Athletes confirmed that the sharp decline in the results of the Al Ain team and in its performance in local, continental and international competitions is a shared responsibility, starting with the coach, passing through the players, and ending with the management, stressing that the Argentine Hernan Crespo is not the only reason behind what the “leader” is going through at the present time, pointing out The decline in the performance of the team’s stars is due to psychological pressure, and the new deals concluded by the club during the summer transfers lack experience.
All eyes were focused on Al Ain, who is competing in the current season as champion of the Asian continent, to compete with himself in all the competitions in which he participates, but he has defied expectations so far, and appeared at a weak level in most of the matches, and his results were inconsistent, which cost him his exit from the team. Confederations Cup (Intercontinental), after losing to Al-Ahly of Egypt by 3-0.
Since the beginning of the current season, the Al Ain team has played 13 matches, during which it achieved 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 steps away from competing for the ADNOC Professional League title, with its presence. It is in sixth place on the league table, with only eight points, in the five matches it has played so far.
Emirates Today conducted a survey on the reasons for the decline in Al Ain’s level and its results in the current season, as 39% of participants confirmed that the responsibility lies with Crespo, while 37.9% considered the reason for the decline in the performance of the team’s stars, and 12.1% held responsibility for the weakness of contracts, and 10.3% held responsibility for the decline in the performance of the team’s stars. They voted that the reason lies in the pressure of matches.
New deals
For his part, former Al Ain goalkeeper Walid Salem said: “Al Ain concluded deals with young players who need more time to gain experience.”
He added: “We have to admit that tournaments like the AFC Champions League and the Intercontinental Championship need players with long experience who are able to compete with the big teams they face, and this may have had some effect on the results achieved in these two tournaments in particular.”
He continued: “It is natural for the public to have reservations about the assignments that took place at the beginning of the current season, but in the end nothing is guaranteed in football. You may come with brilliant names and they will not work for you, and the opposite may happen. In the end, everyone has their own point of view. “Hit or miss.”
He explained: “Certainly, Al Ain Club or any other club cannot win the title of the five tournaments in which it participates. The management of each club has a special vision for the tournaments it wishes to achieve, and the tournaments it is competing for or plans to win. It is in no way possible for We are putting pressure on the team and the management to win the title of every tournament in which it participates, because this is something that has not and will not happen.”
He continued: “Inevitably, there will be a review by those concerned with football affairs in the club, of what happened in the last period, to determine the negatives and positives that concern the team, and bidding farewell to the Intercontinental Championship does not mean that Al Ain has left its season empty-handed, as it is still… He has great chances in the rest of the competitions that he is currently competing in, and Al Ain’s presence in the penultimate place in the Asian Elite Championship does not mean that he has lost his chances of being nominated for the second round, because there are still five matches remaining in the first stage and (Al-Zaeem) is able to collect the points that guarantee He qualified.”
He concluded: “The league championship needs a long breath, and Al Ain being 10 points away from Shabab Al Ahly is something that can be compensated for with the expected confrontations between the two teams, and with a postponed match against Ittihad Kalba.”
Hernan Crespo
A group of Al Ain fans spoke to “Emirates Today” in a video clip after the end of the Egyptian Al-Ahly 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 has lost its personality with Crespo this season.”
The former supervisor of the football team at the Emirates Club, sports analyst Khalifa Barot, said, “Al Ain Club deserves a better coach than Hernan Crespo.”
He added: “Al Ain has not been at its best since the beginning of the season, and if we exclude the Al Hilal match in the AFC Champions League for the elite, the performance was weak, and this was not the team that we all know.”
He explained: “There may be things that are hidden from those who follow the team from outside the club, but it is clear that (the leader) is suffering from technical problems at the level of the defense line, some of which are the responsibility of the coach, and others due to deals that are much lower than the level of a club the size of Al Ain.”
He continued: “It is true that Crespo led Al Ain to achieve the AFC Champions League title last season, but this title does not constitute a protective shield for him from criticism, because the large teams the size of Al Ain do not depend on their ambition for a title, regardless of its value and its natural position in being a competitor for all titles. ».
Khalifa Barot supported the point of view of most Al Ain fans, who are demanding Crespo’s dismissal from his position and the hiring of a big-name coach. He said: “The fans have the right to look for the best for their club, especially since they stand with the team in all its matches, whether inside or outside the country.” Everyone testifies to her, and she provided the coach and the players with all forms of support.”
He explained: “When we see the level shown by the team in the Al-Ahly match in the Intercontinental Championship, and the way the team prepared for this confrontation, and the coach’s lack of intervention to stop the Egyptian team’s advantage or change the result, no one can blame the audience for losing patience, especially since it came after performances. And disappointing results in the Asian Championships and the ADNOC Professional League.”
Star performance declined
In turn, Al Ain Club’s seventh all-time top scorer in the league competition, Saif Sultan, confirmed that “the decline in the performance of the team’s stars during the current period is due to psychological pressure, and it is important for the fans to stand behind the players and the coach in order to overcome it,” noting that “the players are in dire need of Moral support, until they regain their abilities again.”
He said: “The players are going through a state of declining level, and they must be more professional, and coach Hernan Crespo must take advantage of all the time to rehabilitate them,” stressing the need not to blame the players.
Pressure matches
As for the fitness coach, Brazilian Fabio Edward, who worked in a number of clubs in the country, he said, “The stressful match schedule that Al Ain Club faced by playing six strong matches in one month, placed an extremely heavy burden on the team, and the players must be treated as human beings.” “And they are not robots.”
He said, “The pressure of matches does not only affect the physical aspect, but also the mentality, and that casts a shadow on the players’ performance, which ultimately affects the choices of the coach, who finds himself forced to sacrifice some matches, and resort to rotating matches, in order to give the key players “An opportunity to catch your breath.”
He added: “The stressful schedule has affected the team, and we should also not forget the hours of travel to play matches, which is very stressful.”
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