Team Melli is enjoying the view from the top in Group A of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 qualifying rounds. A statistical analysis rather than a scientific one gives Team Melli a 68% chance of qualifying to Qatar as the table stands now. With just one match short of halfway, that is a high percentage and a source of confidence for the fans in the team looking ahead for a historical milestone, the third consecutive qualification to the World Cup finals.

However, there is as always, a lot of room for development as all is not well. The focus of this article is on the coaching and the vital role the whole staff played in these results.

To start with and to make things clear, anyone who discredits the coach and places the success of the team purely on the individual players or other factors is either ignorant or has a grudge against the coach, and by God, there are a lot of them in Iran.

When the name of the new Team Melli coach was announced, many people asked, “Dragan who?”. The fans and critics should not be blamed because the reality was that Skocic was not a household name, and his CV contained the name of uninspiring Persian Gulf league clubs only. Not exactly on the same level of coaching Manchester United, Portugal National Team, South Africa, and even UAE which Carlos Queiroz had. Even the doomed Marc Wilmots had a much better CV.

So, the pessimism of the fans could be justified, and the doubters started growing in numbers as some mainstream Iranian media looked like it was on a mission to subconsciously destroy the Croatian Dragan Skočić. Reminiscing about the glorious days of Carlos Queiroz while finding faults in Skočić tactics or players selection, to the extent of making up stories. The fact that the Portuguese coach did not achieve any championships or titles and failed to win the AFC Asian Cup twice, seemed not to matter!

Others, in the minority, had a different idea and believed anything is better than Marc Wilmots, which in reality, made sense as Belgian has to go on record as one of the worst coaches who sat on the bench of Team Melli.

But Dragan Skočić proved his doubter wrong. He prevailed and did not give up against his domestic opponents winning one match after another, breaking records in the process, and having a high chance of qualifying to the World Cup while we have not reached even the halfway stage.

Football is not exactly rocket science. It is popular because it is such a simple game to play and understand (although offside rules and when a handball is a handball is still confusing millions of people across the World).

As such errors by players and coaches are easily recognized especially in these days of technological advances. So, although the coach and his assistances, know them inside out of the team, the capabilities of his player, physical condition, and most importantly the emotional and the psychological status of his players which always remains out of view for the fans, the team mistakes in many areas can be singled out by expertise and critics.

Provided there is no ill intent, the criticism of a coach can benefit him.  Dragan Skočić, who undoubtedly and unequivocally has done a marvelous job since his appointment, can really gain pointers and benefits from the view outside the box.

Here we will only mention three areas of concern with the way Skocic manages the team

Game Plan: Predictable, lacks diversity, and seems like an open book to the opposing coach. Team Melli is heavily suffering in the midfield that has no imagination and low effectiveness. With a lack of pace, which is no fault of the coach, he does need to offer a solution which is not doing right now. Players like Azmoun and Taremi need services to be effective and they are not getting it. When a player in the caliber of Saman Ghoddos is available but warming the bench, one must question the coach’s reading of the game.

In modern football, it is the midfield where battles are won and lost. The tactics of the world’s leading teams are fundamentally midfield dependent, Skocic chose otherwise. It is his call of course and his selection of game plan, but it is clear that ignoring the midfield might become a  risky matter especially against the pressing teams.

Perhaps Taremi, Azmoun, and Jahanbakhsh in one line forward is not the right strategy for Team Melli. He needs to experiment with one forward and pack the midfield with players using the flanks with pace and ball crossing skills. Never mind the ego of these superstars, the interest of the Team is above the interest of the individuals.

 Many past coaches on Team Meli had some obsession of playing a certain limited number of players, hardly changing the squad or the starting lineup. it seems Skocic is joining that league. It is not an effective mindset and detrimental to the team and the capable players sitting on the bench waiting for a possibly 30-second cameo show.

Substitutions: This is where many coaches excel or fail. While Skocic has made a few effective substitutions, he is guilty of not utilizing his expensive and experience players. And what is this with minute 90+5 substitutions that he is been using? Such substitution is an utter waste of time, bordering idiocy. In fact, many coaches do that for no logical reason and the rest have the herd mentality and simply imitate. A player needs at least 15 minutes to be effective, anything less than that is just a game of luck nothing more.

Preparations & Readiness: It is quite embarrassing for Team Melli to go into an official match with absolute minimum preparation. There is where the character of the Team Melli coach needs to stand out and prevail. If the lack of international friendly matches is due to Skocic, then he needs to rectify his way and start planning and programming for FIFA days like a professional. If the fault is because of Azizi Khadem and his bureaucrats in FFIRI, then Skocic needs to impose himself and strongly demand proper perpetration for the National Team with international friendly matches as a priority. Skocic cannot afford to do trial game plans and tactical changes in competition match as it may turn out costly. Every respectable team in the world arranges friendlies, Iran is becoming the odd exception and frankly a disgrace. it is worrying by all accounts.