Performance of Team Melli
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The debate on the performance of Team Melli in the World Cup continues and with it the inevitable saga of Carlos Queiroz contract extension.
Although the first two matches in the World Cup , thrilled thousands of Iranian fans and with it the increased support for Queiroz work as the master tactician, this enthusiasm was stretched to the belief of Team Melli fans that Iran would defeat Bosnia to qualify for the next round. The reality was quite different. It was a highly disappointing finish. Iran lost 3-1 in a forgettable match performance and result wise. A match that really exposed Team Melli in all departments , including the coaching techniques and aspiration.
A detailed systematic analysis, the sort that the Japanese and the Korean federations religiously produce after each major tournament participation, does not exist in Iran but it is about time that the federation FFIRI comes up with such study. Supposedly , there is a committee named Technical and football development , which is responsible for producing such report. What makes this issue take more importance is that the Asian Cup is only 6 months away , not exactly a long time to go in footballing term if Iran has the aspiration to win the Asian premiere prize that evaded them for 39 years.
Right now as it stands, emotions prevail in decision making for the coaching of Team Melli. Queiroz himself and his supporters, boast about how the team has done well and the people proud, although we suspect that the majority of the fans are quite disappointed by Team Melli in the World Cup according to our surveys and polls. Instead of judging by sentiments, a better tool would be an in depth scientific study to suppress the various conflicting emotional and subjective views that is not based on technical studies.
A quick look at the three matches’ data, indicates that Iran was far behind the top teams in many classes, except for distance Run. In fact , even compared to the worst teams , Team Melli did not shine producing some low figures. We have selected Honduras as one of the least successful teams in the 2014 World cup for comparison to Iran. Honduras lost all its three matches and was eliminated at the group stages.
PASSING
Iran was one of the worst teams in passing, completing 604 passes compared to the tournament average of 1305. This is quite an astonishingly poor figure, as even Honduras managed 1046 passes. Spain completed 1703 passes in its 3 matches and that is 282% more than Iran.
In the three matches played, passing the ball especially while the ball was out of the defense was an eye sore. Be it lack of preparation, fear element , or under-confidence, the Midfield players have not managed to play a passing game that they have known to ether at club level or international level. The midfield failed to supply proper ball to the lone forward, the majority of which were in form of crosses.
PASSES COMPLETION RATE
The average passes completion rate for the tournament was 80% a figure which is expected from team playing at the highest level and managed to qualify to be among the best 32 teams in the world. Iran , however managed only 60% passes completion rate. Honduras , to give them credit , managed the tournament average of 80%. The low percentage of Team Melli passing completion is a poor reflection of a football team playing in the World Cup. This is another critical area where Team Melli failed to produce a respectable performance and subsequently did not achieve the desired result.
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GOAL ATTEMPTS
Iran made 7.3 goal attempts per match , while the tournament average was 13.1 per team per match. . Honduras , our sample for the poorest team managed 11 attempts. That is nearly 4 attempts more than Iran. It goes without saying that if there is few attempts on goal , the chances of scoring will be less. The result was evident in Iran’s case with one goal only scored in the last match to save everyone’s blushes.
Poor goal attempts are related to the previous factor of passing. With passes uncompleted or intercepted that attempts on goals will subsequently reduce.
GOAL SCORED
one solitary goal in three matches for Iran while the average for this 2014 FIFA World Cup was an incredible 4.3 per team per match. However , Iran managed to equal Honduras which also scored 1 goal.
Subsequent to the two previous factors, the one goal scored should not surprise anyone. With a team that is built for defense only , it is difficult to see where the goals will come from.
FOULS COMMITTED
Iran was on par with the rest of the team in the group round as it committed 49 with the average being 49.4, while Honduras committed 5 less at 46 solitary goal.
DISTANCES PER MATCH
Average tournament distance run was 108.3 Km per match. Team Melli achieved 107.8 Km , very slightly below the average nevertheless a satisfactory figure. Honduras made 96.1 Km per match. This is about the only performance related figure that was satisfactory of Team Melli’s performance in the FIFA World Cup
This data provided by FIFA only touches the surface but it is a very useful tool to begin the analysis with. Much of the end results as seen in this data , is due to the preparation of the teams before the start of the world cup. The only satisfactory result in distance run per match was due to the three week of heavy and demanding physical fitness program that Team Melli had to go through.
The comprehensive report should also include the federation objectives (public or confidential) have been satisfied in Iran participation in the World Cup or not. Whether the federation share the opinion of Queiroz that Argentina did not defeat Iran 5-0 as Queiroz claims the whole world was predicting and as such a 1-0 defeat is considered as a victory for Iran? Or not.
1 point from 3 games , with only goal scored , 4 against and being the bottom of the table , cannot be a satisfactory result to any team let alone Team Melli. Even if we live in denial and add a few bells & whistle and some dressing , there is no escape that Team Melli was poor in performance and result.
The failure of Team Melli , like any failure in any system is usually multi-pronged As much as no victory can be credited to a coach alone never mind how genius he was, if there are any genius coaches in the first place. No such bad result is the sole responsibility of coach either. Saying that, the Portuguese coach feeling of satisfactions of his Team Melli work, as he stated in a recent TV interview, indicates how modest the team mentality was and so little aspiration existed. It sounds like the objective was NOT to concede too many goals rather than playing an honorable football that the world would remember Team Melli for. This is a truly perturbing mindset for Team Melli, which has a championship pedigree. Is that an indicator that Team Melli fans have to constantly lower their level of expectations?
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