Season to forget for Al Arabi

Al Arabi is next side under the spotlight as we look at the Dream Teams campaign in the this years edition of the Qatar Stars League.  The 2016/2017 season will be one to forget for fans of the Dream Team, who after a busy summer looked set to push on for a top four finish in the league. However three coaches later and patchy form in the league left the former QSL champions in the lower reaches of the standings.

The season started with much hope for the Dream Team, with the club making a splash in the summer transfer window signing big names such as Chilean midfielder Luis Jiménez and defender Moustapha Sall. The club also started with a new coach with Uruguayan tactician Gerardo Pelusso taking over the club.

Just five games into the season, Pelusso were dismissed following two wins and three defeats in the league.  Al Arabi turned to Brazilian coach Edison Aguirre who managed to stop the rot of five straight defeats in the league with narrow victories over fellow strugglers Al Khor and Al Shahania.

Come January, Arabi made another managerial change hiring former fitness coach Oswaldo Olivera to lead the side. The former Santos coach picked up the fortunes of the side again, to date picking up eleven points from his eight matches in charge. This included an impressive 3-1 victory over Al Wakrah which was one of the rare occasions that Al Arabi showed a glimpse of their potential.




However for every impressive result, there was an equally poor one from Al Arabi this campaign. That came against bitter rivals Al Sadd in round 21, with a humulating 7-0 defeat. The side looked bereft of ideas and failed to turn up against the Wolves who were locked in a battle for the QSL Falcon shield.

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​The Dream team assured of their league status in the QSL with a number of weeks to spare, despite having a shaky start to the campaign. Whilst in the close season they have already lost club captain Boualem Khoukhi who has signed a two year deal with Al Sadd. The Arabi management has a difficult summer ahead as they look to rebuild the fortunes of the Dream Team.