Ferreira: The break will help to get fully ready
Ferreira: The break will help to get fully ready
07 Jan 2016
Al-Sadd coach Jesualdo Ferreira has spoken of his objectives during the ongoing league break which will last until the Qatar Super Cup match against Lekhwiya on the 21st of January.
Ferreira made it clear that the break will be a good opportunity for him and the team to get to know the full potential of the abilities of the players and to correct mistakes which occurred in the past few weeks. He said he will try to make the most out of the break before returning to action in the Super Cup and the resumption of the league.
The Portuguese coach also said that the upcoming period will be very important for the players to improve on their fitness and also focus on lifting their levels of performance on all levels, especially as the team has different challenges lying ahead of it, both at home and in Asia. He expressed his hope that the players reach full readiness as the team has excellent players.
Ferreira added that the team is suffering from the absence of many players, including injured ones and those who are away with the Qatar Olympic team. He said this is preventing the team from achieving a level of complete harmony and balance before the return to action.
The Wolves head coach also said in his exclusive chat to the Al-Sadd website that every coach has his own style of work and that he is still in a stage of discovering and learning new things about the team, as he was under the pressure of a hectic period of matches lately in addition to the call-up of the Olympic team players. He said that the team needs some more time.
He added: “I had 5 matches with the team until now but it is not enough to know the full potential of my players. The team has won two matches, lost twice and drew once against Umm Salal. The team also managed to put up a good performance despite missing many players but the loss against El Jaish was the most difficult as they were not in their best conditions.”
On a related note, Ferreira said that it is still early to decide on a starting XI in light of the absentees and the injuries. “These are situations we have to get used to and we have to make use of all players. There is no player who has a reserved spot in the team just because of his name. Things will be decided according to the work on the pitch and the execution of orders.” He said that he always tries during the meetings with the players to focus on the importance of having high spirits in competing with each other as it is an important cause of achieving success.
He added: “I seek to lead the team to titles especially with the excellent group of players we have, be it old or the young ones who we tried out in the past few matches who performed well. We expect them to improve further in the coming matches.”
And as for the Qatar Super Cup match against Lekhwiya, Ferreira said: “It is an important title for us and I, as a coach, will seek to win it as I always want to win titles. I hope the players have the same desire to win it.”
With regards to the AFC Champions League playoff against Al-Jazira, Ferreira said: “It will be a difficult match at the home of Al-Jazira, who will have a great opportunity. But we will seek to overcome this obstacle and reach the group stages.” He added that he completely disagrees with this current system of the playoff which favours one team over the other.
The coach also said: “The league break is very important for us to have all the players to reach full readiness before the action resumes. All I hope for us the return of the injured players and the Olympic team players so that the team numbers are full again and we become ready as a single group.”
As for the participation of Qatar Olympic team in the Asian U23 Championship, Ferreira said: “I do not know about the level of the teams participating in ti, but I wish best of luck to the Qatari team. I also hope that the Al-Sadd players perform well and return to the club having benefitted from the experience.”
Ferreira concluded his talk saying: “We are training with all seriousness and the players are responding well to every exercise with great determination. We will play a friendly match against Al-Taawon on the 15th of January in order to prepare the team for the Super Cup match against Lekhwiya.”