Al Ahli's Flores lauds change in fortunes
Stresses need to keep players and opens floor to contract talks
Dubai Al Ahli's 6-2 thrashing of Al Wasl at Maktoum Stadium on Saturday was "the best way to finish a season", according to Red Knights' coach Quique Sanchez Flores.
Six straight wins, and without a loss in the last eight games of their campaign, Flores congratulated his team for having turned a forgettable season into a respectable finish - buoyed by their Etisalat Cup triumph over Shabab last Monday.
Al Wasl went ahead via Sultan Rashid after five minutes, but Al Ahli equalised and pushed ahead through Jimenez and Yousuf Mohammad on 20 and 26 minutes.
Ammar Mubarak leveled Al Wasl on the 33rd but Ahli steamrolled the victory with another four goals. Jimenez completed his hat-trick with strikes on 44 and 55 minutes while Grafite and Esmail Al Hammadi got on the score sheet on 53 and 68 minutes.
Flores said: "I think we've had a great dynamic in the last three months. Arriving to this match after the cup win, the players had a very high morale and played with confidence.
"The first part of the season was very difficult [14 points gained from a potential 33]. I had to order the players and work out who was in my squad and who was to be eliminated. We had to sell players to arrive at the final lineup.
"It was not easy to work under this process and we lost a lot of points. Fortunately we remained competitive in the cup and in the second half of the league [20 points from 33] we improved a lot, winning the last six, without a loss in eight. The best way to finish a season is like this."
Acknowledging Jimenez' hat-trick, Flores said of the want-away Chilean: "Jimenez, like the rest of the players, has improved a lot since the beginning of the season. It's most important that Al Ahli keep players if they want to improve and meet higher targets for next season. It's important to keep player's like Jimenez but I don't know what their future is in this case."
Speaking of his own future at the club, Flores, who has hesitated over a reported Dh5.6 million contract extension, added: "Now is the moment to talk about my future. I didn't want to talk about this during the season. But I still have another 20-odd days [to make a decision]. I must meet with the Al Ahli chairman, my agent and make an evaluation of this season and the next. I must also consider my family."
