Abu Dhabi: The former Barcelona assistant manager and Chelsea assistant first team coach Henk ten Cate has been unveiled as the manager of Al Jazira.
The experienced Dutch coach, who was a member of Barcelona’s Champions League-winning staff in 2006 and Chelsea’s successful one in 2008, has been signed as team manager until the end of this season.
He replaces Abel Braga, who was given the boot on December 12.
“I had a phone call from (Al Jazira board member) M Butty Al Qubaisi, and this was the year I went to Barcelona,” said ten Cate at his unveiling on Tuesday.
“We have kept contact since then. I thought maybe to say Merry Christmas and he asked me if I was willing to participate in this project here.
“I thought about it a minute and asked for more time to consider it. Longer I thought about it, the more I liked it.”
The 61-year-old was confident that he can see Al Jazira past Qatar’s Al Sadd in the Asian Champions League pursuit.
“My goal is to see Jazira qualify for Champions League by getting past Xavi’s Al Sadd. They have a strong team and a player in Xavi, who is fantastic. However, we are upbeat as the team responded very well in my first training (session). There is good spirit and that can be translated to good football with a lot of discipline,” said Ten Cate, who has also brought in staff with him for the challenge.
“I can’t do it by myself and need support from people. And a lot of qualities have united and we will make Al Jazira a strong force,” asserted ten Cate. He managed several Dutch clubs before he joined Frank Rijkaard in 2003 as assistant manager at Barcelona and was with them until 2006. He played a similar role at Chelsea under Avram Grant from 2007-08. He has also managed Ajax, Panathinaikos and had stints in the Middle East with Al Ahli in Dubai and Qatari Club Umm Salal. The transfer window opens in January and the Dutchman will have his task cut out straight away to find an ideal replacement for their injured ace forward Mirko Vucinic, who was ruled out for the season with a knee injury.
