Red flag raised: Where did it all go wrong for Persepolis?
By Amirhadi Arsalanpour
Staff writer
The latest defeat in the Persian Gulf Pro League left Persepolis supporters facing the harsh reality of a shift in power in the Iranian top flight.
The Tehran Reds entered Friday’s so-called ‘Iranian Clasico’ against Sepahan knowing any outcome other than maximum points would end their slim title hopes.
However, Ismail Kartal’s men looked all over the place in the opening stages, conceding twice inside 11 minutes, and were then toothless and clueless in the final third as Sepahan walked away with a fourth successive win against its familiar foe this season to stay within touching distance of Tractor in what will be a two-horse title race with three games remaining.
It was the latest episode in a dreadful campaign for the Reds, who had crashed out of the AFC Champions League Elite and the Iranian domestic cup and face the prospect of finishing the season without a trophy for only a second time over the past eight years.
The writing was perhaps on the wall for Persepolis – seven-time league champion over the past eight season – even before the Reds began the new campaign.
Persepolis had to part ways with Iranian international goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand, and wizard winger Mahdi Torabi – two linchpins of the Reds’ decade-long domestic dominance – as well as fullback Danial Esmaeilifar – all three joining Tractor – but the club failed to recruit effective replacements for the key trio.
Spanish boss Juan Carlos Garrido still got off to a flying start to his reign on Persepolis bench but the physical strain of a hectic calendar and the new head coach’s training methods began to catch up with the Reds’ ageing squad as a run of poor results led to the Spaniard’s dismissal in December.
The introduction of former Fenerbahçe manager Kartal in midseason did little to turn the Reds’ fortune around, with Persepolis managing five wins, conceding four defeats, in 13 outings across all competitions under the Turkish boss, who has been lamenting the lack of quality and frustrating injuries within his squad throughout his short spell.
With a number of star players in Vahid Amiri, Omid Aalishah, Soroush Rafiei, Morteza Pouraliganji, Issa Alekasir, Masoud Rigi, and Giorgi Gvelesiani well into their 30s and past their prime, a summer of shakeup looks inevitable for Persepolis and Kartal, or they will have to watch Tractor and Sepahan build on their financial superiority to dominate the Iranian club football in the coming years.