Dubai: Al Ahli coach Cosmin Olaroiu wants his team to look at the bigger picture as they walk on the cusp of a seventh Arabian Gulf League (AGL) title, with Bani Yas standing in their way in the penultimate round on Friday.
The Red Knights need just one point to ensure themselves of their seventh title since the league turned professional in 2008.
With two more matches left and six points at stake, Olaroiu’s team currently are top of the standings with 62 points – just two points adrift of their own record of 64 when they won the league last in 2013-14.
However, the Romanian coach is not too concerned of the records that lie in their path.
“We have two more games at home and I hope that we can get the necessary points and win the title. We have to respect ourselves and we need to respect the work done by the players till now. For this, we need to keep the same concentration and the determination that we have shown till now,” Olaroiu told media on Wednesday.
“Bani Yas is a difficult team with a mix of international and local players. I doubt it’s going to be easy for us. But we know what we are supposed to do, and the main thing is the need to keep concentrated and focused. The most important thing is to ensure we don’t drop our performance level,” he stressed.
Al Ahli have lost only twice so far this season, and one of these was against Bani Yas. “We are not thinking of revenge but of just playing and taking the three points. Some teams are more difficult than the rest. We don’t give any team undue importance and we give importance to all games equally,” Olaroiu said.
“For us, the most important is to win the league. It has been a very long trip and very difficult as well, but with a lot of hard work from the players we have reached so far. Right now our focus is just Bani Yas and the necessary points needed to win the league,” he said.
“Once the league is over we still have the President’s Cup, so we need to work in the same way and try and find the motivation to take the team to the next level. Most of the time teams drop form after winning something and this is natural and we need to maintain our spirit of winning till the very end,” he added.
AGL fixtures Friday:
Sharjah v Al-Wahda 6.05pm
Al Dhafra v Al Shabab 6.15pm
Al-Ahli v Baniyas 8.45pm
