Habib Fardan, the Al Ahli midfielder, is confident his side can still finish the season with silverware, despite their recent struggles.
The UAE champions have endured a disappointing title defence thus far and currently lie sixth in the standings, 15 points behind leaders Al Ain with nine rounds remaining.
Ahli’s performances in the Asian Champions League have not offered much relief, with Wednesday’s defeat to Tractor Sazi in Iran meaning they sit rooted to the bottom of Group D, having secured a solitary point from their opening two matches. In all, it stretches Ahli’s winless streak to five games.
The Dubai side return to domestic action Sunday, when a home fixture against Fujairah sparks a run of three league matches before they meet Al Ain on March 27 in the rescheduled Super Cup clash. The President’s Cup returns in May at the quarter-finals stage, with Ahli facing Kalba.
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“Until now the season hasn’t finished for us, even if we are sixth in the league,” said Fardan, speaking at an event for sponsors Adidas. “We still have the Asian Champions League, the President’s Cup and the Super Cup, and can win any of them. We still have a great chance to end the season with success.
“It’s harder in the league, but we should focus on winning our games. The other results, you never know — in the last round only Al Shabab from the top five teams won. In football, you need to concentrate only on yourself.”
Ahli’s poor form has increased the pressure on Cosmin Olaroiu, the coach who last season guided the club to a first league title in five years. The Romanian joined the Rashid Stadium side after leading Al Ain to the previous two championships. Olaroiu has been targeted by a section of the Ahli support, although Fardan insists he remains the right man for the job.
“We all trust in Cosmin because he’s a great coach,” Fardan said. “He’s won the league the past three years — I don’t know if there’s a coach who has done this before. We all have confidence in him.
“Sometimes in football, big teams — even Real Madrid and Barcelona — have problems and don’t achieve good results. This is normal. But we should focus on the next game, try to avoid the mistakes we’ve made and try to come back again.”
Fardan said the spirit within the squad is still positive and that the players are working hard in training to turn around their fortunes. He also said the trio of recent foreign recruits — Oussama Assaidi, Everton Ribeiro and Kwon Kyung-won — requires a little patience.
“The new players need time,” Fardan said. “When I came to the club in the summer, at first I found some difficulties because it was a new team and I’d played at Al Nasr for five years. So the new players need a little time and then they’ll be OK.”
“At Al Ahli, the atmosphere is always so good because all the conditions are perfect there. Of course, it’s a big challenge for the players, but sometimes you need to work harder to show everybody this team can achieve a lot and that’s what’s happening. Everyone is trying his best. I believe in time Ahli will come back better.”
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