Every word from Marcel Keizer Press Conference
Abu Dhabi: Sep. 16, 2021
Al Jazira manager Marcel Keizer and midfielder Yousef Ayman spoke to the media on the eve of our return to action in the ADNOC Pro League.
The pair answered journalists' questions at the pre-match press conference in the Emirates Palace, and the coach spoke highly about Friday's opposition, his own players, and the critics aimed towards Ali Mabkhout for not scoring goals in the last three league games.
Here is every word from Marcel and Yousef
Emirates FC
“Emirates did well in the last season and they deserved to qualify to the Pro League, and they are playing good in this season despite the current run of negative results. They created good chances in their last game against Al Dhafra and scored a late equalizer to win a deserved point from that game. Their squad is good and they play with good organization, but we will look only at ourselves and continue to build on the good performance from our last game against Al Nasr. We have confidence in ourselves and we believe in our chances to win Friday game, but we will respect Emirates and all the opponents we will face in the league and other competitions”.
“I can’t tell if Emirates will make any surprising changes in their lineup or their playing style. They deserve more points because they are playing really well and we will show them the respect they deserve, but we will focus only on preparing ourselves for this game in the best possible way. Surprises will always happen in our league, and we saw how Orooba got away with one point from Shabab Al Ahli in the last week, so we will have to prepare ourselves to deal with anything that might happen during the games”.
“We are not missing any player, but we are still having the same problem from last week about the players who are not fit enough yet to play 90 minutes”.
Competition for the Title
“I think every season is different than the previous one, and I will not look at the other teams, I will focus only on my team now because I know we are still not performing on 100% from our usual capabilities. We are making progress, and I liked what I saw from my players last week against Al Nasr, and we will have to continue like this”.
Criticism towards Ali Mabkhout
“I can’t understand the criticism toward Ali Mabkhout. He is the best forward in the country, he scored 77 goals for the national team, and he created many chances for his teammates during the last three league games. He is playing very well and we will see what will happen this weekend against Emirates”.
Yousef Ayman
“We respect Emirates and all the opponents we will face regardless of their position in the league standing. We only focus on ourselves and we are always thinking about giving our best in every match and every training session. Our aim is win each and point we play for, and this rule will not change on Friday against Emirates FC”.
“We are not missing any player, but we are still having the same problem from last week about the players who are not fit enough yet to play 90 minutes”.
