Abu Dhabi: What sort of an impact can the merged club Shabab Al Ahli Dubai make in the new season, was the question that most football fans in the UAE would have pondered — a main reason for making their season-opening encounter in the Arabian Gulf Cup against Al Wahda a must-watch.
For coach Cosmin Olaroiu, who has witnessed plenty of highs and lows while leading teams here in the UAE, this season was always going to be a different challenge altogether; something that the Romanian had never encountered in his 17-year career as manager.
The union of three clubs — Al Shabab, Al Ahli and Dubai Club — following a decree by His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, in May this year, had left Olaroiu with a huge pool of player at his disposal. It meant that the renowned tactician not only had to tread with caution but also get it dead right.
His biggest dilemma being, whom to pick and whom to let go. And it didn’t end at that, he also had to ensure that his side gelled well and played in harmony for the same cause.
Olaroiu’s retained Senegal striker Makhete Diop had his name in the scorers list in the 1-1 draw against Al Wahda on Friday. But the way they went about their business meant that there is plenty of work to be done. On an extremely humid evening, every move was a struggle and Wahda too made sure that the visitors were tested to the maximum.
Olaroiu accepted that it was an outing that helped him get a good measure of his team before he ventured into the tougher challenges that lay ahead in the season.
“Playing in this weather was difficult but in the first 30 minutes we didn’t play and the players didn’t look in the tempo for the game. Not playing since a long time did affect the performance of the players,” said Olaroiu adding that draw was the best his side could manage and there was a lot of grey areas to work on.
“We have many things to fix and all the players start training and we didn’t have national team players. For me it was the first serious game and I saw good things and bad. We are still far away from what I want and what is my maximum expectation,” said Olaroiu, who added that the situation is different than last year with different players and though things have changed, it is his job to attain similar result.
For Olaroiu’s counterpart Laurentiu Reghecampf this was his first outing as Al Wahda coach and the contest was all the more special as it was against a team who is coached by Olaroiu who happens to be his neighbour back home.
“We stay we close in Romania and so it was nice to catch up with him and speak about football in general here in the region. For me the match went as per plans and the boys did well. Our attacks we well-structured but I must say Olaroiu has made sure that his team’s defence is very sound. They made goal scoring very difficult for us,” said Reghecampf.
