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Olaroiu hits out at sporadic scheduling of fixtures

Cosmin Olaroiu insists his Al Ain side’s chances of sealing a record 10th top-flight title are being undermined by the sporadic scheduling of fixtures in this season’s run-in.

The champions elect saw their 10-point cushion at the summit cut down to eight on Saturday evening, with a 2-2 draw at Al Wasl coinciding with second-placed Al Jazira’s 2-0 home victory over Al Shabab on Friday night.

Last weekend’s stalemate at Zabeel Stadium was the first time this month Al Ain have been on domestic duty, while they performed thrice in January and March and only twice in February.

In total, Al Ain have played just nine league games in 107 days since the turn of the year, whereas they’d previously crammed five matches across 26 days (4^th to 30^th) in December alone.

It’s that alarming discrepancy that is a clear cause for concern for Al Ain’s Romanian coach, who firmly believes the biggest threat to their championship aspirations could be themselves in such circumstances.

“It’s difficult because we play every two weeks and – in terms of our programme – if we’re only in training, it makes it a little bit hard for us,” the former central defender, 42, said.

“It will not be easy. It’s difficult for us to maintain the concentration and the motivation.

“Now, we have two weeks of training and we play the next game after two weeks.

“Training only is not easy. In December and January, we played eight games in eight weeks and now we play one game every two weeks, three weeks or one month.

“For us, it’s better if we play every week. This is a problem we have to deal with.

“Tell me what am I going to tell the players when they have a 10-point lead and they think they’re going to win the league in two weeks’ time? How can I keep them concentrated?

“We have to play – it’s important. If the game comes quickly, they then realise they’re under pressure.

“But, now, our most dangerous enemy is ourselves, with our team and players losing concentration and taking the game or the training easy.

“I’m telling them all the time: ‘It’s not finished. You have to: concentrate; be prepared; ready and keep working in the same way.’”

Meanwhile, Olaroiu blamed himself for his team’s inability to strength even further their vice-like grip on the plate.

“We made some mistakes, especially me – I made a mistake,” he admitted.

“I was thinking of playing in a different way and I chose to play like this instead. Now – after the game – it’s easy.

“But, it’s good to see this and know exactly for the future what we’re going to have to do.”

alex@khaleejtimes.com