Jeff Shi, public figurehead of Fosun International, the Chinese group that last week purchased English Championship club Wolverhampton Wanderers, welcomed Walter Zenga as the club’s new manager on Saturday, then – inadvertently – encapsulated perfectly the good and the not-so-good that comes with the firebrand Italian.
“Walter is a hugely passionate personality who lives for football,” Shi said, and that cannot ever be questioned, especially when examined through the prism of Zenga’s time in the UAE.
A former manager in the Emirati top flight at Al Ain, Al Nasr, Al Jazira and most recently Al Shaab, a cumulative four years here were characterised for the majority by an exceptional zest for his profession.
Zenga was dedicated, driven, intense, impassioned, hot-blooded and headstrong. However, that final trait, that stubbornness displayed from Al Ain to Dubai to Abu Dhabi and through to Sharjah earlier this year, is ultimately what has been his downfall.
• See more: Former Al Nasr and Al Jazira manager Walter Zenga takes charge at Wolves
As Shi quickly noted, Zenga “is fiercely determined to succeed in everything that he does”. It is that very determination – the single-mindedness, the aggressiveness in his work – that has often proved his undoing. Zenga can be volatile and combustible on the touchline, in the dressing room or the boardroom, or in front of the media. He is receptive one minute, rough the next.
Without doubt, he is an incredibly complex character: emotional, yes, yet cerebral, too, intriguing and engaging in equal measure, particularly if you converse with him away from football. He is a guaranteed sound bite, a man without filter. In 2012, Zenga was accused of slander and fined Dh2,000 after a post-match exchange with a local reporter.
Not all relationships are fraught. Zenga’s connection with former players at Nasr, a club he steered from relegation to finishing in successive seasons third and second in the league, remains strong. This year, he was a regular visitor to Al Maktoum Stadium, the affection between he and his old charges obvious.
When Ivan Jovanovic succeeded Zenga at Nasr, he met with the Serbian to ease the transition, to help him understand what his new role entailed. He did likewise with Eric Gerets at Jazira.
But his spell at Jazira, or how it concluded, blatantly stung. In seven months there, Zenga guided the club to third in the league, to a cup final and to the last 16 of the Asian Champions League. Even still, he was discarded that summer.
Zenga sought refuge the following June at Sampdoria, a club close to his heart, somewhere he was held in high regard, but within five months he was gone. By the time he resurfaced back in the UAE at relegation-doomed Shaab, he seemed a different coach, less animated, less enthusiastic, perhaps scarred by his past two experiences. He certainly leaves a mark wherever he treads.
Which Zenga Wolves have acquired remains to be seen, for, in stark contrast to his playing career, the former Italy national team goalkeeper is far from a safe pair of hands.
The battleground of the English Championship, a league and a country he is yet to experience as coach, should invigorate him, should be something he relishes, should engender a return of the colour and, of course, the confrontation.
Admittedly, it might also be brief because, Nasr aside, Zenga does not tend to hang around for long, another nod to his powerful personality, to his reluctance to defer to others. One thing is certain, though: however long it lasts, Walter at Wolves will be well worth the watch.
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Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Malcolm & Marie
Directed by: Sam Levinson
Starring: John David Washington and Zendaya
Three stars
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
What are NFTs?
Are non-fungible tokens a currency, asset, or a licensing instrument? Arnab Das, global market strategist EMEA at Invesco, says they are mix of all of three.
You can buy, hold and use NFTs just like US dollars and Bitcoins. “They can appreciate in value and even produce cash flows.”
However, while money is fungible, NFTs are not. “One Bitcoin, dollar, euro or dirham is largely indistinguishable from the next. Nothing ties a dollar bill to a particular owner, for example. Nor does it tie you to to any goods, services or assets you bought with that currency. In contrast, NFTs confer specific ownership,” Mr Das says.
This makes NFTs closer to a piece of intellectual property such as a work of art or licence, as you can claim royalties or profit by exchanging it at a higher value later, Mr Das says. “They could provide a sustainable income stream.”
This income will depend on future demand and use, which makes NFTs difficult to value. “However, there is a credible use case for many forms of intellectual property, notably art, songs, videos,” Mr Das says.
Email sent to Uber team from chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi
From: Dara
To: Team@
Date: March 25, 2019 at 11:45pm PT
Subj: Accelerating in the Middle East
Five years ago, Uber launched in the Middle East. It was the start of an incredible journey, with millions of riders and drivers finding new ways to move and work in a dynamic region that’s become so important to Uber. Now Pakistan is one of our fastest-growing markets in the world, women are driving with Uber across Saudi Arabia, and we chose Cairo to launch our first Uber Bus product late last year.
Today we are taking the next step in this journey—well, it’s more like a leap, and a big one: in a few minutes, we’ll announce that we’ve agreed to acquire Careem. Importantly, we intend to operate Careem independently, under the leadership of co-founder and current CEO Mudassir Sheikha. I’ve gotten to know both co-founders, Mudassir and Magnus Olsson, and what they have built is truly extraordinary. They are first-class entrepreneurs who share our platform vision and, like us, have launched a wide range of products—from digital payments to food delivery—to serve consumers.
I expect many of you will ask how we arrived at this structure, meaning allowing Careem to maintain an independent brand and operate separately. After careful consideration, we decided that this framework has the advantage of letting us build new products and try new ideas across not one, but two, strong brands, with strong operators within each. Over time, by integrating parts of our networks, we can operate more efficiently, achieve even lower wait times, expand new products like high-capacity vehicles and payments, and quicken the already remarkable pace of innovation in the region.
This acquisition is subject to regulatory approval in various countries, which we don’t expect before Q1 2020. Until then, nothing changes. And since both companies will continue to largely operate separately after the acquisition, very little will change in either teams’ day-to-day operations post-close. Today’s news is a testament to the incredible business our team has worked so hard to build.
It’s a great day for the Middle East, for the region’s thriving tech sector, for Careem, and for Uber.
Uber on,
Dara
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
Specs
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Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
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Price: On request
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
