Player injury led to Shabab slump

Dubai: Al Shabab coach Paulo Bonamigo has attributed an end-of-season slump that saw his side win just one of their last six matches to the injury of Chilean midfielder Carlos Villaneuva.

Now Bonamigo wants to avoid a similar scenario by adding players of similar quality as the Chilean star to his squad during the close season.

The playmaker suffered a cruciate ligament injury against Al Wasl six matches before the end of the campaign, at which point Shabab's form plummeted.

They finished third in the League and surrendered their Etisalat Cup crown to bitter Ghusais rivals Al Ahli last week, and Shabab's downfall, despite winning the GCC Champions League earlier in the campaign, echoed last season's late topple down the table to fifth.

Bonamigo said: "The absence of Carlos forced us to change our style of play. Carlos gives us control and supplies good passes. We identify him as the playmaker in the team; he's very creative.

But after Carlos' injury, we had to change and adapt to another way of playing. In his absence, we lacked the magic pass or touch."

Avoiding a repeat

Bonamigo added: "We are already planning for next season to correct these problems. We need to bring in players with similar characteristics to make up for these missing players — we cannot have a repeat of this next season."

He said he would aim to ensure players of both youth and experience would be recruited.