Bakhtiarizadeh Must Watch Upcoming Pressures / Latifi: Easy Is Messi, and Sohrab Is Scaloni!

Ali Latifi likens Yaser Asani to Lionel Messi and, at the same time, considers managing the pressure of the upcoming tournaments the most important test for Sohrab Bakhtiarizadeh.

According to "Varzesh Se", Esteghlal's 2-1 victory over Qatar's Al-Gharafa, in addition to gaining three valuable Asian points, once again drew attention to Sohrab Bakhtiarizadeh's performance and Yaser Asani's role in the Blue team. Esteghlal achieved this victory in a situation where, from the point of view of Ali Latifi, the veteran of this club, the team character, the strength of the defensive structure and the empathy of the players are the main factors of the success of these days.

In an interview with our reporter, Latifi said about the reasons for Esteghlal's victory: "I believe Esteghlal won for two reasons, one is the team character of this club at the level of Asia as the most proud team of this continent and the other is the very good defensive structure created by Sohrab Bakhtiarizadeh. Of course, we should not forget the unity within the team, which was one of the main factors of these victories."

He went on to explain the effect of Esteghlal head coach's personality on the atmosphere of this team's dressing room: "Sohrab himself has a calm personality and he has transferred this quality to the team. He has been able to bring the players closer to each other and this matter is very important. In previous years, during Sapinto's time, such conditions did not exist. Unlike Sohrab, Sapinto had a harsh personality and became a factor in creating differences in the team. The same sidelines made Esteghlal unable to get the expected results despite having many stars.

Latifi believes that empathy has a decisive role in the performance of teams, even if they have fewer stars in terms of nominal and technical compared to their competitors. In this regard, he said: "The unity within Esteghlal's team is interesting and shows that the closeness between the players affects the results. Many teams have had great stars, but because they were not sympathetic, they did not succeed. On the other hand, Sohrab Bakhtiarizadeh's team may not have that many stars, but with empathy and unity, it has managed to get good results. In my opinion, Sohrab was able to bring the team to ideal conditions by 20% technically and 80% mentally and this is very important."

In another part of his speech, Esteghlal's veteran compared the conditions of this team with the Argentina national team, a team that, in his belief, was able to make the most of Lionel Messi's abilities by creating an alliance during Lionel Scaloni's era.

Latifi said in this regard: "Sohrab's team reminds me of Argentina Escaloni with ease. Argentina may not have had that many results with Messi in the past, but since Scaloni became the head coach, something has happened in this team. He was able to form a united team next to Lionel Messi, and Messi, as a genius, completed the efforts of the group of players who fought for him on the field in the best possible way."

When asked if he compares Asani to Messi, he said: "Yes, Yasser Asani is the Lionel Messi of Esteghlal. Messi is a player beyond the norm, and frankly, as someone who has researched the field, I have never seen a player even close to him. But in the current condition of Esteghlal, Yasser Asani has a role similar to Messi in the Argentine national team. What Messi did in that team, he does easily in Esteghlal, and I compare Scaloni with Sohrab in this regard."

Latifi continued: "Don't forget Scaloni was chosen as the head coach of Argentina without great honors, but with his intelligence he was able to create a team unity and get results by leaving out some stars. These issues are also related to independence. Scaloni placed Messi in the center of the field and gave him 10 other players. Sohrab also created conditions for Esteghlal and put Yasir Asani in a position where other players can use his abilities. "The important part of the work has been formed outside the field and by creating unity within the team."

He went on to say about Yasser Asani's injury: "I would like to say one thing as a football player who was injured a lot. When a player is injured, especially if he has a strain, he has special conditions. We used to call stretching like spring weather, you go out and you don't feel cold, but you do. Stretching is the same.

A player gets injured, goes through a recovery period, and when he starts training, he does all the tests and even endures a lot of pressure in training, but the conditions of the match are different and he may get injured again; While he has had good conditions in training."

Latifi continued: "No matter how much pressure is put on a player in training, other players comply with the conditions, but it's not like that in the match. In my opinion, Sohrab had to bring Asahi to the ground and I am sure if he did not need his presence, he would not have made such a decision. You saw that Asani scored a wonderful goal after entering the field. If I were in Sohrab's situation, I would definitely bring Yaser into the field, because the team needed him. Asani is an important player for Esteghlal and his absence can harm the team."

At the end of his speech, the veteran of Esteghlal mentioned the intensity of the matches and the importance of maintaining the team's current conditions. From his point of view, reaching good times is one thing, and maintaining this situation in the rest of the season will be a more difficult challenge, considering the pressure of the matches and the expectations of the fans.

Latifi said: "I would also like to say a short topic that may have been less discussed." The main task of Sohrab and Esteghlal players from now on is to manage the team's situation, because there are many tough games left. Esteghlal has been able to reach these conditions so far, but maintaining this situation is much more difficult than achieving it; It can even be said that it is a hundred times more difficult. It is difficult for Sohrab to maintain independence in ideal conditions, at the top of the table and under the psychological pressure on the players. He must be able to manage these pressures and control the team so that he can comment more confidently about the future of Esteghlal. Esteghlal does not have many experienced players who can help Sohrab in terms of pressure management. On the other hand, even though Sohrab himself was a great player, he does not have much experience in coaching to endure such pressures. These pressures may derail independence, and for this reason, their management is very important."

In the end, Latifi emphasized his friendly relationship with Esteghlal head coach: "I say this to Sohrab, as my dear friend. "It is very important that he can handle the pressures ahead."