Former Esteghlal striker Edmond Akhtar has insisted that head coach Pitso Mosimane is unfazed by players’ ages or names, with young players on the fringes now getting game time under their belts.
The retired Iranian-Armenian football player, who played for The Capital Blues between 1994–1999, has thrown his weight behind Mosimane to turn fortunes around at the club with the South African tactician now unbeaten in his last four outings.
Akhtar made special mention of 23-year-old Amir Ali Sadeghi who is now an integral part of the squad under Mosimane after previous snubs.
“The fans are kind, and Amir Ali Sadeghi was one of those young people who had been in Esteghlal for a long time, but no one had seen anything from him,” Akhtar said, as per football360.
“This opportunity that was given to him is very good, but the important thing is that Mosimane gave this opportunity and if a foreign coach wants to give a young player a chance, no one has the right to complain.
“If a foreigner plays a young player, he will experience less pressure than the Iranian coach, and he does not care about the names and applies what he sees in training to the lineup.
“I hope that the growth of Esteghlal’s young players, whether Sadeghi or the rest of the players, will continue so that our team will stop spending on expensive players in the long run,” he said.
