Étoile du Sahel Offside back

By: Houssem | January 12th, 2009

Sorry for deserting this blog in the last couple of months. I think everybody will agree that the latest performances weren’t really encouraging to write anything. Since the defeat to Club Sportif Sfaxien the team has pretty much been falling apart, losing precious points in a title race that Espérance has been recklessly leading. We had a taste of victory against CS Hammam Lif and most recently Club Athlétique Bizertin, but drawing against Club African and CS Sfaxien, and losing to Espérance in Sousse (I can’t recall the last time that happened) doesn’t exactly make us favourite.

We are still second, six points behind Espérance, so theoretically everything is still possible. But not a lot of people can be openly optimistic, and we all know what happens once Espérance is leading.

I don’t think it’s necessary to go back on each of the previous games, but the transfer window shouldn’t go unnoticed.

- The first winter signing was Hamdi El Mabrouki, a 23 year old defensive midfielder from Stade Tunisien, on a 4-year contract. I don’t actually see the need for a defensive midfielder, since Étoile isn’t short on talented players in this compartment.

- Second to join was 18 year old U-21 Nigerian international Kabiru Akinsola. A very talented player without a doubt, having won the 2007 U-17 World Cup in South Corea. His speed and technical abilities will come in handy to get Étoile’s attacking line out of its bad form. He is currently with the Nigerian U-21 team for the African Cup of Nations, and will be in Sousse by mid-February

- Last to date : Everson Pereira da Silva. This 33 year old Brazilian has played for a lot of european teams, and is known for his massive long distance strikes. Here’s an idea of what he can do :

Yet these impressive free kicks could probably be his only addition, since you can’t expect much physical commitment from a guy his age. He remains nontheless an experienced player from whom the rest of the team can learn a lot.

I can’t argue about the quality of these transfers, but I’m sceptical as to how Gernot Rohr will use them to bring back some joy to the Olympic Stadium of Sousse, strong with more than 10.000 season ticket holders (50% of the stadium’s capacity) eager to see their team threaten Espérance’s more than serious title chances.