Jens Fissing after Al-Ittihad’s loss to Al Ain: We are not the team we aspire to be, and I will defend the players

Al-Ittihad coach Jens Fissing took responsibility for his team’s 4-1 defeat to the UAE’s Al Ain in the fourth round of the AFC Champions League Elite. He said Al-Ittihad had not performed at the required level mentally, physically or technically, and that fatigue and mistakes had contributed to the opposition’s superiority.

Fissing explained that Al-Ittihad started both halves well but failed to turn its positive spells into goals, while Al Ain punished its mistakes. After reducing the deficit, the team regained some confidence but conceded another goal. He noted that assessing the defeat was not just a matter of tactics, but also involved handling the details of the match and individual and collective errors.

The coach said Al Ain had spent a week preparing for the match, compared with three days for Al-Ittihad, adding that his team had played 18 matches since he arrived. He said managing workload, recuperation and recovery were areas that needed attention, while stressing that the fixture congestion did not excuse the team from working to improve its readiness.

Fissing added that Al-Ittihad was still at the beginning of its development, and that building the team the club and its fans aspire to would take time and would not happen immediately. He said he was satisfied with the players and stood by them, noting that they were continually working to improve. He cautioned against judging them on the basis of one defeat, after they had shown fighting spirit in previous matches, including the game against Neftchi.