Thomas Leach, the coach of the Al-Shabab team, expressed his understanding of the state of dissatisfaction experienced by his team’s supporters, in light of the continuing fluctuating results, indicating that the upcoming pause period will be an important opportunity to work on developing the team’s performance and addressing mistakes, both on the defensive and offensive levels. The German coach’s statements came during the press conference that followed the confrontation between Al-Shabab and Al-Fayha, which ended in a goalless draw, for the team to continue the series of draws, as Leach stressed that achieving four draws in seven matches makes it normal for everyone to feel... Frustrated, he said: “I understand the fans’ feelings, and it is natural for everyone to be upset after these results.”
Leitch revealed the reason for his reluctance to make an additional substitution during the match, explaining that Abdullah Maatouq began the warm-up in preparation for entering, after Yannick Carrasco suffered from an injury, but the improvement of the player’s condition prompted the technical staff to keep him on the field.
He added: “I was also thinking about replacing Ricardo, but I saw that he might add to us, because he is a traditional spearhead.” He pointed out that Martinez scored all of the team's goals this season alongside Carrasco, which strengthened his conviction in the importance of the latter's continuation, after he became able to complete the match.
The Al-Shabab coach refused to hold his team’s midfield responsible for the tie, stressing that Al-Fayhaa appeared with a cohesive defensive organization that was difficult to penetrate. He said: “The midfield was not the reason for the tie today, but rather Al-Fayhaa played with an organized defensive bloc, and we needed one successful attack to break this organization and score the goal.”
Leach explained that talking about the tactical aspects of the team, defensively and offensively, requires a long time, in reference to the multiplicity of files that require treatment during the next stage. The youth technical staff is counting on the upcoming hiatus period to rearrange the team’s papers, as Leach confirmed that he has about a month to work with the players and develop performance, saying: “We have many things that we will work on developing during the hiatus period, and we have about a month to correct mistakes and work with the players.”
Brazilian Fabio Carelli, coach of Al-Fayhaa, expressed his dissatisfaction with the level shown by his team during the match against Al-Shabab, stressing that the technical staff will take advantage of the downtime to work on correcting mistakes and returning stronger in the upcoming matches.
The goalless draw decided the result of the match between Al-Shabab and Al-Fayha in the seventh round of the Saudi Professional League.
Carelli said during the press conference after the match: “We entered the match with the aim of continuing the rising performance, especially after the levels we presented against Al-Khuloud and Al-Ittihad. We aspired to appear at the same level, and perhaps provide a better performance, but unfortunately we did not appear in the way we wanted.”
He added: “I am not happy with the performance today, and we will work during the pause to correct the mistakes and come back stronger.”
Despite his dissatisfaction with the technical level, the Al-Fayhaa coach indicated that his team emerged with an important gain from the confrontation, saying: “We are happy with the point under the circumstances of the match. We expected to perform better, and we did not play as well as we aspired to, but in the end we are happy to come away with a point.”
In response to Asharq Al-Awsat’s question about the nature of Alfa Semedo’s injury, Carelli explained that the player suffered a muscle injury, noting that determining its seriousness and the duration of his absence requires medical examinations.
He said: “The player suffered a muscle injury, and we cannot determine its nature now. He will undergo tests over the next two days, after which we will know the length of his absence and the period of rest he needs.”
Portuguese Jose Gomez, coach of Al-Khaleej, confirmed that his team deserved to come away with the three points against Al-Nasr, noting that the draw came as a result of an error that gave the opponent the opportunity to equalize.
Gomez said in the press conference after the match: “I think we played a great match and defended well, but unfortunately we gave them the equalizer. Everyone saw what happened in the goal shot regarding the injury of one of our players, and the error in passing the ball to the opponent. In short, we lost two points and we deserved the win and the three points that were ours.”
In response to Asharq Al-Awsat’s question about the support the tie represents for the team to return strongly after the break, Gomez said: “I am satisfied with the high spirit that the team had in a difficult confrontation, and we will build on this spirit during the break.”
He added: “We will first rest from the pressure of the matches, and we will play two friendly matches, during which we will seek to correct the mistakes, and I believe that this will be enough to review many matters and appear better after the pause.”
Regarding his message to the angry Gulf fans, Gomez said: “I would like to ask them to support the team and be optimistic, and we will draw happiness on their faces. We apologize if there is a shortcoming, but we are working and will continue to work.”
He concluded: “We wanted to give them the win today before stopping, but we were not destined for success. Due to some of the circumstances I mentioned.”
