It’s hard to please UAE football fans, typified by Zoran Mamic being criticised for a perceived lack of vitality in Al Ain’s play this season despite ascending to the top of the Arabian Gulf League this week.
The Boss went top of the AGL for the first time this season following Saturday’s 2-0 away win at Emirates Club and, along with Al Wasl, are the only team who remain unbeaten in 2017/18.
Yet in his pre-match press conference ahead of welcoming Sharjah today, Mamic was asked about the media’s criticism of his team’s performances – despite scoring a joint-second 12 goals in five games.
“I respect the views of the media and the masses but it is not necessary to agree with them,” said the Croatian, whose team have been performing even without injured star Omar Abdulrahman, who has missed all but one of the Boss’ league games.
“We can talk for hours about the team’s performance and methods. Last season Al Ain performances were fun to watch but we lost important points against teams not competing for the title.
“But this season we have managed to reap points against rivals both near the top and bottom of the league.”
Mamic will again be without midfield maestro Abdulrahman at Hazza bin Zayed Stadium today, with UAE defenders Mohamed Ahmed and Ismail Ahmed and midfielders Mohamed Abdulrahman and Bandar Al Ahbabi also out, while Mamic is sweating on the availability of Japan defender Tsukasa Shiotani.
“I don’t need to look for any excuses or justifications about the team’s performance, I focus only on achieving victories,” added Mamic.
“A performance without the result does not mean anything. We all wish to win by more than five goals in all our games, but we have to deal realistically with the desires and wishes of everyone.”
Ajman coach Ayman Al Ramady, meanwhile, has denied that the Orange Brigade’s meeting with Emirates today is a “six pointer” as both teams battle for points in what is deemed a clash of two relegation candidates.
Ajman gained their first win in the previous round with a 1-0 win at Al Nasr, but Egyptian Al Ramady admitted the player has been in good spirits this week.
the players in good spirits not only previous win victory, but because the team under the lead in all the matches convincingly and spirit more than good.
“I remained optimistic before every game, despite the results that preceded the victory over Al Nasr,” he said.
“There was no sense of frustration from results of previous games, the team spirit was not shaken at all. I have big confidence in the team’s ability to achieve positive results.”
Al Ramady is targeting 22 or 23 points as the watermark his side will need to achieve safety this term, adding: “This match it is not possible to win six points, each match is important but we cannot win more than three points.”
