Gernot Rohr must look pretty stupid now. Changing to a more attacking approach for once got us 7 goals against the same team that held off Espérance to a 2-2 draw and beat Club Africain 3-1. Meriah was left out (much to my liking), making way for the more ambitious Mosrati. Slim Jedaied was on a good day, and I’m sure there’s more to expect from this youngster if he is given a proper chance.

The lesson we can take is that Étoile always has been an attacking team. Playing with 3 defensive midfielders never was our way of doing things. It’s become clear now that Gernot Rohr didn’t quite realize how much potential this squad has once you make a good use of the talent. But his odd choices and far too prudent approach will be the main regret of this season. I hope we can get rid of him after the return leg against Al Ahly of Tripoli, and put somebody with a strong personality and a better knowledge of the tunisian and african football scenes in charge.

Whereas the title is out of reach for Étoile, the second spot – which would take us to the Africain Champions League – is still up for grabs. It would require a victory in Tunis and a Club Africain defeat to the now almost certainly relegated Jendouba Sports. In other words, it’s even more difficult than winning the league was 2 weeks ago. But this is football, and you never know what could happen. One thing is certain : We’re not letting Espérance have it !

Here’s the probable starting XI :

Bouderbala

Abdennour — Felhi — Jemal — Meriah

Nafkha

Everson — Toniche

Bukari — Ziadi — Ben Dhifallah

Subs : Baaboura, Manga, Bejaoui, Mendoza, Mabrouk, Mosrati, Raddaoui, Akaichi

I definitely like the sound of this. Three men up front, with different qualities : Bukari is strong and can cover a large area, Ben Dhifallah will probably win most of the high balls, and Ziadi has speed and a good goalscorer’s sixth sense. If we are to win this one, we have to get as many set pieces as possible, Ben Dhifallah and the centre backs will get the job done. As usual : Tunis 7, 3 pm CET.

It’s been a few weeks now – maybe a few months – that l’Étoile is beyond recognition. The reasons – at least the ones we are aware of – are numeros, yet the main cause is the team’s reorganization, after a lkot of the players who broke all records left.

For it to come to this, two coaches were replaced, without any notable results, until the arrival of Gernot Rohr, in whom the fans saw the perfect trainer for the lot of players filled with talent at the club.

The watchword was to leave the man time to get acquainted with the large number of players at his dispotion, strengthen it with whoever he sees fit, sort out the good from the bad, and leave his mark.

But after yet another disappointing draw, the crowds are losing their patience and asking many questions. Last to date : the Sakho enigma. Said to be on the leave in this transfer window, everybody was surprised to see him in the starting XI of a must-win league game. What the fans want are explanations, because hearing the coach say ” A point is still good for the take ” is just inadmissible. In fact, we would like to know Rohr’s true objectives and ambitions at our club. Because, let’s face it, not only the results are disappointing, the game is at least just as bad.

As usual, we’re goinng to hope to see some change at the next game, next Sunday against Olympique de Béja in Sousse. Even if our chances of winning the title are tiny, we still have to face other challenges such as the Tunisian Cup, the Champions League qualifiers and maybe finish second of the league.

The group needs to exorcise its demons and get off on the right foot in order to retrieve an efficient attack, a solid defense, and especially a much needed symbiosis in midfield.

Long live l’Étoile !

I couldn’t agree more with what has been said. A coach who’s apparently satisfied with the worst performances we’ve seen for a long time, a groupe of players who lost its homogenity (some who achieved star status and won everything they could, and youngsters who keep coming and going without really settling into the squad). All this leads to a general feeling of incosistency and disappointment among the supporters.

I believe we can manage to grab the 3 points against Béja next Sunday. Here’s the 23 players currently available / deemed in good enough form :

Goalkeepers : Bouderbala, Baâboura

Defenders : Ben Radhia, Meriah, Bejaoui, Abdennour,  Jemal, Felhi, Boulaâbi, Manga

Midfielders : Jebali, Nafkha, Everson, Mosrati, Mabrouk, Mosrati, Toniche, Ben Belgacem

Forwards : Bukhari, Ziadi, Jedaied, Ben Dhifallah, Mendoza, Negedu

The main absentees are Mathlouthi, who got the week off due to his injury, Emeka, who will be sidelined month and a half after colliding with Bâaboura in training (pretty stupid huh?), and Sakho, whose performance in the last 2 games didn’t please Gernot Rohr, the latter finally showing some initiative against the not so efficient elements.

Newcomers and possible starters : Everson, who will replace Sakho in midfield, Mendoza & Negedu. It’s probably too early to start them both in attack, but I think at least one of them has to show what he can at some point in this game, maybe if we go two goals up. Attack shouldn’t be the problem, it will be about finding the right combination in midfield. Most importantly, all the players who will be in action need to understand that they have to do whatever it takes to get the 3 points. Drawing isn’t an option if you’re 8 points behind a team who’s experiencing a return to its former glory.

Goalkeepers : Mohamed Bouderbala, Abderrahmane Baâboura

Defenders : Souheil Ben Radhia, Mehdi Meriah, Aymen Abdennour, Ammar Jemal, Radhouene Felhi, Majdi Toniche

Midfielders : Wadii Ben Hadj Frej, Mohamed Ali Nafkha, Hamdi Mabrouki, Mohamed Sacko, Afouène Gharbi, Belgacem Toniche, Tembo Fwayo, Mossâab Sassi

Forwards : Slim Jedaied, Emeka Opara, Mehdi Ben Dhifallah

That’s 19 players who will hopefully repeat the 2-0 victory we had against La Marsa earlier in the season. My starting line-up would be : Bouderbala / Ben Radhia – Jemal – Felhi – Abdennour / Nafkha – Sacko – Tembo – Sassi / Emeka – Ben Dhifallah. I don’t believe Mabrouki will make his first squad debut, since the pressure on the team is quite big even after the (laborious) win against Bizerte, and you don’t want a newcomer under that kind of pressure. The good thing is that he’s getting accustomed to the group so quickly. I can’t wait for Everson to make his debut too, and see him do some magic on free kicks (Nafkha will then stop pretending he can take them).

I believe a few words about Gernot Rohr might be in order. He used to be a very good player and spent 3 seasons at Bayern Munich with the likes of Franz Beckenbauer, Sepp Maier, Uli Hoeneß, Gerd Müller and Paul Breitner. More noticeable : he spent 12 years at Girondins de Bordeaux with Giresse, Tigana, Lacombe, Trésor, Battiston , was elected defender of the year twice and won 3 championships and 3 cups. The peak of his career as a manager was certainly the 1996 UEFA Cup Final which Bordeaux lost against Rohr’s former club Bayern Munich. But since then, he didn’t have any real success, and managed second rate teams in France and Switzerland. Tunisia and Africa in general are a new challenge for him, and he’ll certainly need time to adapt, but he’ll have to show some progress real quick if he doesn’t want to get sacked at the end of the season (yeah I know, he’s on a contract until 2010, but hey … ). From the interviews I have watched, I couldn’t see much enthusiasm or a strong personality. He seemed to be satisfied with every performance so far and didn’t really bother to explain the few disappointing results we had lately. But again, like every new coach, he needs time, so I’ll leave the judging for later. He can count on a few motivated new signings and young players, and he’ll have to know how to deal with the players who won everything with l’Étoile and want to move on. A tough task, which why I wish him good luck.

Last but not least : a new transfer has been made official. Bassem Boulâabi has joined ESS from Stade Tunisien on a 4 year contract. I’m eager to see him and all the others in action.

Change will be needed on Étoile’s side as well. Ahmed Mida will probably jump in for the suspended Mohamed Ali Nafkha. The two other absentees will be Mehdi Ben Dhifallah, currently training separately to regain some much needed fitness, and Belgacem Toniche, not enlisted in the CAF competition roster. The most important aspect of this first leg will be preventing CSS from scoring, which shouldn’t be a problem given the tremendous Mathlouthi, Felhi and Jemal are currently enjoying. Besides Mida’s contribution, the fact that we’re allowed to have 5 non-tunisian players on the team will certainly be useful to midfield and attack with Sacko and Tembo possibly being part of the starting line-up. It would be interesting to see which players you guys would start if you were the coach. The only guess I can make right now is the score : 0-0 in Sfax, 2-0 in Sousse, and a fourth CAF Confederation Cup trophy on the shelf for us.

Here’s the squad that traveled to Kumasi :

Goalkeepers : Aymen Mathlouthi – Mohamed Bouderbala

Defenders : Souhaeil Ben Radhia – Mehdi Meriah – Hatem Bejaoui – Ammar Jemal – Mejdi “Manga” Tenniche – Aymen Abdennour

Midfielders : Mohamed Sacko – Mohamed Ali Nafkha – Ahmed Mida – Afouène Gharbi – Mejdi Mosrati – Bassem Ben Nasr – Selim Jedaied – Mossab Sassi – Tembo Fwayo

Forwards : Emeka Opara – Sadat Bukari – Tarek Ziadi

The big absent is of course Radhouène Felhi due tu a third yellow card. According to an interview with Jawhara FM’s Jalal Gasmi (the only tunisian journalist present in Kumasi), Manga is going to team up with Ammar Jemal in defense. Manga is an experienced player, but his shenanigans have cost us a few stupid goals more than enough. You could say he’s our very own Titus Bramble.

I’d go for this 11 : Mathlouthi in goal (obviously), Ben Radhia, Jemal, Manga, Meriah, Nafkha, Mida, Mosrati, Tembo, Emeka, Bukari.

Here are a few pics from today’s training session at Baba Yara Stadium. At least the pitch looks decent.

May the Force be with us !

Two key players will be back to the first team : Afouène Gharbi and the oh-so-efficient Sadat Bukhari. This is definitely good news, since I imagine nobody was impressed by Mehdi Ben Dhifallah’s performance in Tizi-Ouzou. Not sure about Afouène Gharbi though … he hasn’t played a single game yet, so I imagine he could make the bench but nothing more. Then again, what use could you have for a non fully fit player in such an important game ? I think Decastel will let him make his return progressively in the “easy” league games to assess his form. Besides, midfield hasn’t really been Étoile’s problem lately. The likes of Bassem Ben Nasr and Mejdi Mosrati have shown great engagement and can only improve in the coming weeks/months.

Souhaeil Ben Radhia is still very uncertain, but with the return of Mohamed Sacko from international duty, we shouldn’t worry about the either side either.

Looking forward to a game with as many goals as there are courses in a tunisian Ramadan meal !

Sadat Bukhari will be missed in attack, since the red card he got against Espérance de Tunis in the latest qualifying game keeps him out of this one. I doubt Mehdi Ben Dhifallah and Afouène Gharbi will make it, having entered the physical preparation phase only 4 days ago. Ben Dhifallah might make the bench, since his recovery was meant to take a week, but Gharbi will definitely be out (10 days of training before he can make the first team again).

The starting formation might look like this :

With Ben Radhia still recovering, and Yaken not having made the right impression during the first league game against Club Africain, the position of right back might be filled by Mohamed Sacko, who would then be moved from his favorite defensive midfield position. Meriah will have a chance to show if he really has been progressing like we’ve been hearing during the last couple of weeks, and with Felhi back, we won’t have to worry about what happens in our penalty box. In the absence of Bukhari, midfield will have to look experimental again, in order to support Emeka Opara in the best way possible. Tembo Fwayo and Mejdi Mosrati could both be deployed as a second striker. Having them both up front is the only choice we have since we play at home, and 3 points are the only thing we can expect in such a game. But it will also make the job harder for Mida and Nafkha in midfield.

A vey interesting game lies ahead, a game where no mistakes can be made, because winning away in a competition dominated by arab clubs (6 out of the 8 clubs who have made it to the group stage come from Tunisia, Egypt, Algeria and Sudan) can be very tricky, and getting 3 points on your home ground is the most important thing to secure a place in the final.

TV7 can’t show the game on its satellite channel, since ART owns the broadcast rights to every african competition starting from the group stages. The unlucky among us will have to follow the game online. Kick-off is on 19:10 CET. Have fun w nchallah marbou7a !

Who will be missing ?
Étoile will start without three key players : center back Radhouane Felhi, striker Mehdi Ben Dhifallah (both suspended for a third yellow card), right Back Souhaeil Ben Radhia and midfielder Afouène Gharbi (recovering from injury). Decastel should count on respectively Mejdi “Manga” Ben Mohamed, Emeka Opara and new signing Walid Yaken (his actual form and readiness might accelerate Ben Radhia’s recovery).

Club Africain has to do without Sellami (that’s a big relief if you know what he’s capable of on set pieces), Nsaybi, Alexis and Helmi Hmem.

Likely formation

I have doubts about Manga, and they’re far from being unfounded. He has made a lot of mistakes that, in my honest opinion, don’t make him first team material. Despite the time spent at Etoile, he seems not to have gained enough experience, and couldn’t prove himself in front of the young blood that has marked the team’s defence over the last years (Felhi, Jmal, Hagui …). He could be the weak link in Decastel’s starting 11. The midfield pair Nafkha-Mida will be making its first appearance, as would have any other combination in midfield, since all last season’s key midfielders have left the club. CA’ midfield isn’t exactly a piece of cake, so they will have a tough 90 minutes. I’m personnally not worried about attack, as long as Gelson can make his way through and provide the strikers with some quality balls.

I wouldn’t complain if we manage to grab an ugly 1-0 win. A clash against our top rivals comes definitely too early for a team that isn’t running on full regime yet, but we’ll see about that soon enough. But mostly, I can only wish for a “normal” season, an honest competition, nicer stadium crowds and fair referees. If you’d like to watch the game, tune in on Tunis 7 tomorrow at 6 pm CET, or look out for the Kooora Tounsia Sopcast channel.