Badry, Referees and Zamalek

Last Thursday I watched Ahly take on Enppi in the Egyptian Premier League. Ahly managed to scrape a 2-1 win putting them 6 points clear at the top from second placed Zamalek with a game in hand. Ahly played extremely poorly and if not for a number of refereeing errors would have easily lost the match. Enppi scored 2 goals which were incorrectly disallowed for offside, but more on that later. The performance in itself was horrendous.

Not for the first time this season and especially in the second round of the competition Ahly has played aimlessly and extremely poorly. Hossam El Badry is yet to realize his starting eleven (or more accurately 13). The coach has changed around players and has rarely started with the same players for two games back to back. Some coaches do this to rest players and for squad rotation (Rafa Benitez comes to mind) but when you are leading the league and putting on OK performances why the confusion? Tactically we seem lacking too but this is not what I want to talk about today. I was always a bit critical of Badry, but was behind him as a new coach and for leading the team to top the league. After Thursday's game I have lost all respect for this man and I want to see him sacked sooner rather than later regardless of winning or losing the league! I have never seen watching football (and I watch my fair share of game:D) a manager react the way Badry did towards his players on every mistake or missed opportunity. The coach was swearing and shouting and waving his arms all through the game in disgust. The way he reacted after conceding the first goal was shocking to me. Slurring out words of disgust and looks of contempt. He even decided to swear at one of his strikers after missing a chance!! What kind of message does this send to the team and the fans? For starters he is the one who selected and trained these players. he has put them in the starting eleven. The way they play is first and foremost his responsibility and if it happens that certain individuals play poorly that's what you have the changing room for! Give them the hairdryer treatment in private. Players are human beings, if you insult them in public how the hell do you expect them to play for you?? Or was he just putting on a show for us viewers and off course his bosses too? Was he trying to tell us that this was not his fault by showing us that he wasn't OK with the performance? No matter what his reasons were for doing this , it is unacceptable. Being and Ahly fan all my life I take offense to what Hossam El Badry did. When you verbally insult your player you are actually insulting every fan and insulting the club itself! What he did during the game is just as equivalent as throwing your teams shirt on the floor after being substituted, remember what the board did to Hossam Hassan when he did this?

The fans started cheering to lift up the team after conceding the first goal against Enppi, they could see it was a horrendous defensive mistake yet they didn't care they got behind their team. What did the coach do? he abused his players. If Ahly management had some guts this man should be sacked out of respect for the players and the fans a like.

Refereeing has been a huge issue in Egypt the past couple of weeks or so. Things boiled over after the Ahly/Enppi game when the latter had 2 good goals disallowed. The thing is the referees are indeed making a lot of mistakes, but frankly this has been going on for years and years in Egypt. Overall though I think things have improved, they might be having more impact on games because they are making decisions. They are getting more involved, penalties, red cards and so on. Years back they usually did nothing, they would not dare give penalties in crucial matches or red cards, they wanted everything to just go smoothly. I remember Gamal El Ghandour (arguably Egypt's best ever referee) when he used to be in charge of Ahly/Zamalek derby games they always finished 0-0. He would blow for every single contact and their was never ever controversy because he never let the game flow to start with. One thing that has never changed for ages is that referees continue to favor both Ahly and Zamalek against lesser opposition. Alaa Sadek pointed this out and he was dead on. I would go a bit more and say that even in other games they tend to favor the more powerful club, this is unacceptable! Moreover they are the kind of referees who see how the game is going and base decisions on that, something must be done about this!

What is insane though is that the Zamalek board have the audacity to publish a formal letter on their official website saying that Egyptian referees favor Ahly and want to give them the league. Are they blind or do they just want to stir up feelings of injustice. I think Mamdouh Abass and co know very well that winning the league this season would be a miracle, even with Badry coaching Ahly, and they thought they might as well prepare excuses. Frankly they are either blind or clueless to attempt such an argument. I urge Zamalek fans not to fall for this hoax. Refereeing in Egypt favors both Ahly and Zamalek. Does everyone here have that short of a memory? A clear offside versus Arab Contractors at the end of the game gave Zamalek 3 points, no? Ismaily scored a clear goal against Zamalek that was given as a foul for no reason what so ever! The list goes on. Yeah the Zamalek board wanted to replay or worse get 3 points over Harass Al Hodod when they were beaten fair and square, over a technical error that had nothing to do with Harass. If anyone has a right to feel aggrieved it's teams like Ismaily, Enppi, Petrojet who have an actual chance to compete for the title if refs were fair. Also teams struggling for survival who lost points due to such bias. Wake up and smell the roses!

Badry vs Leonardo

For non Egyptian readers Hossam El Badry is the coach of the most successful club in Africa and Egypt, Ahly, my team. Leonardo is an ex Brazilian international who inherited the AC Milan squad in the post Kaka' era. Both men are on their first job as the number one man, their situation carries both common factors and huge difference.

Badry was given the job of managing Egyptian champions Ahly after the board parted ways with legendary coach Manuel Jose. He was Jose's second man for many years and became the first Egyptian coach of the club for a very long time. He had a lot of shoes to fill but he had the champions that boasted a lot of internationals and stars of the Egypt National team. Players like Abu Trieka, Meteb, Gomaa, Fathi, Ahmed Hassan, Moawad and Barakat. Most of these players are on the wrong side of thirty but still showed a lot of hunger. Badry was not building a new team or resurrecting a wounded giant (like Hossam Hassan is doing managing Zamalek). However the local media as always would like to make us think that Badry is tackling an impossible mission with Ahly. They insist that the team needs a major overhaul just because we won the league on the final day of the season. The media here is always behind the local coach. Ahly just drew their latest game after throwing a 2-0 half time advantage due to tactical errors from the coach, who does the media blame? The keeper! Badry has just won 1 game from the last 4 in the second round of the league. Something is wrong and he should not be commended for tackling the impossible because frankly it's not that hard.

Leonardo on the other hand is man thrown straight into the fire. Milan have not won a Scudetto for a very long time and lost their main star in Kaka' to Real Madrid in the summer. Most of the team is past their prime, wrong side of 30 and 35. Plus the management says it does not have enough money to spend. So basically Milan looks in trouble. Prior to the start of the season I thought a UEFA qualification would be an achievement. Leonardo has never had a managerial role before and was still studying for his coaching certificate after his appointment. He had several roles in AC Milan from head scout to Sporting Director. Experience was not on his side. Leonardo was tackling the impossible and not Badry. He had a battered and old squad, no money and no experience. Not to mention media attacks on him.

Badry has changed Ahly's style of play from 3-5-2 to a narrow 4-4-4 (or 4-5-1). He was mostly successful and come mid way through the league he was leading the table. Mind you Ahly's performances left a lot to be desired but we were doing enough to stay ahead of the competition. Ahly had a lot of injuries to deal with and so was forced to field many youth players. Too many though if you ask me. Championship teams give 2-3 youth a chance per season and they don't play them every game. Look at Manchester United. Badry had a chance in the transfer market but bought poorly. Dipping into the market to get players like striker Moudi Fadl who frankly is not up to par. He also bought Ekramy the keeper just as his young goalie was coming into his own. Now he is second choice! He managed though to unearth some good talents while injuries

were a problem none more so than Attacking midfielder Shokry who is a brilliant talent. It worked well for Ahly and the youth performed well. Problems started to arise once the veterans started recovering from injury. All coaches would be happy with that, Badry seemed confused and unsure. In the last 4 games or so he has consistently changed around 5 players from the starting line up each game. Two Sets of Strikers in 2 consecutive games. Then a mixture of the 2 sets, then one striker. Shokry was suddenly benched, Shebeta his favorite was now on the fringes and it seems he has no position for Abdallah Farouk and plays him everywhere just for the sake of playing him. He is too chicken to substitute Ahmed Hassan after the nations cup and suddenly Afroto plays one good game and so he is a must play. Jose never gave a chance to any youths but Badry has turned us into an elementary school. You don't experiment half way thought the season with a championship team. You have your starters and incorporate a few numbers of youth and reserves accordingly. Badry is no longer doing a good job and I guess the Africa Cup of Nations break gave him too much time on his hands. He should be criticized and frankly he did not inherit a difficult task, he made it difficult.

Leonardo knew what was required from his employers. They wanted Milan to play exciting football and Leo responded. He changed the whole look of Milan. He incorporated a 4-3-3 with Ronaldinho on one side Pato on the other and Boriello as a target man. He managed to invigorate Ronaldinho into the player he once was. He has a hunger to him that has been absent for the last 3 years. He has found his touch back and some of his blistering pace in the final third. Ronnie has contributed around 20 assists this season. Leo has instilled confidence in Borriello and he became prolific and integral to Milan's efforts. Ancelotti was always complaining that Borriello was injured and I thought why is crying about an unknown. This season I know why. Borriello scored fantastic goals; he has a sweet touch and is physically strong to bang around in the penalty area. Leonardo has kept the core of the team intact. Only a few new faces are involved. Thiago Silva who has become indispensible, Abbati on occasion, Huntelaar who although rarely starts has scored 6 goals and is always eager for more and Antonini. The rest of the old guard is still there but you would not be able to tell. Ambrosini, Nesta, Pirlo, Gattuso, Seedorf to name a few. Leo has mixed it up perfectly and excited his players to play for him. Yet he is still getting the stick by the media and his employers but as a true professional he continues to work in silence. Yesterday AC Milan managed to beat Fiorentina and go second in Serie A with only 4 points behind Inter, who would have though. Don't be surprised if Milan pulls out the impossible at Old Trafford. Leonardo has shown how to turn the impossible into the possible. Mr. Badry can learn a thing or two about having your back to the wall. He has lived in an illusion created by the media until it had become a reality. He better snap out of it or else Ahly will throw away the league.

Badry for Badry

Call me pessimistic, call me anti-Egyptian coaching (3o2dt el khawagah), call me whatever. I just don't feel Ahly are up to par this season. We have not been dominant even in games we won and for the first time in years I sometimes have no idea where the goal is going to come from. Hossam El Badry the current coach is doing a bare minimum job getting by. How can I say that? Ahly are on top of the Egyptian league with 4 clear points. We are undefeated in the league and we are playing the magical 4-4-2 formation. We can't really ask for more with all the injuries we have in our squad. I disagree.

Ahly is not your regular club and since it's creation 100 or so years ago fans are always expecting the club to win. I do not think there is any other team in the world who is more dominant domestically and at the same time acquiring continental success. In the last 5 years under Manuel Jose and due to the mediocre form of arch rivals Zamalek, Ahly has become even more in control. You don't believe me? Just take a look at how Zamalek fans were celebrating a draw versus Ahly. Look at how coaches alter their tactics drastically when facing Ahly. In the past they had a right to be weary, not anymore. Frankly then, topping the league is not really an achievement, it is expected. Add to that the fact that Zamalek are in shambles and Ismaily as always have a slow start and a lot of financial problems and it seems to be a must for Ahly to be on top.

As for the injuries to Barakat and Trieka off course they have an impact. They are 2 world class players, however lets not put things out of perspective. For the last 2 years these two have been in and out of injury all season long especially Barakat and Ahly continued to deliver consistently with and with out them (albeit the end of last season where we looked overexerted). This is not Badry's problem, the injury's were always going to come (both Jose and Shehata had overused some of these injured players mainly Trieka) however it is starting to become a broken record. You cannot blame everything on injuries. Badry to his credit has incorporated some youth players, more of necessity that strategy, and it seems he has hit the jack pot. Players like Shokry, Shehab, Shebeta and Farouk have a bright future ahead of them and Ahly would do good to keep hold of them. Shokry in particular in my opinion has the makings of a true star.

As for the mystical 4-4-2 formation. Come on, this urban legend should be put to rest. It is not that Egyptian players cannot play 4-4-2, it is their coaches that can't make them play it. They are too scared of the repercussions (non so than Mr. Shehata how plays all friendlies using no sweeper but not competitive games). Think I'm wrong? Look no further than Tarek El Ashry's Haras Al Hodood. They have been playing 4-4-2 for years to devastating effects. As a virtually new team they have managed an Egyptian Cup win and a Super Cup win against Badry's Ahly. Ashry on two occasions taught Badry a lesson or two on how to incorporate 4-4-2 to good use. Zamalek got taught a lesson too. It is a joy watching the movement of the Harass players on the break. They counter instinctively, their movements are built in. Why Harass Al Hodood are performing poorly against weaker opposition is strange but one would think that dressing room unrest coming from a lot of contract and transfer rumors are a contributor. Arab Contractors too use the same formation. Ahly have played numerous times under Jose using 4-4-2 in trying to push forward for draws or wins, so the know how is there and Badry knows it. He does have guts that are lacking in many other coaches. He incorporated it and stuck with it but frankly it is no rocket science.

Ahly's performances under Badry have left a lot to be desired. In the last 5 games we have been an eye soar to watch. Against the Arab Contractors we were dominated for the whole game and our keeper Adel Abdel Moniem had repeatedly kept us in the game (He is showing true potential and continues to grow in stature. Why did we buy Ekramy?) Not to mention how the Contractor's attackers we missing chance after chance. We came up 2-0 winners but the performance should have been a warning for things to come. We then drew with Ettihad 1-1 in a 50-50 game which could have gone either way. We looked good going forward but were ripped to shreds at the back mainly due to the inability of Ahmed Aly to do any defensive work. How I miss Sedeeq. Against Zamalek we were controlled for most of the first half but came on strongly the second. We had most of the play but we created very little. The two best chances of the game fell to Mido how missed on both occasions with the goal at his mercy. It is a shame looking at him play now. Again against Ismaily it was the same but a bit better since they were down to 10men for most of the second half. 3 draws on the trot for Ahly and I couldn't remember when was the last time that happened. Against newly promoted Gouna we were poor for the whole game. Again we created very little and it seemed there was no way were going to score. We did via Forkey with the help of some shocking defending. Gouna pressed forward towards the end and Ahly were restricted to zonal defending. They were unlucky not to get a point. Things need to change. Ahly's Coach is lucky he is not competing in the African Champions League as such results would be very damaging and would get fans on his back.

Hossam El Badry is not bad. Most of the time Ahly play better in the second half showing that he has some sort of positive input. He should focus more on creating chances and opening up opposition instead of blaming injuries. Yesterday I heard him say that Ahly players expense a lot of energy because teams defend when they come to play us. News flash Mr. Badry that's how it is and how it's been for 100 years, deal with it. The CAN 2010 in Angola gives Badry some time to re-arrange his cards and heal his wounded. I hope it is put to good use