Dubai: Coach Cosmin Olaroiu is convinced the competitive spirit of Shabab Al Ahli Dubai will help them show constant improvement as the Arabian Gulf League (AGL) progresses.
With three wins and a loss — against 12-time champions Al Ain — the newly merged Shabab Al Ahli Dubai are in third place in the table with nine points. Al Wasl are second in the standings ahead of Al Ain on goal difference with 10 points.
Al Wahda went top on Thursday night on 12 points with a 3-1 win over Hatta.
Olaroiu is aware of what his team needs to do to maintain their rhythm against a team such as Sharjah, who have a new coach in former star Abdul Aziz Al Anbari following the sacking of Portuguese Jose Peseiro last week.
“Every game is a new challenge,” Olaroiu said. “Perhaps, we have not been as consistent as we would have liked to be. But through all this I appreciate the spirit and competitive nature of this team. At no time have they given up and that is a good quality going forward.”
“The strategy is going to be no different in our next match irrelevant of the fact that we are up against a strong team with a new coach. This will be a new challenge with a new coach and we expect something new. So the goal will be to stay focused against a balanced team. They can be dangerous especially on the counter-attacks and for this we need to be focused a 100 per cent throughout the 90 minutes,” he cautioned.
Sharjah and Shabab Al Ahli Dubai have already played each other once this season with their group match in the Arabian Gulf Cup ending in a 3-3 draw a fortnight back.
Playing in Dubai, Shabab Al Ahli Dubai surrendered a two-goal advantage allowing their opponents who were playing with just ten players, to settle for a draw.
“I doubt they [Sharjah] can make any big changes in such a short time. But playing Sharjah will always be tricky like in the past. It won’t be a completely new experience for us, but it will be different no doubt,” Olaroiu observed.
“As usual, Sharjah will be strong and we should be caught napping. And this will be my constant reminder to my team,” he added.
