Display MoreAs I know (insider) players weren't satisfied with Kovač and his stuff and rebellion was led by Marouf
But it's hard to replace Julio Velasco. Players connected with him as he built them as a team, had authority because his achievements and Kovač came without any big result. I have really high opinion on Velasco, IMO he was Iranian the best player and what's the most important he knew how to manage Marouf and other stars. Lozano is on the same path or at least looks like that. I'm sure they'll look better and better, ticket to Rio is huge boost and Lozano proved he can manage this team.
Iran's biggest problem, in my opinion ofc, are OH's. Mirzajanpour isn't developing for 2 years (that's club fault not NT coaches), Ebadipour is oscilating a lot, Zarini should retire, Ghaemi is typicall defensive OH (except on serve). Manavinejand is a revelation as his offensive skills are great, as well as block but he might miss international experience.
On other side I'm not watching their quality through WL results for several reasons and can't make firm conclusions. WOQT was extremly exhausting tournament, both physically and mentally, and it's logical they didn't care much about WL. Mahmoudi was "squeezed" like a lemon and obviously tired. Same goes for Marouf and Ebadipour. Second reason, Ghaemi & Ghafour didn't play at all due injuries. Third reason is time. Lozano didn't have too much time to get players better, preparations for WOQT were improvised and Lozano used WL matches to check different tactics and how to play in various ways.
Matches in Rio will show their abilities and quality
Thank you for this great analysis, as you mentioned Mahmoudi was very tired and had some injuries, like others. IMO this team is much better than Kovac's era, but some of the problems can't be solved easily because players don't experience a real professional life in their clubs.
Iranian League is actually a charity institute for the players and managers to earn a lot for just in 20 or 30 matches. and not a single player is introduced to NT by clubs, they dont have any effective talent finding/ educating programs except 2 or 3. All the players are found by federation itself from all around the country for under age NTs and then clubs hire them.
But what I think differently from Kazisky is that OG is not at all a good tournament to asses teams' real power. because of its format. WCH is a better tournament that we can say teams that are really more powerful can get to the semis. but at OG the only and the most important match is quarter final that sends you to the hell or heaven. Iran must play against one of the USA, BRA, ITA or FRA that normally they can beat Iran even if Iran plays good. but in that single match many things can happen