian authorities, one of which is the financial settlement, while the other is the settlement of the contract with current coach Wimots before he can officially negotiates terms & conditions to coach Team Melli. It is an unwritten law between coaches that negotiating a job will not be carried out unless the post is vacant, which is not the case with Team Melli as Wilmots is still in charge, although remotely.

Meanwhile, Perspolis has acknowledged the receipt of an official letter from FIFA legal department reference Ivankovic’s claim and ordered to pay the full amount to their former Croatian coach. Failure to pay would result in sanctions on Persepolis and interest accumulation on the amount until it is fully paid.

Meanwhile, in true tradition Persepolis club on the receipt of the warning from FIFA, is seeking a discount from Branko Ivankovic! Persepolis must have thought to pull a quick one by taking advantage of Black Friday!

FFIRI has remained tight-lipped on the negotiations with Ivankovic and the contract with Marc Wilmots, whose future with Team Melli seems to be doubtful after the poor results that threaten Iran’s qualification for the FIFA Wolrd Cup 2022.

Kanaani-Zadegan, dismisses all rumors of a rift between players and Wilmots.

The Team Melli central defender dismissed talks of a dispute between players and Belgian coach Marc Wilmots as malicious rumours.

Mohammad Hossein Kanaani-Zadegan, was quoted saying that “The players and the coaching staff in Team Melli had a good working realtionship and mutual respect, anything beyond that is just malicious”

“Unfortunately, these talks have been spreading on social media. We respect Wilmots, and any talk or insinuation that the players in Team Melli were against Wilmots, is baseless rumours.” When Kanaani-Zadegan was quizzed about Branko Ivankovic impending arrival, he responded “I am unaware of his presence and I just heard it from you” The Persepolis defender said.

About the issue of Masoud Shojaei ,  Kanaani-Zadegan said “It has been mentioned that Shojeai has announced his retirement from Team Melli after the defeat against Iraq but the rest of the Team Melli players unanimously objected to that!  I assure you that this so-called announcement has never happened in the dressing room, and we are not unaware of any such plan”.

In respect to the other reports that Wilmots’ training style was not to the liking of the players “I don’t know where these rumours come from; Wilmots is a great coach, we’ve conducted the training that he planned for us too ” Kanaani said.

“there were some reporters present when we were at the training ground and they have witnessed how both we and Wilmots worked so hard for Team Melli’s success.”

Asked if the team only practised for two days before meeting Iraq? He said: “Again, this is not true, we did a few days of good and high-intensity training and I do not accept such statements that we only practised for two days. ” When he was asked to comment on reports that some Team Melli players called or have contacted Branko Ivankovic when they heard he is taking over Wilmots’ post, the former Machine-Sazi defender said, “I am unaware of this, it is best to discuss this with players who have called Branko.”

To put the records straight, Team Melli full contingent that includes the Legionnaires practised two days only before the match with Iraq. The rest of the training that Kanaani is probably referring too, was the training sessions for the domestic players only conducted by Hashemianm which is not considered as a full Team Training where gameplans, tactics and other stuff is discussed by the Head Coach.

Also, it has to be noted that reporters are only allowed 15 minutes from the start of training practice and then they asked to leave the pitch. It is not feasible to measure anything of worth in such a short time for reporters and observers.

Is Ivankovic the right choice for Team Melli now?

OPINION

One cannot ignore all the talks about the rift between Marc Wilmots on one side and the FFIRI, Iranian Media and fans on the other.

The Belgian coach has failed to meet expectations and that 14-0 win against Cambodia looks now more a hoax that gave him and his players a serious false impression of superiority and self-esteem that was brought down back to earth in Bahrain.

It is safe to say that Wilmot’s team lacks special players in midfield to open the game and feed the forwards but also Wilmots himself does not know his best lineup. There were several other technical shortfalls and the dearth of focus by the players. Wilmots also failed with his players’ selection and substations. He was technically outsmarted by the coaches of Bahrain and Iraq.

Two crucial losses on the trot seem to be good enough justification to relieve the man who was accountable from his duty, but what about the timing? In fact, the timing is perfect as it gives the new coach over three months of plotting and planning. That period will surely be enough for a person like Ivankovic who is very familiar with Iran’s football.

The Professor has many advocates in Iran’s football and if he cannot do the job for Team Melli, it is difficult to imagine any other foreign coach doing it. His familiarity with the players, many of them he coached in Persepolis, his knowledge of the culture, his awareness of the players’ discipline and behaviour are great assets to add to his technical awareness and savvy tactics.

It has to be mentioned that Ivankovic is a strict disciplinarian and has no time for petulance, sulkiness and general misconduct that is rife amongst the Iranian players. In his time at Persepolis, he got rid of several players due to disciplinary issues, the most famous of them is the current Team Melli Back Ramin Rezaeian.  Ivankovic could also face problems with other players who are stars in their own rights but not too professionals in attitude and conduct. One such player is Sardar Azmoun.

It is a terrible thing for a person to lose his job, especially in the festive season, but if this unfortunate action has to be carried out, now is the best time for Team Melli but not necessarily for Marc Wilmots.

Marc Wilmots accuses FFIRI of committing a serious breach of contract”.

The strained relationship between Marc Wilmots and the Iranian football took a sharp turn to the worst as the Belgian coach has tweeted that his employers, FFIRI have committed a serious breach of contract while the FFIRI has secretly approached Branko Ivankovic to replace Wilmots.

The Belgian coach says that unbearable situation has been created for him and his assistants by the Football Federation. Following the defeat of the Iranian national football team against Iraq, criticism of the Belgian national coach has been on the rise, and the rumours of replacing Wilmots with Branko Ivankovic has gained momentum.  However, the Iranian Football Federation in a bizarre statement about the various rumours surrounding Team Melli coaching, including negotiation with Wilmots on the subject of termination of the contract, said that it (FFIRI) does not confirm or deny anything!! Such peculiar denial has given the media the ammunition to speculate more and confirm to a certain extent that what has been rumoured is, in fact, close to reality and truth and not just rumours.

 And the lame statement by FFIRI, who are trying to be clever, will not alleviate those stories.

Now Marc Wilmots has ended his silence on the subject today and posted on his official Twitter page his thoughts on the “rumours” in the Iranian media: “The reality is that the situation is unbearable for me and my assistants due to a serious breach of contract by the Iranian Football Federation. “The case is being processed by my lawyers and I do not intend to comment any further.“

While the breach of contract by FFIRI is quite clear, as Mehdi Taj administration has consistently delayed the payment of the wages of Wilmots and his assistants, which eventually forced the hands of Wilmots to refuse to carry out his duty ( a violation of the contract of its own), the serious concern is hardly about the clauses of the contract but the lacklustre, lethargic , lack of creativity and lack of urgency in the team that is coached by Wilmots and that lead to two consecutive defeats.

Wilmots need to really improve himself and be realistic.

Football coaches are a unique breed. They seem to know everything about football that others don’t know, they are most stubborn, do not accept defeat easily and blame the earth and the sky for the losses. It is exceptional to find a coach who admits that he screwed up and is to be blamed for bad performances or defeats. They live in denial and it seems that Marc Wilmots is doing just that … in denial.

“We did not deserve the losses against Bahrain and Iraq,” he said in his press conference, forgetting that results of matches are based on a team scoring goals and not willful thinking. Yes, Team Melli never deserves a defeat, after all Iranians are proud and passionate people who do not take lightly for being second best in any competition. So, what is new?

The reason for the two defeats might be a bit foggy for Mr Wilmots but down deep inside a person who has been in football for 30 years should hopefully know the points of failures that lead to the defeats, even if he would not admit to it in public.  Of course, Wilmots is correct not to blame one or two players for such a defeat, but that is an old and worn-out cliché. However, we all know the blame nearly always is on the shoulders of the coach. Is that fair? Perhaps not, but that is the way it is, after all, he picked those players. In these two matches, then, Wilmots is culpable and accountable for the losses no matter how much he blames luck.

There were contributory circumstances before the match that aided these defeats like lack of sufficient training sessions which would lead to a lack of understanding and failures to implement game plans. Only two days of training sessions for a crucial match does not cut it. Coaching and communicating with players are the essence of football training. It is really essential to know your players especially when you are new and there is a steep learning curve in the job. Those inept FFIRI managers who refused to pay his wages leading to a dispute are also culprits.

The role of Wilmots in both defeats is evident.

Against Bahrain in a hot and sticky humid weather when energy conversation and control of the midfield and defence is very essential away from home, Wilmots elects to have 3 forward and leave the midfield quite thin using a defender in Hajsafy, and a rookie player Mohebbi to assist the lone real midfielder Omid Ebrahimi!

The three attackers, Azmoun, Taremi and Ansarifard were stuck in traffic of Bahraini defenders and were even crowding each other upfront. The coach outlook to the game plan was poor and substitution late and ineffective.

The lineup against Iraq was much improved, but what was Shojaei doing there? Against a youthful, energetic and physical team like Iraq, the 36 years old veteran was sticking like a sore thumb, lost and hence became a liability. It is interesting to view Shojaei’s full data in the match, his pass completion rate would have not exceeded 50%, yet Wilmots never saw that and insisted on leaving him in the game until he was red-carded, while the team desperately needed a dynamo in this post! Let us not beat around the bush, it is the coach’s fault and no one else for having an ineffective midfield player in the twilight of his career while Iraq was operating with 5 full midfield players and taking control of the game.

These are just two examples of many that lead to the loss of Team Melli against Bahrain and Iraq. For good measure and ego, everyone can blame luck but the reality is the team did not play well at all. A win or a draw would have covered all the shortfall of the team and falsely showed a capable team while in reality there are many flaws in personnel and tactics.

“Change yourself, and your luck will change.” ~ Portuguese Proverb

Wilmots “We at least deserved a draw, we were unlucky”

The head coach of Iran’s Team Melli says his team did not deserve the losses against Bahrain and Iraq!

Marc Wilmots, in the post-match press conference following the loss to Iraq, said  “We had a tough 15 minutes at the start of the game. Then we conceded a goal but soon recovered and took control. We made some mistakes in the second half and we ended up with 10 players. This defeat forces us to get maximum points out of the remaining matches in order to advance to the next round.”

Asked what plans he has to achieve this qualification, Wilmots responded:

 “We are doing our best for home games as well as the one away game against Cambodia,”. Commenting on his team’s two consecutive World Cup qualifying defeats, The Belgian coach said” We could have at least got two points in the two games against Bahrain and Iraq, but that didn’t happen. Perhaps it is better to say that we were unlucky and both matches could have ended in a draw”

Wilmots commenting on the playing conditions and whether the defeat was a consequence of the red card given to Team Melli’s Captain Masoud Shojaei “ I have been in football for 30 years. One should never blame any individual for a defeat. We are all to be blamed for the failure and not just one player. We had some mistakes in this game. We made some mistakes in defensive covering. On top of that, we were short in the last 10 minutes.” Wilmot’s claims that some the Iranian media is blaming the failure on the absence of Jahanbakhsh and Saeid Ezatollahei. “ It is not like what it sounds. Jahanbakhsh and Ezatollahei have not played for a while. In addition, we did not have Haji Safi due to injury in the match.”

Another Defeat for Team Melli, qualification in peril.

Team Melli lost its second consecutive game in the FIFA World Cup 2022 qualification rounds when it lost to Iraq 2-1 in the match played on Thursday 14th November in Amman Jordan.

The First half ended 1-1, Iraq starting the scoring through Muhannad Ali in the 11th Minute, While Ahmad Noorallahei equalized in the 28th. As the match was at the dying minutes of the added time, Iraq was awarded a corner which it turned into a goal to the bewilderment of Team Melli players.

The starting line-up for Team Melli was much more reasonable than the previous one against Bahrain. Wilmots finally realized the ineffectiveness of a 3 man forward game plan, leaving the midfield area in tatters and seriously deficient.  The idea of using some experience in the midfield was a good one to start with, hence the selection of Masoud Shojaei. However, the veteran 35 years old Tractor player is hardly up to the task. His inclusion in the lineup not only did not add any value for the team, on the contrary, his constant errors, but poor passing and couple of fouls committed resulted in his dismal 10 minutes before time leaving the team in a risky position. Iraq scored when Iran was one man short.

The Team Captain’s action after being given the second yellow card and the subsequent red card were distasteful and unworthy of Team Melli Captain.

Shojaei, who was booed several times in Azadi more than 10 years ago, because of his poor performances, has hardly had a good game for Team Melli and this one is another for the archives. This could probably see the end of his career with Iran’s Team Melli.

The highly tense match started with Iraq pushing forward and pressing the Iranian players on the ball. In this first quarter that pressing worked as they scored the opener.

As the match went on, Iran finally got a grip on the game and started playing, however, and surprisingly, there were too many long balls from the back to the forward line which was all dealt with quite easily by the Iraqi solid defence. There was no solid control of the midfield that Iraq had 5 players. Sardar hardly saw a decent ball from the midfield while Mehdi Taremi was nowhere to be seen in the match.

The equalizer scored by Iran was not a result of some nicely played passing game but due to the persistent and the brilliance of Mohammed Mohebbi who chased what looked like the Iraqi defender ball just near the corner. He robbed the ball, dribbled past a couple of his markers and sent it back to Noorollahei who wiggled his way past two defenders and shot a venomous ball into the far side of the goal.

It was a goal created and scored by two individual brilliant plays.

The match went on to be a scrappy affair with far too many interruptions with both side players trying to cheat and deceive the referee to gains advantage. There is far too many of this happening in the Asian Football. The Sri Lankan referee was cool enough to deal with them but he could and should have given at least two yellow cards to Iraqi players for play-acting. The referee’s decisions, however, were non-factors in the result.

This result puts Iran qualification to the World Cup in a real precarious position. Neither the result nor the performance was good enough to give the fans confidence in the team. It is a far cry from Queiroz’ days at the same stage of the qualification for World Cup 2018. It is obvious that Wilmots’ way is still not being understood or implemented.  He is still learning how to deal with this new challenge. His absence from Iran and limited time to train and coach the team does not help either and it is starting to show.

Iran vs Iraq, a crucial match for Team Melli.

After climbing to Group C’s summit on Matchday Four, Iraq are set to host Team Melli in a game that looks set to provide yet another major test for both the foreign coaches. Iraq’s  Srečko Katanec’s and Iran’s Marc Wilmots.

Both the coaches had differing issues to deal with it be it with their federation or the players. Katanec time with Iraq has been uneasy, to say the least. There was a rumour of a half-hearted revolt in the squad with some players that Katanec did not pick for these qualifiers going on the social media and bad-mouthing the Slovenian coach.

However, with a history of managing three national teams (UAE, Slovenia and Iraq), Katanec is using his vast experience to deal with the difficult situation including the clause in the contract that will see him being terminated if he does not qualify from this group.

Marc Wilmots is quite safe and solid for Team Melli except for the small matter of paying his wages. The Iranian Federation, like before, procrastinate in paying the Team Melli coaches. There is always one or more justification and they wait until the last minute before paying the coach. This delay, however, meant that Wilmots was not willing to work with the squad until the finances were settled. The Belgian had very few training session with the squad (2 sessions before departure to Amman). His absence from Iran meant that the selection of players was trusted to his assistants although Wilmots have seen enough good performances by the two Belgian based players (Rezaei and Gholizadeh) to include them in the squad.

IRAQ vs IR IRAN

The two teams know each other quite well. They have met 27 times since their first encounter in Amjadieh Stadium in June 1962.  Iran has a clear edge in the head to head meeting with 16 wins, 7 draws and 4 defeats. 38 goals were scored by Iranians while Iraq has managed 19.

History aside, this meeting, although not a must-win for Team Melli, a defeat will make the task of the qualification so much difficult with Iraq having a 4 points advantage. Riding high following their last month’s 4-0 win over Cambodia, Iraq will be eager to add yet more momentum to their campaign

Marc Wilmots is sure to be acutely aware that his side can ill-afford a repeat of their Matchday Four defeat to Bahrain if they are to maintain their push to progress. That disappointing loss in Manama has left the Iranians – who after their trip to Jordan will not be in Asian Qualifiers action again until next March – occupying third place and needing to rebound in style so as to avoid slipping further off the pace.

The Loss in Manama exposed some tactical vulnerability in Wilmot’s line up and those shortfalls need to be addressed.

Iraq’s success came after an opening day draw with Bahrain and a 2-0 defeat of Hong Kong at home, results that have left the 2007 AFC Asian Cup champions well placed to progress from what is proving to be a closely contested Group C.

The regional rivals last met during the group stage of this year’s AFC Asian Cup where they drew 0-0, and while maintaining their current unbeaten record is sure to be at the forefront of Iraqi minds, head coach Katanec will be viewing Thursday’s fixture as an ideal opportunity to put yet further distance between his table-topping team and the chasing pack.

IRAQ vs IR IRAN
Venue: Amman International Stadium, Amman, Jordan
Kick-off: 17:00 (UTC +3)

Asghar Sharafi, severly criticized FFIRI over failure to honor Wilmots contract.

After all the fuss about football federations failure to pay Wilmot’s wages, a great number of sporting personnel and media in Iran attacked the head of the federation and accused him of shortfalls and failures which has put Iran’s name in disrepute.

Asghar Sharafi, Iran’s veteran footballer , former Team Melli star and assistant coach is one of those who strongly criticized the performance of the Football Federation in the aftermath of the disgrace leading to a threat by Coach Wilmots to leave.

“if you did not have the money, why would you employ and upset a foreign coach?” Sharafi questioned.  “in reality, Team Melli has no working head coach. How can that be? Aren’t these people ashamed? Those who claim to be managing and running football affairs in our country are only embarrassing the nation and making a mockery out of us in front of the world. They are playing with the dignity of this nation. Aren’t they thinking even a little that their poor actions have an effect on the reputation of this country?  Why don’t they care to think about the country’s reputation ?”  Sharafi added:

Asghar Sharafi Team Melli Iran 1972
Asghar Sharafi Team Melli Iran 1972 winger

“Is it not in the class of Iranian football not to have a working coach for Team Melli? We are the 25th richest country in the world. Also, if we don’t have the money as they claim all the time,  then why hire a foreign coach? We have so many good young coaches right now. Our football is very beautiful. When speaking, negotiating or cutting deals, that person must have knowledge.”

” Some times ago, our football was not so good, but who can criticize the progress of Yahaya Golmohammadi’s team which he built on the tightest of budgets, or Amir Ghalenoei? Who can question Esteghlal and Persepolis? Our football has changed. to the better” said Sharafi who was the assistant coach of Heshmat Mohajerani in Iran’s first participation at the FIFA World Cup1978.

“I blame the football federation100 percent for their incompetence.  They’re not worthy of the posts that they cling to.  These are people who would not even be employed in their previous organizations but somehow, they turned up as experts in sporting organizations like football. I am not seeking controversy or start a fight with someone. I have accomplished many honours across the world representing Iranian football. The World Cup , Olympics Games and Asian Games? I’ve reached all of this. Everyone has his days but a person can not be there at the top all the time. It is not always Asghar Sharafi’s day. So I’m not talking about jealousy. It really hurts me to witness the ridicule that these people have put upon us. Show me a country that doesn’t have a coach when it and goes to play a game” Sharafi added.

“It’s a real shame they didn’t pay the coach his dues or any money for that matter, a real shame. Why hire a foreign coach? Extend your foot to the size of your carpet. Wilmots has the full rights to refuse to work with this lot ” said Sharafi. “He has a contract with us, he gets ten times as much as a local. How much we gave to Queiroz and Branco. Whose money is this? It’s yours and mine, it’s people’s money. Then they take two photos for their family album and say, look, I wasn’t in football but I was the president of the federation.” Sharfi taking a dig at the head of the federation. Mehdi Taj.