We shouldn't take any more half measures: Olaroiu

Al Ahli coach Cosmin Olaroiu and player Lima speaking to the media ahead of the ACL final against Guangzhou Evergrande.

Cosmin Olaroiu insists everyone associated with UAE football here should strive to build upon some notable achievements of late as the current product presently shortchanges paying punters and players alike.
Two UAE internationals, Al Ain playmaker Omar Abdulrahman and Al Ahli striker Ahmed Khalil, were in the running to be crowned the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Player of the Year alongside Zheng Zhi, the Guangzhou Evergrande and China midfielder, last (Sunday) night.
The Red Knights were also in line to receive recognition in the AFC Club of the Year category having reached the Asian Champions League (ACL) final for the very first time in the Rashid Stadium club's history earlier this month.
Ahli's Brazilian attacking midfielder Everton Ribeiro and Mahdi Ali, the UAE national team coach, were listed among the nominees AFC Foreign Player of the Year and AFC Coach of the Year categories respectively as well at the awards ceremony in New Delhi.
Ribeiro was instrumental in the Dubai-based outfit's march to the ACL final, where they lost 1-0 on aggregate to Guangzhou and Zheng, whereas Ali masterminded the UAE's third-place finishes at the 2014 Gulf Cup of Nations and this year's AFC Asian Cup.
However, Olaroiu believes all of those accomplishments fall by the wayside back here on the domestic scene, where comparatively poor attendance figures have long been a problem and players struggle to perform for the same length of time as their continental counterparts.
"It's huge for players like Omar Abdulrahman and Ahmed Khalil to be in the running to be the best player in Asia and you cannot imagine the disappointment I felt when we didn't manage to win the Asian Champions League," Olaroiu explained.
"The problem is that all of those feats lose their value when we come back here and play 40-minute games. It was - and is - difficult for us.
"There is a huge difference (between the Arabian Gulf League/AGL and the ACL). We played for 44 minutes in our last (AGL) game against Al Shabab, whereas - in the final of the Asian Champions League - you play 60 minutes of very high-intensity football.
"From where do I get these 20 minutes for the players? How do I train them to play 20 minutes more at high intensity if they play 40 in the local league?
"When you come back, you don't feel that you have done something. This is the problem."
The regular shortcomings in the local league then have a detrimental effect on the players' performance levels when they represent the nation in Asia.
But, the supporters in the stands are left counting the cost too of time-wasting tactics amid the near-constant shrill of the match referee's whistle.
"Everything that we do is for the UAE people and football supporters here in this country. Our job is to bring these people to the stadiums," Olaroiu added.
"If you use up every second though and stop the game every time, how are you supposed to watch a 90-minute game and - of those 90 - you see 40? You'll say to yourself: 'I paid for a ticket to see 40 minutes?' We don't do anything. 
"Everything in sport is for the supporters - not for the referees, not for the players, not for the coaches - everything is done for the people to enjoy coming to the game and to take pleasure in the experience."
alex@khaleejtimes.com