Dubai: Al Wasl’s new coach Guy Lacombe will be spending the next few days watching video tapes of his team’s past matches in order to ensure they stay on the right path for the rest of the season.
Smarting from a 5-0 slamming from league champions Al Ain last week, Al Wasl recovered well under their new coach to hold Al Jazira to a goalless draw late on Friday.
“I think overall we played a very good match. The players did what they were asked to do and their performance showed a willingness to work hard out there. In the end we managed to stop a very exceptional team from scoring,” Lacombe told media at the post-match meeting.
“Al Wasl played well and they performed better than the last few training sessions that I have watched them. I really cannot make a judgement on the players, except that our young goalkeeper Rashid Ali did exceptionally well.
“At this stage I can’t even give a precise answer on what the team needs. We have a few injuries to key players, so I will wait for them to return so that we can have a better analysis. In the meantime I will be watching videos of past games to see how we can progress from here.”
Lacombe dedicated the point his team earned to previous coach Bruno Metsu, who resigned after he was diagnosed with cancer last month. The draw kept Al Jazira in seventh position with 11 points, while Al Wasl follow in eighth on ten points.
After just one match with his new club, Lacombe is pretty relaxed after what he has seen of his new team.
“I think I can be glad about the winning mentality of the team. I am convinced Al Wasl will be able to achieve results. We have this tremendous appetite for doing well against stronger teams. Now we need to pay attention to doing well against the weaker sides as well so that we have some consistency and the performances will follow,” he said.
Meanwhile, Al Jazira coach Paulo Bonamigo was pleased with the point. “Both teams deserved to score and they did everything to create the opportunities, but the goal never came,” the Brazilian said.
“We feel we are getting better with each round and I can be satisfied. Maybe this is not a good moment for the team, but I feel we will start scoring soon as we are creating the opportunities. And it is not the strikers alone, we also need to work in the midfield.”
