Dalic under pressure?
In the world of music and movies, there is an oft-repeated quote: “You are only as good as your last hit”. That adage could be applied to the coaches in the Arabian Gulf League as well. We have only played six matches this season and two of them have been shown the door already. Now, if we believe the rumour mill, Al Ain’s Zlatko Dalic is under pressure because of two consecutive defeats.
In the 4-3 loss at Al Jazira, he was missing Asamoah Gyan (suspension) and Omar Abdulrahman (injury). Ten of his first-team players were on international duty, including seven with the UAE team, when they lost 1-0 to Kalba in their Arabian Gulf Cup opener last week.
Dalic has received little sympathy and has been questioned about the repeated lapses in defence and his choice of players. The Croat will be hoping to answer his critics when Al Ain host Al Dhafra on Friday night.
Miroslav Stoch, who scored in Slovakia’s 2-1 upset of Spain last week, and Gyan are back from international duty along with the rest, though Abdulrahman is still recuperating.
A darling of the Al Ain fans not so long ago, Dalic needs a big win to restore his standing, but any slip-up could eventually prove costly.
Tough start for Calderon
The Al Wasl fans have gotten their wish. The management showed Jorginho the door and brought in Gabriel Calderon, the former Baniyas manager, as a replacement .
A tough initiation awaits.
Just four days into his new job, the Argentine will take his team to Abu Dhabi for a clash against table-toppers Al Wahda.
That is not enough time to prepare a team, and certainly not for such a tough away trip, and a heavy defeat could put the new coach on the back foot immediately. But then, the club can always bring in a new manager if Calderon fails to satisfy the fans.
No big deal.
Since the league turned professional in 2008/09, the team have been managed by 15 different coaches, with only Alexandre Guimaraes (2009/10) and Diego Maradona (2011/12) lasting a full season.
Their best finish during this period is fifth, in 2009/10, while last season they were 12th.
The coaching changes have certainly not turned around Wasl’s fortunes, so it is probably time to look elsewhere for solutions. The youth system at the club could be a good starting point. If a team hires 11 new Emirati players before the start of a season, then surely there is a problem in the supply line.
Al Kamali blow for Wahda
Looking at Wahda at the top of the table, it would be hard to imagine that they have been missing a couple of key players through injuries. Ismail Matar is yet to make an appearance this season, while Argentine Damian Diaz has missed four matches.
Both returned to training ahead of Saturday’s game against Wasl, but now Hamdan Al Kamali has been ruled out of action for three to five weeks with a torn hamstring, suffered in the UAE’s 4-0 loss to Uzbekistan on Tuesday.
The injury could rule him out of contention for a place in the Gulf Cup squad, with the tournament set to start on November 13, but national coach Mahdi Ali has more than a few options in the centre of defence.
Unfortunately, the same cannot be said about Jose Peseiro.
The Wahda manager has been looking at his options after the transfer of Essa Ahmed to Al Ahli, and the Al Kamali injury only adds to his woes. It will be interesting to see how the leaders cope without them in the coming matches.
Where are the fans?
On Tuesday, we heard a disappointed Mahdi Ali criticise the lack of support from the stands for the national team. “The other day, the Australians had more support for them than us in the stadium,” he said after the loss to Uzbekistan. “I wish not to play any games at home but outside the country.”
Many of the Arabian Gulf League coaches would probably share that sentiment.
The fan turnout for the league matches has been disappointing so far, and the Cup matches are usually played in front of empty stadiums.
According to statistics revealed by the league, 95,867 fans have shown up for the 33 AGL matches in the first five weeks of action. Most of the credit for that figure should go to the Al Ain and Al Jazira fans.
The three matches that Jazira have played at home have accounted for more than a fourth of the total attendance: 25,214.
In the two weeks Al Ain were not playing, the figures were disappointingly low: 16,670 in the first round and 12,715 in the fourth. In the other three weeks, it was 21,431, 24,381 and 20,670.
arizvi@thenational.ae
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