Ivan Jovanovic has managed to get his players to play the kind of football he wants, but is guarded to talk up title chances. Satish Kumar / The National
Ivan Jovanovic has managed to get his players to play the kind of football he wants, but is guarded to talk up title chances. Satish Kumar / The National

Al Nasr start to strut under coach Ivan Ivanovic after the stutter



DUBAI // At different times during a pre-match briefing this week, Ivan Jovanovic mentioned his commitment to a certain philosophy.

“It’s very important to transfer my style to the team,” said the Serbian, who tonight could celebrate five months at Al Nasr by guiding the club to victory against Al Shabab and into second place in the Arabian Gulf League.

“It’s very important for my team to play nice, offensive football; to understand that in every game.”

His message seems to be getting through. After a difficult introduction to UAE football – Nasr were defeated in three of his opening four matches – Jovanovic has steadily begun to implement the manner and methods that convinced the club last June to appoint him as successor to Walter Zenga.

Back then, he stressed that change would be slow and, at first, even a little painful.

Yet, the coach who built his reputation across two hugely successful stints at Apoel Nicosia, the Cypriot champions, appears to be constructing a side worthy of his stature.

A team that last campaign stagnated under Zenga, following league finishes of second and third, was jolted in the summer by significant spending. Not only did Jovanovic arrive, but his squad was furnished with formidable foreign talent.

Much like the manager, new recruits in Brett Holman, an Australian with considerable European experience, Ibrahima Toure, the prolific Senegalese whose goals last season fired Monaco into Ligue 1, and Eder Luis, a crafty Brazilian forward, have taken time to find their feet, but now they have adopted a certain strut.

Jovanovic’s ideology has been fundamental to the progress. He emphasises a swift, short-passing game, inventive and incisive.

Habib Fardan, the Emirati midfielder, has been appointed both captain and chief conjurer, and his impressive start has been rewarded by a recent permanence in the national team’s starting XI.

It is thought, too, that the absence through injury of Leonardo Lima, the mercurial Brazilian, has contributed to Nasr’s fresh look. Individualism has given way to the cooperative.

Ball retention is essential, for it preserves energy levels, while depleting opponents’ own. That much was evident in October’s key victory against Baniyas, when Nasr clinched the points in the dying moments.

From there, they have suffered defeat only once, away at defending champions Al Ain.

Clearly, Jovanovic is having the desired effect. The uncertainty that accompanied his first few months in charge has been replaced by conviction.

“We’re always trying to play our style, whether it’s against a top team or a smaller team,” said Rashid Malallah, the defender. “We’re doing on the pitch what the coach is requesting us to do.”

A continuation this evening and Nasr could climb alongside Shabab in second place, four points behind Al Ahli, the early pacesetters in the league.

The Al Maktoum Stadium club come into the match high on confidence, thanks to last week’s 6-1 thrashing of Al Wasl.

It seems fanciful to propose that a first top-flight title in 27 years is a possibility, but if they maintain this upward trajectory, Nasr can rightfully start to focus on the summit.

For now, though, Jovanovic is eager to keep expectations at base level.

“Of course, we have improved our game, that’s obvious,” he said. “But in football, if you believe you have reached your maximum, then you start to suffer. It was difficult for me when I came here to speak of high targets, because I didn’t know the championship or the team. And I don’t think now we’ve had three or four good results that we can talk of big targets.

“I’m very happy with the way my players understand football, how we work in games and in training, and how we improve. But we’ve only played nine games and still have many to come.

“Until now, we haven’t done anything.”

Given this new-look Nasr, however, that may not be strictly true.

jmcauley@thenational.ae

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