Former Barcelona and Chelsea assistant coach vows to get Al Jazira back to winning ways

Dutchman aims to turn around the fortunes of the Abu Dhabi club, who have been in poor form this season, reports John McAuley.

Speaking to the media on Tuesday night, Al Jazira’s new manager Henk ten Cate says he will instill his side with self-belief. Mona Al Marzooqi / The National
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ABU DHABI // Henk ten Cate has promised his Al Jazira side will do everything to reclaim their place at the top of UAE football, saying his immediate objective is to restore the players’ confidence after their poor start to the season.

The Dutchman, a former assistant coach at Barcelona and Chelsea as well as manager at Ajax and Panathinaikos, has been installed as successor to Abel Braga, who parted company with the 2011 UAE champions earlier this month following a run that yielded only three victories from 16 matches.

Ten Cate joins on a six-month contract until the end of the campaign, although there is an option to extend if the appointment proves successful. He has been tasked with leading Jazira out of their current malaise – Saturday’s 2-1 defeat to Al Dhafra meant they concluded their first half of the season 10th in the Arabian Gulf League.

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Introduced to media at the Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium on Tuesday, Ten Cate said: “Al Jazira are in a critical position. The only thing I can promise the fans is that we are here together and will do our utmost to get the best out of this team.

“You will see a team who are physically fit and fight for every ball. For now, it’s the most we can promise. It’s important we play good football, but to start with we need to build the confidence of the players. You get that only by winning games.

“The most important thing is to bring back the spirit in the team and, with this, I’m sure we can win a lot of games. If you believe in yourself you can move mountains.”

Ten Cate was first offered the position in 2003, but instead went to work alongside Frank Rijkaard at Barcelona. He took training on Tuesday, with his initial assignment as Jazira coach the league encounter against fourth-placed Al Wasl on January 9.

Ten Cate will be without the injured Mirko Vucinic and Jefferson Farfan for a substantial period, but says the primary target for the season is to qualify for the group stages of the Asian Champions League. Jazira face a play-off clash against Qatar’s Al Sadd on February 9.

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“The main goal is to qualify for the Champions League group stages and to go far in the President’s Cup is a very big thing also,” he said. “I feel in the Asian Champions League, Al Jazira always have to be there. It’s not going to be easy. With the right spirit and a lot of hard work, we can achieve things. All of us will make a strong force and put Al Jazira to the top again, where they belong.”

Ten Cate was first offered the position in 2003, but instead went to work alongside Frank Rijkaard at Barcelona. He took training on Tuesday, with his initial assignment as Jazira coach​ the league encounter against fourth-placed Al Wasl on January 8.

Ten Cate, who previously managed in Qatar and China, would not be drawn on the month spent as coach at Al Ahli in 2009.

“I can talk about the past but it’s better to talk about the future,” he said. “That was five years ago. The future is Al Jazira.”

While Ten Cate said every player would begin his reign with a “blank sheet”, Jazira are expected to be busy once the transfer window opens later this week. The club recently appointed Gianluca Nani, the former director of football​ at Watford and West Ham United, in a similar capacity and are actively seeking a replacement for Vucinic, who is out until the end of the season. Ayed Mabkhout, the Jazira CEO, confirmed Jazira envisage bringing in two foreign signings within the next month, although he insisted they are not close to completing any deals.

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Meanwhile, Jazira received a significant blow on Tuesday night when it emerged midfielder Khamis Esmail was suspended indefinitely by the UAE Football Association’s disciplinary committee for reportedly failing to pay fees to his agent.

jmcauley@thenational.ae

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