Argentine coach Hernan Crespo has run out of credit, amid demands from fans and former players of Al Ain Club for his departure from leadership of the first football team, after losing to Al-Ahly of Egypt 0-3, the day before yesterday, at Cairo Stadium, in the quarter-finals of the Confederations Cup for Club Football. (FIFA Intercontinental).
Crespo missed Al Ain from achieving several gains in the Al-Ahly match, due to his failure to reach the semi-finals of the tournament, which is scheduled to be hosted by Qatar later this year, and his loss of the value of the financial prize that he was scheduled to receive in the event of victory over “Al-Ahmar”, which amounted to Two million dollars.
The Argentine coach continued his failures with Al Ain, since he took over the leadership of the team in November of last year, as he was only able to achieve one championship in the AFC Champions League, while he failed to obtain any local championship last season, in addition to bidding farewell to “Intercontinental.” .
During his career with Al Ain, Crespo led the team in 48 matches in various competitions, winning only 22 matches, losing 19 matches, and drawing seven matches, achieving the lowest percentage of results with “Al-Zaeem” among the foreign coaches who trained him in the past years. .
Al Ain scored 98 goals with Crespo (2.04 goals per match), while conceding 78 goals (1.6 goals per match).
The Argentine coach has led “Al-Zaeem” in 13 matches since the beginning of the current season, achieving six victories, compared to four defeats, and three draws, as the team currently occupies the penultimate place in the Asian Elite Championship with one point, and has also taken great steps away from competing for the ADNOC League title. For the professionals, it is in sixth place on the league table with only eight points in the five matches it has played so far.
Al Ain conceded 27 goals in those confrontations, and only scored a clean sheet in one match, and that was against Hatta in the President’s Cup, when they won 4-0, and scored 37 goals in the 13 confrontations.
Aside from Crespo’s numbers with Al Ain, Crespo acknowledged Al Ahly’s advantage in its match against Al Ain and its right to win that confrontation. He said in the press conference after the match: “We did not play well. We made many individual mistakes and paid a heavy price for them, and when you play at this level it is difficult to make mistakes like this.”
He added: “This is football. Sometimes you have your own perception of the match, and you think it is a good choice, and then things slip out of your hands. It was not easy to play against this type of crowd and on this floor of the stadium. The truth is that the Egyptian team played in a good manner.” “Better than us.”
He continued: “Al-Ahly took the initiative, and the key to the first half was the mistake that caused the goal that we conceded. This is a good opportunity to learn. Yes, we expected Al-Ahly to take the initiative to score amidst this enthusiastic atmosphere, but in the end I am proud of the Al Ain players and what they did with me.”
A group of fans of the Al Ain team spoke to “Emirates Today” in a video clip after the end of the match, during which they expressed their anger at the way coach Hernan Crespo managed the match and held him responsible, and said that “he no longer knows how to arrange the cards, and others said that the team lost its personality.” With Crespo this season.”
For his part, the former defender of the national team and Al Ain club, analyst Juma Khater, confirmed that coach Crespo does not bear the responsibility alone, but rather it is shared with the players and management, explaining that “the ship is not led by the captain alone, but rather all those working with him contribute to its leadership, each according to his role.” .
He told «Emirates Today»: “If the coach does his role to the fullest in setting the appropriate squad, there is no excuse for the players,” adding: “Every player must do his role to the fullest.” The team in general did not appear well, even in the local competition against the clubs that occupy the last positions in the ranking table. The team continued to appear without colour, taste or smell.”
He pointed out that “the administration must not raise the ceiling of aspirations, especially since the team is currently in a construction phase, in sympathy with the young players who contracted with it in the summer transfers.” He added: “The team has excellent young players who need patience. It is better not to raise the ceiling of ambitions.”
Gomaa Khater returned and expressed his astonishment at the options that Crespo relied on in the match with Al-Ahly of Egypt, and said: “In light of the presence of a distinguished player like Traoré, why did the coach use the player Yahya Nader, who was returning from injury, and why did he leave Laba Kodjo on the bench, even though he remained… He has been preparing it for a long time.”
He concluded: “In my opinion, for a team to win the AFC Champions League title, it must be at an advanced level, and Crespo’s tactic has made Al Ain the club in the world whose method of playing is most familiar to competitors, which relies on sending the ball from midfielder Alejandro Kaku towards Sofiane Rahimi.”
Crespo was dismissed from his position twice in October.
Crespo is in the circle of criticism after losing by three to Al-Ahly of Egypt. AFP
Al Ain coach, the Argentine Crespo, finds himself for the third time in his coaching career in an unenviable position during the month of October, which witnessed his dismissal from his position twice previously, making this month a real nightmare that will continue to haunt the Argentine coach throughout his career.
Crespo was dismissed on October 13, 2021 from coaching Sao Paulo, after eight months, during which he led the Brazilian team to win the Paulista Championship and played 53 matches, in which he achieved 24 victories, 19 draws, and 10 defeats. The scenario was repeated on October 11, 2023, when he was dismissed from coaching Al-Duhail Qatar due to the deterioration of the team’s results, even though he achieved three titles: the Qatari League, the Qatar Cup, and the Ooredoo Cup, and also reached the semi-finals of the AFC Champions League.
With one day remaining until the end of this October, the fate of the Argentine coach continuing with the Al Ain team seems unknown, after the heavy three-way defeat at the hands of Al-Ahly of Egypt in the Confederations Cup (Intercontinental).
It is noteworthy that the Al Ain team played six matches during this October, and only tasted victory in one match, which was at the expense of Hatta in the President’s Cup, as it lost to Al-Gharafa of Qatar and Al-Hilal of Saudi Arabia in the AFC Champions League, Al-Ahly of Egypt in the Confederations Cup, and to Al-Wahda in the Championship. League, while they tied 1-1 with Dibba Al-Hisn, bottom of the league standings.
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