In my last few months in Dubai, I’ve been observing different matches and age groups in different levels.

That created countless questions in my head.

From what I’ve been witnessing since 2015 to today what are the main differences?
What has been done in terms of player, or coach, or Club development?

Then, there was this particular match that created a kind of “Aha moment” that made me think about the teams in Dubai, that I’ve been more consistent to observe, in different age groups.

Some questions came to my mind, as:
. Should one expect the level to be greater in Dubai (or Abu Dhabi, for the matter) teams, in comparison with the other teams at less populated locations?

. And between these teams, is there any pattern?

. If so, which teams are dominating?

. Is the dominance throughout the Club or by age group?
. Are there any patterns in terms of what the Clubs are investing in (ie. Focused on different age groups; with different philosophies, one more to performance and others to development stages, etc?)
. Is there any reason why?

Naturally, my observations, as someone that isn’t involved with any specific context, or Club, cannot be completely accurate, decisive.

These observations are, as any other word you see on my texts, my observations from what I see on the field, from the teams, the behaviors from all stakeholders, from the Coaches on the bench, to the other Coaches and Directors at the stands, or even the other players or parents.

All these, merged with the experience of now having more than 30 years involved in the industry, from ex-National Youth Teams Player in Portugal, then a Professional Player in different environments and levels, to then Coach from U6 to 1st Team levels, to Technical Director, or to some kind of Scout background as well, etc.

And, finally, merging that with some data.

Thinking we understood things is one thing, but merging those opinions (sometimes biased, personal and prone to mistakes) with data, instantly provokes reassurance on our thoughts.

Therefore, I went to check the 3 main Dubai teams – Al Wasl, Shabab Al Ahli and Al Nasr – and went to see their table positions from 1st team to U12.

Just for a reference, I didn’t choose U12’s as a predictor of any performance rating system, or with the belief that at that age we should be looking at Performance more than Development.

None of that.

I just wanted to see if the patterns are there.

Just trying to understand things.

The table presented something that I wasn’t yet completely sure about, although there were some indicators of that.

For an easy understanding of this chart, the lower the line, the better, as it presents the Table Positions at each Age Group. 

Therefore, if the line is lower, it means your team is at 1st, 2nd or 3rd position, and so on.

Shabab Al Ahli (in green) presents here as a more stable team – their teams are navigating between 1st and 3rd place throughout all the age groups.

Al Wasl (in grey) navigates between 7th position (U23) and 3rd (U14), averaging at 5th.

Al Nasr (in blue) navigates between 12th position (U23) and 2nd (U15), averaging at 6th.

What can this table indicate?

Why is there such a difference from Shabab Al Ahli to the other 2 teams if the teams are less than 15 km radius between the 3 teams (probably, marginally the same distance as Benfica and Sporting, or Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid or AC Milan and Internazionale Milan or, even, the London teams – in the case of Al Nasr and Al Wasl less than 5km) ?

Why does Al Nasr have their best position in U15 and U16 teams, but then the immediate U14’s are 8th (!) ? 

Why such an immense gap?

Or, why Al Wasl isn’t really competing to win (their best position after U16’s – where performance starts to have a greater importance – is 5th with U16’s and 1st Team, then 6th with U21 and 7th with U18 and U23)?

I mean, we all know that titles in the Youth aren’t necessarily the best indicator, or predictor, for 1st Team success, but are we naive enough to think there’s no correlation whatsoever?

Or are we going to do something about it?

One special thing that is somehow embarrassing for me, when talking with people back home in Portugal is to have them constantly saying to me “It’s all the same thing as ever”, like this sleepy-state or self-indulgence is a definite state.

That feeling that there’s no search for growth and greatness.

That feeling that “it is what it is” and we are happy with that.

It’s hard for me to understand it.

Specially when we have a reference as Cristiano Ronaldo right in front of our eyes.

One of us.

And I’ve been hearing that a lot from some local stakeholders, in UAE.

It would be a shame to have the same saying about Emirati Football in 9 years time, when there’s a great opportunity to showcase local talent to the world.

Don’t get fooled by anyone – there’s talent everywhere!
There’s potential.

There’s good infrastructures (at local Clubs and even Schools).

There’s Coaching Philosophies and different influences from the best nations in the world for many years now in the country, improving the Educational System throughout from their direct impact on the players they work with, to the competitive environment created, forcing all coaches to be certified and improve levels.

Therefore, there’s no reasons why success isn’t achieved.

And success doesn’t necessarily need to be a “Cristiano Ronaldo” immediately, but targeting to be, as examples, consistent at National Team big competitions, or winning a Youth Title,  or producing talents to play abroad.

Portugal didn’t start with Cristiano Ronaldo.

Before him there was Luís Figo, Rui Costa, Paulo Sousa (currently Shabab Al Ahli’s Head Coach), or Paulo Futre, among many others.

And, naturally, after 25/30 years, now the National Team has 90% (or more) of starting line-ups with players that don’t play in Portugal.

There’s no problem with that, it means Portuguese players are recognized worldwide and play in the most important teams in the world.

Also, in Portugal, there’s almost no limits for expats playing at any level.

Question is: does it make hard for local players to have a chance to be professional? 

Yes, definitely.

But, does this system makes it more competitive, and therefore, demands more from everyone if one wants to be a professional footballer?

Yes, definitely.

On the other hand, what guarantees do we have that changing the system to protect the local players, will promote better (and hungry) players?

There’s no guarantees.

In any system.

There are options, decisions.

But I know, from what history has always told us, that we need a reference in UAE.

Someone that can break the barrier and perform in a main-show, an important League.

The rest, will follow.

I know we can’t be all Cristiano Ronaldo’s, on both technical ability and, mainly, mentality.

But do we have all to be in a self-indulgence state of “it is what it is”, as it was a definite state?

But, again, this is only my opinion.

And yours?
What’s your experience in local Football?

Let’s discuss!