LONDON (Reuters) - The national football team has long been unstable in the squad, casting a shadow over the disappointing results of Dutch coach Bert van Marwijk, who was sacked on Monday by the Football Association. Negative results began from the time Marvik took over in March until the early exit of the 24th Gulf Cup. Al-Abyad failed under him in the first half of the joint 2022 World Cup and Asian 2023 qualifiers, as well as farewell from the first round of the Gulf Cup. Unlike the previous period of Italian coach Alberto Zaccheroni, in which the defense was the only strength of the team, the situation with Marvik has changed completely, so that the defense became a prominent weakness.
This was the result of Marvik's reliance on inexperienced back-line elements, as well as the constant change in this aspect, as the defense elements changed five times in the seven official games of Marvik, except for only two elements present in all games:
Khalifa Al Hammadi and Mohammed Barghash are in the starting line-up. Stability has shown little change in defense and goalkeeping in only two matches against Malaysia and Indonesia.
Al-Abyad's goal against Marvik in the official matches was 10 goals in seven games. He won the World Cup qualifiers against Malaysia 2-1, then Indonesia 5-0, lost 1-2 from Thailand, and lost 1-0 from Vietnam. Gulf 24 »Beat Yemen 3 - zero, lost from Iraq 0 - 2, and Qatar 4-2. Marvik sought to create a homogeneity and said he wanted to give a new generation a chance, but as the match progressed, the team's results worsened further. The former coach, Dr. Abdullah Mesfer, that «white» suffers heavily, especially at the level of the defense system, pointing out that there is a lack of clarity in the vision on the team in general, and that there is more than a question mark in this regard, saying that any changes, whether in The line of defense or other, will have negative effects, which causes a lack of homogeneity and understanding between the players, especially in the line of defense.
He told Emirates Today: "There is a certain confusion in the process of getting players into the team, and I estimate that things are not clear in terms of the goal of the participation of some of them, as the quality of the games played by the team and the goal is to determine the quality and specifications of those selected." Mesfer demanded not to rush to pay some young players lack of experience, and demanded that there will be a gradual in return in the process of giving them the experience in partnership with «white», and choose the right time to do so. Mesfer said that there are players in the defense line of the team, and although they are considered good talents and awaits a great future, they suffer from the lack of experience necessary to play big games, such as defender Khalifa Al Hammadi and Mohammed Al Attas, pointing out that the lack of experience in the defense team made the goal vulnerable to enter the goals Many, besides the negative impact even on the front line.
It is noteworthy that the team occupies the fourth place in the qualifiers of the 2022 World Cup, and now has to win all its matches in the second leg, which starts next March, in order to maintain his chance to qualify to the last stage, as farewell «Gulf 24», although he The previous runners-up, won the title twice before.
Changes to the starting line-up:
Malaysia match: goalkeeper Khaled Issa, Khalifa Al Hammadi, Waleed Abbas, Mohammed Al Attas and Mohammed Barghash.
Indonesia: He played in the same squad as Malaysia.
Thailand match: goalkeeper Khalid Issa, Khalifa Al Hammadi, Al Hassan Saleh, Mohammed Al Attas and Mohammed Barghash (Al Hassan Saleh first substituted for Waleed Abbas)
Vietnam match: goalkeeper Khaled Issa, Khalifa Al Hammadi, Walid Abbas and Mohammed Barghash, and Youssef Jaber debuted in place of Hassan Saleh.
Yemen match: The team started its career in the «Gulf 24» defense consisting of goalkeeper Mohammed Al Shamsi, Khalifa Al Hammadi, Hamdan Al Kamali, Yousef Jaber and Mohammed Barghash.
Iraq meeting: Hamdan Kamali missed the injury, and pushed Marvik Mohammed Marzouk, along with goalkeeper Mohammed Al Shamsi, Khalifa Al Hammadi, Yousef Jaber and Mohammed Barghash.
Match Qatar: Al-Hassan Saleh returned to replace Yousef Jaber, along with goalkeeper Mohammed Al Shamsi, Khalifa Al Hammadi, Mohammed Marzouk and Mohammed Barghash.