That is part of it, but consider that a) UAE tend to have pretty ubiquitously terrible strategy without their one superstar, and b) the folks they are sending into breaks are still bad choices for their overall hopes (which still matter) and also for their 'Italian' hopes. So, if they are playing a nationalistic tone, they are still sucking at it, still losing at it, all the while eroding their GC hopes. It is like watching the Movistar show on Netflix - sometimes strategy deployment in pro racing is embarrassingly bad.
Tangent - what is up with the sh*t live coverage? Is the Giro seriously financially hurting, or is there another reason for such bad coverage?