Abu Dhabi: Romanian Laurentiu Reghecampf, who took charge of Al Wahda on Wednesday, has huge shoes to fill.
The 41-year-old has taken over the Clarets at a time when they have finished the season on a high — winning the President’s Cup under Javier Aguirre.
The end of the 17-year-old drought for a President’s Cup title and a change in baton immediately after that means Reghecampf will be straight away under the microscope to deliver.
“For me every time I step on to the field and when I take over a team it is a challenge. A big challenge in football is that it is a team sport and it is not about the coach. I have to build a team and my work is to build a very strong team and then the challenge is to win the championship,” said Reghecampf, who also went on to add that he doesn’t believe in speaking about himself and was more keen on focusing on the task at hand.
“I don’t want to speak too much about me. I just want to say I’m the coach for this team for next season and I think we have a big chance to win a trophy. I have a lot of information about the team and players. I know I’m a part of a big club and a good organisation which wants to do everything for the team. I hope together, we can achieve our goals,” said Reghecampf, who has switched loyalties from Romanian giants Steaua Bucharest after signing a one-year contract.
Reghecampf has had a stint in the past in this part of the world — with Saudi Club Al Hilal for a season (2014-15); hence he is also well aware of the pressure that comes with it.
“I think it is our job to work under pressure. I like working under pressure and this is not a problem for me. I like the time I spent in Saudi Arabia and I had big moments with Al Hilal and I think the experience is going to help me here,” said Reghecampf, whose immediate challenge is to prepare the team for the revamped $6 million Arab Cup in Egypt from July 22 to August 5 where Al Wahda will be facing opposition from hosts Egypt’s Al Ahly, Jordan’s newly crowned Al Faisaly and Algerian Cup runner-up NA Hussein Dey.
With very little time at hand to get the team ready, Reghecampf warned the fans from expecting too much from this tournament.
“Arab Cup (is a) preparation tournament and you don’t expect the team to be ready in 10 days. It will be taken as a preparatory tournament and our main aim is to win the league,” asserted Reghecampf, who is happy having the likes of Moroccon Murad Batna, who crossed over from Emirates in place of Chilean playmaker Valdivia to render support to Argentinian forward Sebastian Tagliabue, retained for a fifth season, and Hungarian skipper Balazs Dzsudzsak.
“The forward line looks strong as we have very good players and it is not about one player only. With these three players we definitely have a chance to win some trophies,” said Reghecampf, who has one more Asian player signing left for the season.
“We haven’t decided on the Asian player but very soon we will do that. Our immediate plan is to chalk out a training schedule for the team ahead of the tournaments lined-up and then see where we need to fit in the new player we want to bring in,” revealed Reghecampf.
