Zlatko Dalic’s position as Al Ain coach is reportedly under pressure given his side’s Asian Champions League exit on Wednesday. The Croatian, despondent after crashing out on away goals to Al Ahli, gave his thoughts to The National on Thursday.
A season of success?
In April, Al Ain were crowned UAE champions, winning a 12th league title with three rounds to spare. They were the top scorers and had the best defence. The past few days have stung, though, losing to Al Nasr in the President’s Cup quarter-finals and then in the Champions League.
On an end-of-season dip
“Maybe it’s a point that we sealed the championship three games early and didn’t keep concentration until the end of the season,” Dalic said. “I know my players want everything, that my players tried, but sometimes it happens like this after a big success. It’s disappointing for everyone. I know everyone expects Champions League, but if you analyse we had many things go against us, although I don’t want to say now. I will take responsibility for everything. I don’t want to find excuses, I know why but I will keep that for me.”
On taking the blame
“I make the decisions. If someone is guilty, I am. But I am proud of this season: we won the championship, we passed the Champions League groups and we didn’t lose a game in the competition. For 15 matches, we didn’t lose in our stadium. I know now everyone is disappointed, but this is life, this is football. Sometimes it’s not possible to do what you imagine. I appreciate my players. I am thankful for everyone, my staff, management, club, fans. Two years ago, Al Ain took the championship but did not pass the Champions League group. I achieved a better result.”
On improving the squad
“We have a very, very long season behind us, 11 months. I know everyone expects us to win all competitions, but sometimes it’s not possible. Sometimes you will be punished because in the past we’ve made some mistakes. Maybe we need to refresh the team. But I cannot say anything against these players. They took the championship, our first target. We were superior in the league. We passed the Champions League group. I understand everyone also wanted to win the Asian title, but the other teams also play football, have new players, paid a lot of money for them. This is football.”
Read more:
– ‘He’s done an incredible job’: Asamoah Gyan backs Zlatko Dalic to stay on as Al Ain coach
– Al Ahli’s impressive cup competitions have saved Cosmin Olaroiu’s job
jmcauley@thenational.ae
Follow us on Twitter @NatSportUAE
