Can Sharjah get a goal?
It has been a disappointing start to the season for Paulo Bonamigo’s men.
They are at the bottom of the table, the only team yet to win a point or score a goal, and their problems in attack are not new.
Last season, Sharjah scored the fewest goals (29) among the 12 teams who survived in the Arabian Gulf League, but their mean defence (25 conceded) allowed them to remain in contention for a top-four place till the end.
Changes did have to be made in attack. Ze Carlos was shunted out and the Brazilian duo of Luan and Wanderley were brought in but, unfortunately for Sharjah fans, the newcomers have not inspired much confidence.
If they cannot turn it around at home on Friday night against Kalba then Sharjah have until October 2, the close of the local transfer window, to make changes.
Strife within Baniyas
Amer Abdulrahman’s showdown with his coach Luis Garcia was the talk of the weekend. The UAE international got into a heated argument with his Baniyas coach after the end of a 1-1 draw at Kalba.
Unhappy with the instructions he was given by Garcia through the game, and the substitutions, the midfielder kicked away a water bottle in anger and then pushed teammate Ahmed Ali, who was trying to play peacemaker. Abdulrahman and Garcia then had a heated exchange as they walked back into the dressing room, with Ali trying to keep them apart.
At the post-match press conference, Garcia dismissed the event as a “normal incident”, caused by the language barrier between the two. Baniyas officials have said the same thing, claiming the two sorted out their differences in the dressing room later.
Coming from one of the stars of the national team, though, such a public display of petulance is disappointing. This is not the first time either. A few years back, Abdulrahman reportedly was involved in a similar incident with Lutfi Benzarti and the Baniyas management sided with the player, showing the door to the coach.
The club’s officials have been busy defending their star’s behaviour once again, but undermining the authority of the coach will only hurt the team. Hopefully, the player realises that.
Will Wahda’s good run end?
The truce between Abdulrahman and Garcia will be put to the test on Friday night when Baniyas host leaders Al Wahda.
Jose Peseiro’s side have won two from two this season and when they take the pitch at Baniyas, they will be hoping to stretch their 246-day unbeaten streak in the league.
Wahda’s last defeat in the league came at Emirates on January 23 and, on Sunday, they avenged that loss in Ras Al Khaimah with a battling 2-1 win.
The Abu Dhabi team have played 12 league matches since that defeat and won 10, with only Sharjah and Al Jazira taking points off them.
With his insistence on stability – no recruits in the two transfer windows – and belief in the club’s emerging talents, Peseiro is setting new trends in UAE football and Baniyas will have a tough time matching up against the Portuguese’s super confident squad.
History is not on Baniyas’s side either. They beat Wahda in the League Cup last season, but their last league win over their Abu Dhabi rivals came in the 2010/11 season. Wahda have won three of the six matches since.
Ahli and Jazira’s slip-ups
Two of the top picks for the title before the start of the season, Al Ahli and Al Jazira have looked far from convincing, their vulnerabilities at the back, especially in the second half, laid bare.
In both their matches, Jazira conceded a goal in the final 10 minutes. Ajman scored in the 82nd minute, but Eric Gerets’s men managed to survive the tense closing stages for a 3-2 win.
At home in the second week, they allowed Fujairah to score an 88th-minute equaliser.
Ahli struggled to protect their one-goal lead against a 10-man Sharjah and then melted down in the second half against Al Shabab, losing 4-2 at home after leading by two goals.
Cosmin Olaroiu, Ahli’s coach, has blamed those sluggish performances on the lack of physical fitness of a “few players”, and Jorginho, the Al Wasl coach, must have surely taken note of that.
Wasl were the only team to beat Ahli in the AGL last season (Al Dhafra were awarded a 3-0 win because the champions used a banned player) and a repeat might not be a surprise this time.
arizvi@thenational.ae
BOUGHERRA SOLD ON FUJAIRAH
Fujairah’s Algerian star Madjid Bougherra is confident the club can have a good season. “When I first came to Fujairah, I was a bit hesitant because I did not know anything about the club or the city,” he said. “But I am really enjoying it. I am really surprised by the level of the local players.”
JUMAA TO MISS FOR DHAFRA
Al Dhafra travel to Fujairah without their veteran midfielder and captain Abdulsalam Jumaa. “Losing him to an injury is a big miss for us. He is the team leader and his presence on the pitch gives great confidence to his teammates,” Anel Karabeg, the Dhafra coach, said.
LANZINI SAYS JAZIRA TO REFOCUS
Al Jazira forward Manuel Lanzini is trying to put the 2-2 draw against Fujairah behind him. “We need to look ahead and win the next game [Emirates],” the Argentine said. “We can’t change the result of the last game but we can try to win three points from the next with greater focus and better performance.”
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