Iran coach Ghalenoiee defends his tactics

AFC - Iran coach Amir Ghalenoiee and his tactics have come under fire in the local media despite Team Melli’s qualification for the AFC Asian Cup Finals next year.

Ghalenoiee spoke to www.the-afc.com and answered his critics, reassuring that Iran would step up a gear in the coming days.

www.the-afc.com: The pressure on Iran has increased despite the win against Chinese Taipei. Fans believe Iran could have played better and scored more goals. Your comments.

GHALENOIEE: When we miss many chances this itself proves that we are strong enough to create them. Thus logically we could not have played badly. I admit our strikers wasted many opportunities. (Ali) Karimi, (Javad) Kazemian, (Gholamreza) Enayati and (Farhad) Majidi did not finish well. Plus the (Chinese Taipei) goalkeeping was good. We were in a flight for 24 hours from Jordan to Chinese Taipei. Lack of training proved to be one of our main problems. Players like (Mehdi) Mahdavikia, Nekounam and others from European clubs are released only 72 hours before each match. Deduct 24 hours for flight and we have just 24 hours before the match. We cannot hold serious training on this one day we have! I also think my players underestimated the opposition.

www.the-afc.com: Most of the players do not seem to be motivated enough. They are either exhausted or nervous, especially Ali Karimi.

GHALENOIEE: We did not know the opposition (Chinese Taipei) well. Ten minutes into the match we got better and in the second half we were fluent. Yes, Karimi did lose his cool but to me that is completely understandable. Our players are professionals and when the home team started playing violently, we preferred to be more conservative. Karimi needs to go back to the Bundesliga and play…he cannot really afford an injury. He was tackled badly several times.

www.the-afc.com: Would it have been a better idea to take some younger players to Chinese Taipei? There was really no need to force the Europe-based ones to fly such a long distance.

GHALENOIEE: I always select the best available players. To me every match is a national matter and I care seriously. Why cannot we field a strong team against weak competition? Did France take their younger players against Faroe Islands in the UEFA Euro Qualifying the same day? Certainly no.

www.the-afc.com: Korea Republic are going to field their u-23 team for the final qualifier on November 15. Would you include your star players?

GHALENOIEE: As I said earlier, yes. I will take my strongest team to the match. Korea Republic may have different plans or expectations. We will however play with our main players with an aim to top Group B.

www.the-afc.com: You have been criticised for making almost no changes to the tactics and line-up you inherited from previous coach Branko Ivankovic. But you were known as an aggressive coach when in charge of Esteghlal. Your comments.

GHALENOIEE: Coaches come and go but the players are essentially the same, with one or two exceptions.

I haven’t changed the players because it is working well and I want to improve their current abilities. Tactics-wise I am of course aggressive and I feel I have proved it. Don’t forget that Vahid Hashemian scored the equalizer in an away match in Korea on 90 minutes which shows the attitude of our new team. Nevertheless, I am concentrating on our defence.