It could have been better
By: Houssem | August 11th, 2008A stupidly conceded free kick and a horrible lack of offensive awareness / luck have cost us 2 points at home, but the result is quite fair since CA got their share of goal chances.
The first thing that surprised everybody I guess, was Decastel’s starting formation :
Mathlouthi (GK), Ben Mansour (CB), Opara (ST), Yaken (RB), Bejaoui (LB), Jmal (CB)
Bukhari (ST), Nafkha (MF), Ben Nasr (LW), Gelson (RW), Ben Hadj Frej (MF)
Decastel wanted to give some of the new and young players a chance right away, or maybe was forced to do so in the absence or lack of fitness of some players.
We didn’t see much from the CA players, but they had total control of midfield at times, since Étoile’s new-look-midfield still had to find itself. They came close to our penalty area, looking for free kicks as usual, and got one that really could have been avoided. Étoile’s defenders proved once again that they can be pretty naive when it comes to conceding dangerous free kicks (remember the cup final ?). A free kick well taken by Mouihbi caught Mathlouthi completely off guard (once again, he has to work on his and the wall’s positionning). Bukhari has managed to score a beautiful header (I somehow knew he would score) after a corner, leaving no chance for Nefzi. We saw some amazing offensive build-up from l’Étoile, thanks to the perfect understanding between Emeka Opara (seems he never left the team), Sadat Bukhari and the amazing Mohamed Ali Nafkha, who probably played his best game by far in the last months. Maybe it was Coelho’s decision to leave him out that fired him up. He had the chance to score a marvellous volley in the second half. 
Unfortunately, these were the only 3 players who were really impressive. Ben Mansour, Yaken and Bejaoui still have a lot of work to do. The young Ben Hadj Frej was a bit better, he’s got the potential to become a central piece in Étoile’s midfield, and Gelson’s over-confidence has probably cost us a goal or two.
All in all, it’s a fair result, but it certainly makes the CA fans happier. The next league fixture won’t be an easy one : Club Athlétique Bizertin at home is always tough to play, but we will have got our classic central defense back, Ben Dhifallah up front, and maybe Ben Radhia if he recovers quick. We certainly can do without a couple of last year’s key player’s, but you can’t take them all away and expect the team to deliver the same game.
Enjoy the game’s highlights, and especially The Slap at 2:20 (I’m writing it in capitals since I’m expecting it to become one of Ben Chikha’s trademarks this year). Dhaouadi had protested (and probably couldn’t help yelling a few cursewords), and his trainer didn’t like it. Don’t mess with the Chikha next time !
One last remark about the refereeing. Mr. Trabelsi is one of those refs who like to stop play as much as they can, and it really got on my nerves. Who doesn’t like a nice fluid game ? That’s why the advantage rule was invented, and it would be nice if more referees made use of it more often. Apart from that, correct yellow card decisions for both sides, nothing to complain about 
Category: Match Reviews
Tags: Abdelhak Ben Chikha, Étoile du Sahel Team News, Balbouli, Club Africain, Gilson Silva, Hatem Bejaoui, Issam Ben Mansour, Match Reviews, Michel Decastel, Mohamed Ali Nafkha, Referee Aouaz Trabelsi, Sadat Bukhari, Slap, Wadii Ben Hadj Frej, Walid Yaken, Zouhaier DhaouadiSubscribe
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Comments
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Very good reading of the match Houssem. The funny thing about that Mouihbi free kick is that on mosaique fm he said that he was aiming to put it over the wall not under it haha. It’s cool he admitted that. Said it was a mistake that turned out well. No kidding!
As for your team, I was very impressed. A new look squad and you guys looked more in sync than we did. I didn’t expect that but Belgacem said something interesting on dimanche sport: Etoile knew what to expect from CA while CA didn’t know what to expect from Etoile.
Ben Chikha is true to his Algerian roots eh? (nervouzy) haha. I guess he told the players that this year he doesn’t want his players get yellow cards for dissent. That’s how I explain it at least.
Again, nice post.
Posted from
United States
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I didn’t like Decastel’s starting lineup and coaching, Ben Nasr isn’t a left winger, he lacks pace and has lost all his duels, he’s rather a central or an offensive creator midfielder. I was happy to see a new young player break into the first team, Wadi3 el 7adj Frej has a bright future ahead of him, but I think that against our strongest rival, we should have played Mejdi Mosrati or Ahmed Mida who played really well during the Morocco Summer Cup.
Gelson and Ben Nasr’s substitutions should have came earlier, because It’s us who are looking to score not CA.
Latest News: Gelson joins Ogunbiyi at EA Guingamp for a 1 year loan.Posted from
United States -
I agree Yassine, the substitutions were very poorly timed, as if Decastel was the one who wanted to lose time. And look at Ziadi : his first ball contact was in the opponent’s 18, and he panicked. I guess things would have been different had he come in earlier.
As for Gelson, I’ve read the news on infosfoot.com and heard it on Jawhara FM, but I’m waiting for an official statement on the club’s web page.
Posted from
Germany -
hey hey !Nice blog !
Of course it was quite a disappointing result against CAfriain.
I was in the stadium. Everybody from L’étoile supporters was stressed out and nervous during the match. The result is too important so…it’s logic.Yaken and Bejaoui were under what i was expecting.
But in general positive points are many: Emeka !! Bukhari , haj fraj = great players.
Our attack will better than last year with Emeka, bukhari, ben dhifallah and Ziadi (also Yacouba Diarra….)
CA still have a “realistic game” in block using counter attacks. Ben Chikha, that guy is a magician: he knows how to talk to tunisian players and motivate them.Let’s focus on Caf cup now !
Hope better my english through postings here..Posted from
United States
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