Al Duhail Football Team French Head Coach Christophe Galtier expressed his sadness over losing points in today’s game to Al Khor in Round 11 of the Ooredoo Stars League and the team’s loss.
Galtier told the club official website after the match: The match was a great opportunity to increase the gap with our direct competitors for the top of the table, but it seems that my warnings to the players were not taken seriously as they should have been.
Galtier continued: I warned the players about the importance of this match as it was the last match of the first leg. I also stressed the need not to look at the difference in the standings between both teams. Such matches can be deceptive, and it was necessary for us to deal with them with great seriousness. Unfortunately, we entered the match in the worst possible way.
He added: I was very disappointed by the lack of commitment and seriousness among the players. We were justly punished for that because we did not respect the playing areas and lacked the organization that we are usually known for. What happened in the first half does not reflect the team level at all.
He continued: Despite the relative improvement in performance in the second half, the team could not equalize, and on the contrary, we conceded a second goal quickly, which made things more difficult. We then managed to reduce the score and got a penalty opportunity, but we missed it. We cannot stand in front of this missed opportunity because the real problem was generally in the team level and what we failed to accomplish on the field.
Then he added: Our defeats this season have come against teams that have not achieved any victories before facing us, and of course this shows the lack of seriousness and commitment in dealing with this type of games. There is a necessary need to reconsider our collective style of play and the way we deal with all matches.”
Galtier concluded: We lacked seriousness and commitment, especially in the first half, despite the improvement in performance in the second half, but that was not enough. This defeat is entirely our fault.
