Ambitious coach Marcel Keizer has marked his contract extension by sending out an ominous message that \u201cmaybe next year can be better\u201d for reigning Arabian Gulf League champions Al Jazira.
\nKeizer, 52, was rewarded last week with fresh terms up to June 2023 after he led his youthful Pride of Abu Dhabi squad to a third top-flight title. Thoughts have already turned towards how a successful first defence in the club\u2019s 47-year history can be engineered.
\n\u201cWe need some new players because if you keep it the same, maybe it\u2019s not good enough,\u201d he said to the media via video call from his native Netherlands. \u201cIt is also good to have some competition within our own team.
\n\u201cLet\u2019s see what we can do with the foreign players. We\u2019ve still not decided, of course.
\n\u201cBut we are looking at the opportunities we have to make the team better.
\n\u201cI think if we get some players in, it is good for the whole team. Because then everybody has a new challenge.
\n\u201cNow, what we did was good. But maybe next year we can be better.\u201d
\nHe added: \u201cWe won the title, but in football every season is different. We first have to see what the team looks like when we start the league.
\n\u201cCan we get more foreigners, or stay the same as last season? What about young players from the academy?
\n\u201cWe have to see, now. The opponents also, are very good clubs and teams.
\n\u201cAre they going to buy different payers? We have to see.
\n\u201cThe only thing we can do is improve our game. Our game for a long time was very good last season.
\nWe are delighted to announce that our #AGLeague title winning coach Marcel Keizer has agreed a new two-year contract \u2705#PrideOfAbuDhabi ??— Al Jazira Club (@AlJazira_uae_EN) May 29, 2021
\n\u201cBut there are still more improvements to make. This is the challenge for us next season.\u201d
\nJazira have already secured the futures of Serbia centre-back Milos Kosanovic and South Africa centre midfielder Thulani Serero. Uncertainty, however, surrounds the remainder of their four-player foreign quota.
\nNigeria forward Imoh Ezekiel only inked a one-season deal in October 2020 and Curacao winger Brandley Kuwas only joined on a short-term loan from Al Nasr in January.
\nBut all doubts about Keizer\u2019s future were erased in recent days. The coveted ex-Sporting Lisbon and Ajax boss admitted he\u2019d received overtures elsewhere with his stay, originally, set to end this summer.
\n\u201cYes, but it is not important now,\u201d he replied when asked about other offers. \u201cI am happy to stay and that is the most important now.\u201d
\nThe future, also, appears bright for Jazira. An average age of 26.8 years in 2020\/21, according to Wyscout, evidenced a team yet to hit its prime, with four players \u2013 including hat-trick-hero Ali\u00a0 Mabkhout \u2013 starting the UAE\u2019s 5-1 friendly thrashing of Jordan ahead of this week\u2019s much-delayed resumption of World Cup 2022 qualifying
\n\u201cAl Jazira is famous for our academy,\u201d Keizer stated. \u201cWhat you see now is that our team is a very good mix.
\n\u201cWe had two foreigners, then two more came in. Then, of course, Ali [Khaseif] and Ali [Mabkhout].
\n\u201cThen the young players who are already becoming experienced, because they are 21 or 22.
\n\u201cThese guys did a great job last season. They get better every year.
\n\u201cI expect them to be better next year, also. Then coming behind there is [Abdulla] Idrees at left-back, and some even younger players who can show themselves in training camp.
\n\u201cThis is very good for Al Jazira. Oumar Traore and [Mohammed] Rabii, also, there is a lot of potential at the club.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Ambitious coach Marcel Keizer has marked his contract extension by sending out an ominous message that \u201cmaybe next year can be better\u201d for reigning Arabian Gulf League champions Al Jazira.
\nKeizer, 52, was rewarded last week with fresh terms up to June 2023 after he led his youthful Pride of Abu Dhabi squad to a third top-flight title. Thoughts have already turned towards how a successful first defence in the club\u2019s 47-year history can be engineered.
\n\u201cWe need some new players because if you keep it the same, maybe it\u2019s not good enough,\u201d he said to the media via video call from his native Netherlands. \u201cIt is also good to have some competition within our own team.
\n\u201cLet\u2019s see what we can do with the foreign players. We\u2019ve still not decided, of course.
\n\u201cBut we are looking at the opportunities we have to make the team better.
\n\u201cI think if we get some players in, it is good for the whole team. Because then everybody has a new challenge.
\n\u201cNow, what we did was good. But maybe next year we can be better.\u201d
\nHe added: \u201cWe won the title, but in football every season is different. We first have to see what the team looks like when we start the league.
\n\u201cCan we get more foreigners, or stay the same as last season? What about young players from the academy?
\n\u201cWe have to see, now. The opponents also, are very good clubs and teams.
\n\u201cAre they going to buy different payers? We have to see.
\n\u201cThe only thing we can do is improve our game. Our game for a long time was very good last season.
\nWe are delighted to announce that our #AGLeague title winning coach Marcel Keizer has agreed a new two-year contract \u2705#PrideOfAbuDhabi ??\u2014 Al Jazira Club (@AlJazira_uae_EN) May 29, 2021
\n\u201cBut there are still more improvements to make. This is the challenge for us next season.\u201d
\nJazira have already secured the futures of Serbia centre-back Milos Kosanovic and South Africa centre midfielder Thulani Serero. Uncertainty, however, surrounds the remainder of their four-player foreign quota.
\nNigeria forward Imoh Ezekiel only inked a one-season deal in October 2020 and Curacao winger Brandley Kuwas only joined on a short-term loan from Al Nasr in January.
\nBut all doubts about Keizer\u2019s future were erased in recent days. The coveted ex-Sporting Lisbon and Ajax boss admitted he\u2019d received overtures elsewhere with his stay, originally, set to end this summer.
\n\u201cYes, but it is not important now,\u201d he replied when asked about other offers. \u201cI am happy to stay and that is the most important now.\u201d
\nThe future, also, appears bright for Jazira. An average age of 26.8 years in 2020\/21, according to Wyscout, evidenced a team yet to hit its prime, with four players \u2013 including hat-trick-hero Ali\u00a0 Mabkhout \u2013 starting the UAE\u2019s 5-1 friendly thrashing of Jordan ahead of this week\u2019s much-delayed resumption of World Cup 2022 qualifying
\n\u201cAl Jazira is famous for our academy,\u201d Keizer stated. \u201cWhat you see now is that our team is a very good mix.
\n\u201cWe had two foreigners, then two more came in. Then, of course, Ali [Khaseif] and Ali [Mabkhout].
\n\u201cThen the young players who are already becoming experienced, because they are 21 or 22.
\n\u201cThese guys did a great job last season. They get better every year.
\n\u201cI expect them to be better next year, also. Then coming behind there is [Abdulla] Idrees at left-back, and some even younger players who can show themselves in training camp.
\n\u201cThis is very good for Al Jazira. Oumar Traore and [Mohammed] Rabii, also, there is a lot of potential at the club.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"image","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79016"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=79016"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79016\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":79017,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79016\/revisions\/79017"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=79016"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=79016"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=79016"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}