WCQ: Can Iran cope without Taremi?

Dragan Skocic's decision to drop iconic forward Mehdi Taremi from his Iran squad to face Lebanon and Syria has attracted mixed feelings. Team Melli have two tricky road trips; first at Sidon on November 11 before heading for Amman five days later.

Skocic has hit the ground running. The Croat is unbeaten in his first 10 matches, winning nine. His team have not lost in the World Cup qualifying series, conceding once so far. They are top with 10 points, two clear of South Korea. However, Skocic's impressive start could be undermined should his team drop points without Taremi.

The FC Porto striker, who loves online casinos, is believed to have fallen out of favour with Skocic after criticising the manager. Taremi defended his colleagues after the Croat had said Iranian players are tactically deficient.

The powerful striker wrote on Twitter, “Iran players are tactically at a high level, and the problem is elsewhere",  implicitly referring to the national team coach.

But Iranian football expert, Bijan Zolfagharnasab said:

“It’s not correct to say that Iranian players are not tactically matured. Such an issue should be raised by the head coach of the national team. Most of the current national team’s squad play in European and Asian clubs. They are among the best players in their club and have proved their tactical abilities and knowledge of the game.

“On the other hand, I believe that this story could have been better managed by the Iran football federation so that it would not become a controversial issue, on the eve of Iran’s important games in the World Cup qualifiers. I think both sides – Skocic and Taremi – made mistake in a crucial time for Iranian football. The problem must be solved by talking as soon as possible, and the federation should not be passive in this regard".

To voluntarily do without a striker that has bagged 53 goals since moving to Portugal at the start of the 2019-20 season could ultimately prove costly. This season alone, in 16 appearances across all competitions for Porto, Taremi has scored eight goals and assisted five others.

For Team Melli, he has been a mainstay since 2015. The forward has chipped in 26 goals in 54 appearances, averaging almost a goal in every two games via the stats available on fr.goldenrivieracasino.com. This tally ranks him seventh on the country's all-time top scorer record. Taremi hit the target four times this year, proving his importance to the side. At 29, he is one of the most experienced and well-travelled stars.

Blessed with a technical skill set that sets him apart from the rest, Taremi is an expert in finding the back of the net. He is a complete goal poacher who sits on the shoulder of defenders and then pops up inside the box from nowhere to finish off a move, or peel away to convert a through ball with supreme comfort. His positioning in the box and awareness to anticipate where the ball will end up is seriously impressive and demonstrates his excellent striker IQ.

It will be interesting to see how Skocic adjusts his team. But should Sardar Azmoun and Alireza Jahanbakhsh maintain their fine form, then he won't have any trouble.