The team achieved mixed results during the first leg of the season, despite the great efforts made by the technical staff led by coach Christophe Galtier, with whom we sat and had a comprehensive interview in which he began to assess his first period with the team, saying: The initial assessment was a decline in general because we lost many matches. I cannot talk about the AFC Champions League here, as things have been going wrong for a long time. We lost twice to Al Nassr, but we performed well in both matches, and we were able to win the other two matches, including an important match in Iran from a historical perspective, but it was not important in terms of the result and the standings, but in the league we had many negative performances and I am not completely satisfied with that, and there are reasons for that, but we cannot resort to excuses, even if there are many injuries and a schedule that was modified due to the preparation for the Asian Cup here in Doha.
Work environment:
As for the work environment, yes, it is an environment that facilitates work. The club is very organized, we have high-quality infrastructure and very good venues. We can work either in the morning, as happened during the break due to the Asian Cup, or at the end of the day. But we work in very good facilities. Now we must achieve results in the second leg of the season and build on the preparation during the stoppage period.
Adaptation period:
Yes, there is always an adaptation period. I arrived during the middle of the season for different reasons. There is adaptation to the lifestyle, adaptation to the league, adaptation to the players. Here we are not in Europe. Things are different, not better, not worse, they are different, so there is always a part of Adaptation means exploring the league and the team players.
In the first leg of our season, there were also breaks due to participating in the World Cup qualifiers, and then a long period due to the Asian Cup with an amazing result for Qatar.
For me, I don’t like to talk a lot about conditioning because when someone is a coach, they don’t have time. The coach is measured by results, but since the results are not there, I have no right to resort again to the topic of adaptation. We must do better and we will do better.
In general, you cannot train with 25 or 26 players, it is very difficult to work with a number like that, and in addition to injuries and long absences.
Attention to young players:
young players were given an opportunity during international competitions and the Asian Cup. I wanted to integrate our young guys and I’m looking forward to what’s happening with the U23 team. I’m following what’s happening with the U19 team because, for me, they are the future of the club once we can integrate them after following them in training.
It is good for them to come and train at a higher level in ideal conditions, and they should then seize the opportunity that is given to them. I have been very satisfied during this long break with the investment and the quality of some of the players..
Asian Cup:
Winning this wonderful tournament for the second consecutive time is a great achivement, even though Qatar and its national team were under a lot of pressure as a host country, and there is always a lot of pressure on the national team when the country organizes a competition, especially since the national team was – as I said – title holders. For the title. I followed the competition with great interest, I attended many matches in wonderful stadiums, in a pleasant and positive atmosphere, an atmosphere of peace and sport, and this was of course very enjoyable in the current context, but I also watched a competition at a high level with very organized teams and from this perspective I found the adaptation of the coach The new recruit who was appointed before the competition did very well with the team he put together
I found the team in good physical condition. They were fighters every time. Perhaps there was a team that could compete with them, but in decisive matches, in important moments, the attacking players were able to make the difference, and at the same time the goalkeeper was excellent in this competition.
I think that it is deserved. I do not know if that is logical, but it is deserved. After all the matches that I watched, I found that Qatar’s victory deserved to be crowned champions.
Our players with the national team:
For our players, I was of course focused on their participation. Al Moez Ali played a lot of matches, he was a fighter, he scored goals, he really played for the team, he was a leader and then whether it was Salah the goalkeeper or Sultan, or Ismail who was fielded regularly and Khaled played a little bit, but I was aware of everything they were doing on a daily basis with the national team and especially as I told them when they came back, they had to have fun and bring to the team the state of spirit they had during this competition as we really need to win in the upcoming matches.
Contracting with the Marseille team:
Every time the coach is changed in Marseille in recent years, my name is on the table. I grew up and formed in this club, I played in this club, and I was an assistant coach in this club as well, and every time the coach is changed, my name is there, however there was no contact with the management of Olympique Marseille, whether directly or indirectly for two very important reasons. The first is that I am contracted with Al Duhail, and this is something that I do not accept for anyone to distract me from in terms of my mental state.
The second is that I am committed until the end of the season and I have great determination to get things back on track and make the team perform better in the second part of the season.
But no one from Olympique Marseille contacted me.
What distinguishes Doha:
There are many things that caught my attention. But the most important thing is that I love human relations and I found that the people here, whether Qataris or everyone I met, were always kind to me and my family and this is the most important thing.
