AGL talking points: Jose Peseiro sacking at Al Wahda does not add up

Sami Al Jaber named as Peseiro's replacement at Wahda; Al Ahli in search for some balance and Al Ain appear ready to make their move, writes Amith Passela.

With coach Jose Peseiro at the helm for Al Wahda, the club finished runners-up last season and were third at the time of his sacking on Monday. Satish Kumar / The National

Jose Peseiro's exit from Al Wahda cannot be because of results alone, but whatever the reason for dismissing their Portuguese manager, it feels as though Wahda have taken two steps back rather than a step forward.

His sacking comes at a crucial time with Wahda – only four points off the Arabian Gulf League (AGL) lead – set to play Baniyas on Thursday night, followed by their Asian Champions League (ACL) play-off against Al Sadd of Qatar on Tuesday.

Majed Salem, the club’s Under 21 coach, was named caretaker for the league game at home, with Sami Al Jaber, the former director of football at Al Arabi in Qatar, expected to take over ahead of their ACL play-off. He will have to start from scratch with no time to work with his team before facing Al Sadd.

Statistically, Peseiro has done nothing wrong. Wahda made excellent progress since he took charge 10 games into the 2013/14 season. They finished runners-up last season in the league and were third at the time of his sacking on Monday.

He was an amicable man and had admirable faith in his players. He defended them wholeheartedly every time he faced the media, saying he wanted no change in the squad in the transfer window, particularly the foreign contingent.

Peseiro made it clear that he wanted to work with his existing squad and develop them instead of looking for new players. And he was justified in terms of the team’s progress.

The fact he blocked a Wahda move for Australian midfielder Tim Cahill is more likely to be to blame for his dismissal than the 2-2 draw against Emirates last Sunday.

Al Ahli out of contention

Cosmin Olariou was looking for an explanation after champions Al Ahli lost to Al Shabab in the Mamzar derby on Sunday.

“There is no balance in the team,” he said. “All the decisions went against us. We were nervous. We did not show enough focus.”

The Romanian knows that result effectively ended his team’s chances of retaining the league title as they trail leaders Al Jazira by 10 points.

The signings of Oussama Assaidi, Everton Ribeiro and Kwon Kyung-won should have been made much earlier in the mid-season transfer window to provide more time for Olaroiu to work with his new players.

However, the club management sent their coach on a one-month loan to be in charge of Saudi Arabia at the Asian Cup in Australia, and that was not in the best interest of the team.

The Romanian had his assistants working with the players during his absence, but it certainly was not a good move for a club with ambitions of winning the domestic league.

Big chance for Al Ain

Al Ain have an opportunity to take a firm hold of the AGL title race in the next month. Level on points at the top with Jazira, but with a game in hand, they play Ajman on Friday and meet Fujairah twice in their next three games.

They should expect to take nine points, and move at least three points clear at the top, ahead of the visit of Jazira on March 8.

It is a game that has title-decider written all over it, especially with Ahli struggling and Wahda and Shabab dropping off the pace.

Kwon added to Al Ahli foreign quartet

Al Ahli have made a second change to their foreign quartet by replacing Luis Jimenez, the Chilean who plays on a Palestine passport, with South Korean midfielder Kwon Kyung-won.

Comelli bracing for Al Jazira attack

Coach Paulo Comelli says Emirates face the best attacking side in the league when they host Al Jazira.

“There is quality in every line at Jazira, and our defence will have a very tough task in keeping out Mirko Vucinic and Ali Mabkhout,” he said.

Vucinic and Mabkhout, who won the Golden Boot at the Gulf Cup of Nations and the Asian Cup, have 29 league goals between them.

Garcia focused on opponents

Baniyas coach Luis Garcia says the crisis at Al Wahda will have little impact on their play on Thursday.

“That’s an internal issue and we are not interested in that matter, but we will go there with the intention of winning the three points,” he said.

“Although Wahda are ahead of us on points, I see them as an equal opponent.”

Al Shabab coach building on momentum

After beating Al Ahli on Sunday, Al Shabab coach Caio Junior hopes to keep up the momentum when his side meet Al Nasr.

“That result has given a lot of confidence to my players and I don’t see why we can’t win the next game against Nasr,” he said.

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