Worst Missed Chance of the Season: Is Everything Down to Bifouma?

Persepolis Lost Several Incredible Chances and Missed the Opportunity to Move Up to the Top of the Table.

According to "Varzesh Se", the experience of last year's games, the condition of the field, the atmosphere of the Khorramabad stadium and the style of the Khyber game, everything screamed before the match. Persepolis knew exactly what it would face; An uneven field, an opponent relying on long throws and aerial balls, consecutive interruptions, players falling down and killing the pace of the game. None of that was surprising. But Persepolis' solution was not very suitable for the needs of this match.

They sent the ball out as much as they could, gave corners as much as they could, and practically gave the opponent the same opportunities that his entire tactical plan was based on. What did the Persepolis analysts really check before the match?

Of course, let's clarify one issue first. Persepolis had many golden opportunities. Hossein Abarqaoui's shot on the corner that didn't find the almost empty goal, Oronov's two good chances, whose shots went out with a small difference, and the strangest of all, Tiwi Bifuma's incredible chance in front of an empty goal and before that, his chance! At least one or two of these opportunities should have been scored.

The biggest problem of Persepolis was Ali Alipour; The best scorer and the most situational striker of the team, unfortunately, he is not half of himself at the moment. Whether he likes it or not, the reality of his performance shows the same. Alipour, after his knee injury, the same knee in which he had ligament surgery years ago, is clearly far from his days in terms of speed, running and pressing. In the second half of the previous match, despite scoring from the penalty spot, he did not show well, and the same signs were repeated in the 80 minutes of today's game. He could not show his usual performance in pressing.

However, Tartar put him back in the starting line-up. While he could target Sergeev as a striker, use Shahrabadi or even make a more numerous midfield by changing the formation. Tartar's hands were not closed to choose different strategies, but he preferred to count on an attacker who is not yet fully prepared. The important thing is that even Igor Sergeev had a poor performance and maybe Persepolis could use the pair of Pouria Shahrabadi and Amirhossein Mahmoudi.

The biggest mistake came when he pulled out Sergiev and kept Alipour on the field. About 20 minutes later, Tartar himself showed that this decision did not work by replacing Alipour. What was the result? Persepolis had lost both of its main attackers in the minutes when it needed more than ever a striker and a finisher!

In the final minutes, Payam was sending long balls straight from the home court into the opponent's area, but who was going to convert them into chances? Bifuma and Shahrabadi, whose main feature is not aerial play and fighting over long balls. It was natural that such balls lead to more errors, collisions and loss of possession. You can't take out the right players for a tactic and then ask the remaining players to implement the same tactic!

On the right side of the defense, the problem was obvious from the first half. In the absence of Canaanites, behind Majid Eidi had become one of the main routes of Khyber attacks and this situation continued in the second half. Tartar could move Mehdi Tikderi, who was one of Persepolis' best players, to the right side and bring Abolfazl Jalali to the left side sooner. In a field where the possibility of combined play on the ground is limited, using players with the ability of accurate passes and long balls could be a logical solution. But Jalali arrived when there was not much time left. Although he also showed a good performance, the main responsibility is on the shoulders of the poor performance of the players.

Even more strange were the substitutions in the final minutes and giving the field to Yasin Salmani and Mohammad Hossein Sadeghi. Did Tartar really imagine that players who have not had much time during the season will suddenly enter such a difficult field and perform miracles? However, at least it was proved to their fans that they, especially Yassin, are not sufficiently prepared.

Didn't we see Bifoma? A player who was one of the best in Persepolis this season, lost that incredible position on this field. However, the loss of this opportunity cannot be reconciled with these excuses and Bifuma should have converted these two opportunities into goals. A player who seems to have forgotten how to chip!

Even with all his technique and ability, Oronov could not present his usual performance. On the other hand, when a player like Mohammad Mahdi Mohebi is clearly tired in the final minutes and no longer has the ability to run, this is where a smart substitution can revive the team's energy and speed.

The more important thing is that an early goal could have destroyed the whole plan of Khyber. A team whose plan is based on interrupting the match, using free kicks and maintaining the result, is forced to come out of the defensive lock after receiving a goal. Persepolis had the necessary opportunities to reach that goal, but the players of this team had the worst performance and statistics possible in the efficiency of the opportunities.

Was Persepolis unlucky today? definitely Chances were missed that on an ordinary day could have changed the fate of the match. But you can't blame everything on bad luck. The team that wants to become the champion must find a way to get three points in exactly these stadiums, on these uneven fields and against these same opponents. The forwards who claim to be in the national team, the wingers who had a high reputation and the midfielders who have shone in this season, do not take anything more than the label of failed players in this game. Almost all of them were bad.

Tartar must make a serious decision about Alipur. A healthy and fit Alipour is undoubtedly one of the most valuable players of Persepolis, but no player, not even Lionel Messi, should be guaranteed a place with an injury and incomplete preparation. If in the next match, Alipour is included in the main lineup with the same situation, the impression will be strengthened that Tartar considers the experienced striker of his team too much; An observation whose smoke will eventually end up in his own eyes and in Persepolis.

Persepolis did not lose just two points today; He missed an opportunity for which he could have had a much better plan by knowing the conditions of the match.

Mehdi Tartar has shown his art in "not scoring free goals", but in order to win the championship, they must be able to beat all the teams in the middle and bottom of the table, like the same thing that happened in the game of Esteghlal Khuzestan, Sanat Naft, etc. Persepolis could have won today, but it didn't happen so that the result is nothing more than a sad victory.

Persepolis will have 9 more games until the end of the half season, 27 points which can make them half season champions. But more difficult games will come: Foulad, Golgohar, Sepahan and even Aluminum and Fajrspasi. Difficult days are ahead and Persepolis should not lose the three points for free.