With the 2014/15 Arabian Gulf League season having reached its conclusion, John McAuley reviews the highs and lows of the year in UAE club football:
Best Moments
Best goal: Makhete Diop
David Beckham, Xabi Alonso, Wayne Rooney, Charlie Adam, Makhete Diop. The Al Dhafra striker may not have garnered the same headlines as his English Premier League counterparts – strange, that – but his goal against Al Ain in mid-March was just as spectacular.
Collecting the ball inside his own half, Diop took a couple of steps, noticed Khalid Essa far from his goal and then drove a shot over the Emirati goalkeeper. It was his 100th goal for Dhafra; an astonishing strike to bring up the ton.
Much to everyone’s disappointment, “Diop, from the halfway line” has not yet been heard reverberating around Arabian Gulf League grounds.
Best beef: Olaroiu/Al Hammadi
Never far from controversy, Cosmin Olaroiu has this season focused on referee Yaqoub Al Hammadi.
The two first clashed in October, when Al Hammadi denied Olaroiu’s Al Ahli a last-minute penalty against Al Ain.
He was confronted by the Romanian and promptly sent him off. Olaroiu met the same fate in the Super Cup, a fixture in which he claimed pre-match to have spent much of his team talk warning his players about Al Hammadi.
Last month, after Al Hammadi awarded a contentious penalty in the draw with Al Nasr, Olaroiu accused the referee of inventing the spot kick, alleging he was out for revenge against him. That is Al Hammadi off the Christmas card list, then.
Best doppelganger: Caio Junior
Granted, the Al Shabab coach does not bear any real resemblance to Marcos Paqueta, his predecessor. However, in terms of continuing to exceed expectations, to maintain the club’s disregard of resources and reputation, the Brazilian is doing a pretty fine impersonation.
Under Paqueta, Shabab routinely punched above their weight, challenging at the top of the table despite not possessing the finances enjoyed by the league’s more prominent sides.
Paqueta departed last season when Shabab finally dropped to fourth.
Yet his replacement transitioned smoothly and has improved the team. With largely the same squad, Shabab finished third. Caio Junior has more than stepped up.
Best bounceback: Al Ain
Coming into this season, the main question was how Al Ain, the easily-deposed UAE champions, would respond. They finished sixth in 2013/14, relinquishing the title to Al Ahli. The answer has been emphatic.
The seeds of revival were sewn late last season, after Zlatko Dalic took the reins. Since then, the Garden City club have blossomed. A 12th top-flight crown was sealed last month, with three rounds to spare.
Al Ain possess the division’s meanest defence and the second-most potent attack. They are unbeaten at home. All, too, without regular contributions from prized pair Omar Abdulrahman and Asamoah Gyan. Humbled and hurt from last season, Al Ain have proved you should be beware the wounded beast.
Best impact: Gabriel Calderon
If Al Wasl’s decision to part company with Jorginho seemed misguided, the appointment of Gabriel Calderon as successor proved a masterstroke. Jorginho was dismissed in October after six matches, leaving behind a quartet of Brazilian compatriots as Wasl’s foreign contingent.
Calderon, an Argentine with a perceived ruthless streak, did not appear the most obvious choice. However, Wasl have flourished. They have lost only five times in 21 matches and even mounted a late surge for a top-four finish. They are the division’s third-most prolific side. With wily Calderon in charge, the future is bright.
Forgettable Episodes
Worst move: Ajman/Abdulqadir
After four seasons in the top flight, Ajman’s adventure is over.
A modest club, they often upset predictions, finishing seventh in the 2011/12 campaign and winning the League Cup the following year. Undeniably, Abdulwahab Abdulqadir was the mastermind.
Then, last May, the Iraqi was deemed to have taken Ajman as far as he could and was dismissed. Now they are consigned to Division One as the AGL’s second-worst side. Ajman won only two matches from 26.
The management must carry the blame, flitting between coaches: Abdulqadir, Fathi Al Jabal and Manuel Cajuda, and several foreign players.
However, letting go of Abdulqadir, who intrinsically understood the club and league, was undoubtedly their gravest mistake.
Worst Achilles heel: Jazira's defence
Eric Gerets has at times sounded like a broken record. In his debut season with Al Jazira, he would regularly lament how the league’s most potent side could also be one of its leakiest.
Of the top 12 teams, Jazira have conceded more than anyone – 46 goals. Yet for the majority of the campaign, they represented Al Ain’s greatest challenge in the title race. Having found the net 66 times, it is obvious where their challenge came unstuck.
It is difficult to fathom, considering Gerets was once a defender of some repute. Constant chopping and changing, be it personnel or positioning, has cost Jazira a first UAE championship in four years. There can be no defence for that.
Worst Groundhog Day: Kalba
It has been another listless attempt at mixing it with the big boys. Too good for Division One, the east coast club are simply not good enough for the Arabian Gulf League, marooned in some sort of UAE football purgatory. Again, Kalba have struggled, fastened tight to the foot of the table with 22 defeats in 26 matches.
They have scored fewer than everyone and conceded more. With one victory from the first 18 rounds, relegation was confirmed long before the season’s conclusion.
Only Ajman, in 2009/10, have accrued fewer points during the professional era. Just as they did in 2010/11 and 2012/13, Kalba have followed promotion with immediate demotion. They are the country’s proverbial yo-yo team.
Worst fiasco: Transfer deadline
Last September, five deadline-day transfers were reportedly ratified, only to be rescinded later. Hugo Viana was the most high-profile case, despite the Portuguese playmaker apparently sealing a last-minute move from Al Ahli to Al Wasl.
He did not make his debut until February 4. A mix-up with the Football Association, in which their transfer commission allowed two additional hours to register players, was the cause, with much confusion the effect. Fifa were involved, a 14-club vote taken, then Wasl referred to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Lost in the noise, the league was deprived of a star player: Viana was eventually instrumental in Wasl’s renaissance. It was a shame it took so long.
Worst miss: Al Ahli
The UAE champions struggled through the first half of their title defence but reinvigorated the squad in the winter. They signed Oussama Assaidi, Everton Ribeiro and Kwon Kyung-won.
However, the greatest oversight was up front: in releasing Grafite and not re-registering Carlos Munoz, Ahli freed space for a striker but failed to add one.
They were left with Ahmed Khalil, a forward with talent yet nowhere near consistent enough to lead the line for one of the country’s most ambitious clubs. Ahli surrendered the league long before the finish line, coming home seventh.
Of the division’s top eight sides, they scored the fewest goals. The absence of a top-class frontman was an open goal missed.
jmcauley@thenational.ae
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