Worries growing at Al Ahli; Al Dhafra chasing Humam Tariq: AGL talking points

Ahmed Rizvi reviews the week that was in the Arabian Gulf League, and finds panic setting in at the title holders and teams scrambling ahead of the Thursday transfer window close.

Al Ahli have began the 2014/15 season fourth in the Arabian Gulf League, with seven points from four matches. Sarah Dea / The National

The coaching carousel begins

Anel Karabeg was probably still celebrating Al Dhafra’s battling 3-3 draw against title contenders Al Jazira when he received that call. The Bosnian, promoted from the reserve team in the summer after two years at the club, has been told his services are not required.

Four points from four matches, without defeat, apparently do not meet Dhafra’s ambitions and the club have announced the former Dubai coach Marin Ion as the team’s new boss. The Romanian was dismissed by Dubai after seven league matches at the start of 2011/12 with only two points to show for his effort.

There could be a few other new faces in the dugout in the coming rounds. The Baniyas coach Luis Garcia is also on shaky ground, with two points from four matches. The 3-2 defeat at Emirates is unlikely to sit well with the club’s management and fans, though the team did well to bounce back after conceding the three goals inside the first 33 minutes.

The Al Wasl fans have also not been happy with their team’s performance under Jorginho and have been calling on the management to bring in Walter Zenga as replacement. The Brazilian, however, should have brought himself some time with the goalless draw at Al Nasr in the Bur Dubai derby.

Will Tariq shine at Dhafra?

It has been an injury-scarred start to the season. The first casualty came even before a ball was kicked with Sharjah’s Fellype Gabriel tearing a knee ligament during the team’s pre-season camp in Germany.

Al Ahli’s Brazilian winger Ciel suffered a double ankle fracture in the opening game and the list has since grown to include two ruptured Achilles tendons: Sharjah striker Luan and Ajman’s Algerian midfielder Karim Ziani.

With the transfer window coming to a close at midnight Thursday, Ajman have rushed to bring back Ivorian Bakari Kone into the squad. Ziani, incidentally, was preferred to Kone in a toss-up for the fourth foreigner’s slot.

Sharjah, who bought Leonardo Lima from Al Nasr as Gabriel’s replacement, are bringing in another Brazilian to fill the void left by Luan’s exit. Reports in Brazil claim they have agreed on a seven-month loan deal for Corinthians’ 26-year-old attacking midfielder Rodriguinho.

Al Dhafra, meanwhile, have agreed a deal with Ahli to bring in their Iraqi teenager Humam Tariq, 18, as a replacement for Brazilian Paulinho on a season-long loan. It is a good deal for club and player because Tariq – a star at the 2013 Gulf Cup – is too talented to be training with the reserves for another season.

Time running out

Talking about Ahli, they are certainly missing Ciel’s brilliance and his ability to tear down packed defences. It was obvious during the goalless draw against Ajman and coach Cosmin Olaroiu conceded as much.

“Ciel is a player who can break down a defence individually with his spirit, his power, his penetration and in a game like this you miss it,” Olaroiu said.

Grafite said the same thing and the club’s management have confirmed they are in talks to bring in a direct replacement for Ciel, but panicking Ahli fans have taken to Twitter, demanding to know when the new player is coming.

Time is certainly running out. Humam Tariq would have been a perfect replacement, but Olaroiu does not seem very keen, probably because Luis Jimenez is already occupying the Asian player’s slot. Ahli’s loss, then, could be Dhafra’s gain.

More surprises from Shabab

Four matches into the season and the points table does not look like the one many would have imagined before the start of the campaign. Of course, Al Ain have played only two matches, but Al Wahda at the top is a surprise, unbeaten in 12 matches going back to last season.

Second are Al Shabab, with three wins from three matches – two of them against potential candidates for the title: Ahli and Al Nasr. A club with modest means and few fans, Shabab are in the habit of confounding analysts. Last season, they sold two of their best players – Ciel and Walid Abbas – and yet were Ahli’s closest rivals for 20 rounds.

This season, they started with a stunning 4-2 win at the defending champions and have not looked back. The 2-0 win at Kalba was probably not very convincing – Edgar Bruno missed a penalty in the fourth minute and then Shabab struggled to break down the host even after they were reduced to 10 men in the 17th minute. But then they scored twice in injury time.

Shades of Ahli’s last campaign, when the champions scored more than a few times in added minutes. Given their resources, can Shabab keep going? That is the big question.

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