Alfa Semedo adapting to managerial changes as he recalls hectic 12 months at Al-Tai

Alfa Semedo is not used to watching from the sidelines.

But a straight red card against Al-Ahli a few weeks ago means Al-Tai’s midfielder has missed his team’s much-needed 1-0 victory over Al-Abha and last weekend’s 1-1 draw with Al-Hazm.

They are rare absences for Semedo, who played 28 of a possible 29 games for Al-Tai last season after moving from Portuguese side Vitoria Guimaraes.

The Guinea-Bissau international, who has played in the UEFA Champions League for Benfica and in the English Championship for Nottingham Forest and Reading, has become a valued presence in Al-Tai’s midfield.

He has impressively maintained that role despite playing for four different head coaches in less than 12 months. Semedo’s experience of the Al-Tai managerial merry-go-round began last summer with Pepa, the Portuguese coach for whom Semedo had previously played at Vitoria.

Pepa was replaced in January by Romanian Mirel Radoi, who lasted just four months. Jose Pedro Barreto then took caretaker charge at the end of the 2022-23 season, with Croatian Kresimir Rezic currently at the helm after arriving from Damac.

“It is always challenging when you work with someone you know really well, and then he goes,” Semedo told Arab News. “You feel sad but this is football. We have friends and teammates that come and go always so we must be ready for anything.

“In football you just have to look the other way and keep going because if the coach leaves and you stop doing your thing, you stop playing well, you stop performing, you will lose your place in the team. That’s it. It’s football.”

Rezic has brought yet another new approach to Al-Tai but Semedo insists it is up to the players to fit into his system.

“It can be difficult because a new