Mahdi’s UAE success helping new Al Wasl boss shine

11:05 04/12/2013
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  • Eid Baroot believes Pro League club owners are more willing to hire Emirati coaches after the UAE’s Gulf Cup win and positive Olympic campaign under Mahdi Ali.

    Baroot, also coach of the UAE Under-19 team, was appointed Al Wasl manager until the end of the season on Sunday following the club’s decision to axe Guy Lacombe after just three months in charge.

    With Ali lifting the Gulf Cup in January with a group of players who have been developed through the national team’s youth systems, Baroot believes the country’s biggest clubs are now starting to think about going local rather than hiring expensive foreign coaches.

    “Mahdi has done something with his career, and his experience has been applied to the national team. There have been Brazilian coaches, ones from France, ones from England and they haven’t had success but we can see that there are good coaches in this country,” Baroot told Sport360°.

    “There is a new administrative mentality that is accepting Emirati coaches. Of course, our federation is the only organisation that is supporting Emirati coaches, it is very hard to work in the clubs and be an Emirati coach.

    “But with Mahdi winning the (Gulf) Cup, I think they will look at local coaches, for sure Mahdi has been a credit.

    “Football is football, it doesn’t have a language. With coaches, it depends on your mentality and which way you guide the players.”

    Baroot oversaw his first training session at the Zabeel Stadium on Monday night as he looks to resurrect a difficult and, at times, traumatic season for the Cheetahs.

    Wasl have had five managers since last July, leaving the club languishing in ninth place. Injuries to key players Mariano Donda, Rashed Essa and Shikabala and the shock of seeing Bruno Metsu leave the club in October after being diagnosed with stomach cancer has only served to traumatise the club still struggling to find an identity after the departure of Diego Maradona.

    Baroot knows his mission is to restore confidence and pride to a side that is sorely lacking it. He added: “We are working and we’ll see a different team in the coming weeks.

    “I will play who is fit and who plays for the Al Wasl shirt, who is fighting on the field, who is very ambitious and aggressive on the field. “I will play a team of 35-year-olds if they show aggression and ambition. You see Ryan Giggs, he is old but he plays like he is 20 years old, he still fights and runs so he has the trust of the coach.”

    Baroot is only contracted to the end of the season and while he admits he is ambitious, his priority will be with the U-19 team, come the summer.

    He said: “There is a priority to the national team, this is your country, you know, but Al Wasl are a big team so I accept the situation. I can’t answer the question, it isn’t about the club, it’s a national team, your country is your country.”

     

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