Dubai: Al Nasr coach Cesare Prandelli was reminded of the harsh realities of modern football when midway through his prematch conference he learnt of the sacking of his friend Carlo Ancelotti at Bayern Munich on Thursday.
“I hope that news is not true,” said the Italian. “I’m very sorry for Carlo because he’s a friend.
“Unfortunately there are more and more pressures, especially at the beginning of the season where there are hundreds of difficulties like; new players coming in, others coming back from injury and others coming back late having missed pre-season. In the end it’s always the coach paying for everything.”
Prandelli is no stranger to the sack, having seen his last two jobs with Turkey’s Galatasaray and Spain’s Valencia both end within 16 and 10 games respectively. The former Italy coach is now hoping to last longer with Al Nasr, with whom he’s already overseen three games since joining over the summer. Al Nasr beat Ajman 3-0 in their cup opener but then drew 0-0 away to Sharjah and lost 2-1 at home to Al Wahda in the league. There’s also no reprieve as next up they face defending champions Al Jazira away from 8.15pm on Saturday.
“Every league has it’s own difficulty, so I’m not surprised,” he said of his own side’s early struggles. “What we have to try and do is understand all the difficulties in local football as well as the weak points, so that we can take advantage.
“It’s a very competitive league and every game can end in three outcomes. As far as our team we have to keep working hard, as we are doing, and never put our heads down, because I’m convinced we can reach important achievements.”
Al Jazira also come into this game off the back of a loss having fallen to a shock 1-0 defeat away to league minnows Dibba last week, and will be looking to the Al Nasr game for redemption.
“They also lost their last game as did we, even though we know we didn’t deserve to. We shouldn’t think about past and previous loses however, but go full speed into a new game, to create a new history and new chapter.
“I believe absences won’t be so important for Al Jazira because they have a large and competitive squad,” he said in reference to striker Ahmad Khalil being out injured and Ali Mabkhout possibly returning from his own injury layoff.
Of his own striker Wanderley Santos failing to find the net in the past two matches, he added: “He has strong character and personality and these moments are normal in the career of a forward.
“Let’s remember he’s coming back from a few months out without playing (having served a suspension for false documentation) and it’s the role of the team to help him by creating chances. He’s not the kind of player to dribble past 10 players but he is the sort to score opportunities created for him.”