DUBAI // Al Wasl officials said they will provide Jorginho, their new coach, sufficient time to change the club's fortunes while also warning that his fate ultimately will depend on results.
The seven-time UAE champions have endured another hugely disappointing season and find themselves 12th in the 14-club Arabian Gulf League, seven points above relegation with three matches remaining.
The continued slump prompted significant change at both the coaching and boardroom levels, with Jorginho becoming the fourth manager to guide the club since last summer.
He replaces Hector Cuper, the Argentine, dismissed last month after taking the reins in November.
Jorginho, who assumes control of the squad when his one-year contract commences in June, is the first major appointment made by Wasl’s new board.
Led by Rashid Belhoul, the chairman who oversaw a highly successful period between 2003 and 2009, the club’s technical committee identified Jorginho as the ideal man to lift the team from their malaise.
A World Cup winner with Brazil in 1994, Jorginho has coached several clubs in his homeland and also spent a largely impressive year in 2012 in Japan with Kashima Antlers.
Wasl made a shortlist of potential candidates, but say they were quickly won over by Jorginho’s immediate knowledge of the club.
“He has a lot of attributes, but the main one is that he knows each and every single thing about the team,” Majed Abdullah, the Wasl team manager, said. “When we first sat with him, he knew almost 90 per cent of the team already, players’ strengths and weaknesses.
“This gave us the feeling that he was the right coach for us, because even before we had signed anything with him, he was very focused and very curious to know everything about the club. So the first picture we have is that he’s a hard worker, a very good coach on the pitch. And this is what we need.”
Abdullah said the club would wait until the conclusion of the 2013/14 campaign before they agree on this summer’s transfer strategy.
Wasl’s foreign contingent includes Mariano Donda, Ricardo Oliveira, Emmanuel Culio and Edson Puch. No decision has been made as to who will be retained.
Abdullah stressed the importance of unearthing local talent, too.
“We don’t want to be in a hurry,” he said.
“You can easily bring in other foreign players, but in the end, they don’t give you what exactly you expected from them.
“We are looking to wait, take a deep breath after finishing the season, and then see exactly what the situation is and what specific positions the coach needs to fill.”
Wasl have not lifted any silverware since the league and cup double in 2006/07.
Since then, 12 managers have failed to add to Wasl’s wealth of titles; the club hope Jorginho will not be unlucky No 13.
“At the end of the day, results control everything,” Abdullah said. “If you’re not getting good results, then definitely action will be taken. But, inshallah, everything will progress very well.
“We are really putting a strategy in place where we need the new coach to be with us a long time. I know we have a very hard path ahead, but we have to see what we want and then prepare to take Al Wasl to at least the top four.
“This is the spirit of 2006/07. We will try to bring it back and to go forward again.”
jmcauley@thenational.ae
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