AL AIN // The club’s administration have accepted the blame for Al Ain’s struggles this season, and have vowed to do everything possible to return the team to the top of UAE football.
Al Ain, comfortably champions of the past two seasons, have laboured throughout the 2013/14 campaign and currently sit eighth in the standings, 18 points behind leaders Al Ahli with seven rounds remaining.
The problems can be traced back to last summer, when the club reacted to the departure of Cosmin Olaroiu, the coach of the two championship-winning sides, by installing Jorge Fossati. The Uruguayan was dismissed on the eve of the new season.
His replacement, Quique Sanchez Flores, was not appointed until four league rounds had elapsed, by which time Al Ain had already suffered two defeats. They have endured a difficult time since, although Wednesday’s recruitment of Zlatko Dalic as technical supervisor has been described as an attempt to help move the club in the right direction.
“I admit we made some mistakes at the beginning of season in terms of choices, and there are disappointments in not achieving what we expected,” said Khalifa Suleiman, manager of Al Ain’s sport sector. “So we’re here to say sorry to the Al Ain fans.
“But we’re here to work. That is most important for the team. We’re not satisfied with the performance of the first team, but we needed to have a decisive attitude to know how to solve these problems.
He said he would like to see the side perform to the level they showed last week in their Asian Champions League victory over Lekhwiya, “and also I stress the importance of evaluating every player’s performance.
“This isn’t a threat, but to try for the best to improve.”
jmcauley@thenational.ae
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