Young Blood : It Works.
By: Houssem |
3 Comments
That would make a nice motivational poster, don’t you think ? Lotfi Rhim made a good point tonight when he dropped Emeka, Gelson, Nafkha and even Jemal, to let some youngsters have a go : the likes of Aymen Ayari, Wadii Hadj Frej and Slim Jedaied proved a lot of people wrong tonight during Étoile’s crushing 5-1 victory against neighbours ES Hammam-Sousse. They showed that when given a proper chance, they would not let the club or the angry supporters down. Granted, it was only Hammam-Sousse, and their goalkeeper Mohamed Zouabi made a fool of himelf on two occasions, but we still got to see an unusually entertaining game, and got to see what Ahmed Akaichi is capable of when the game flows the way it should. His four goals were mainly due to his tenacity, but also to the decent build up in midfield. Cudos to Sadat Bukhari for that direct free kick and his excellent work with Akaichi.
The tunisian league will now go on pause for two reasons : the muslim holy month of Ramadan has begun today, and it will make it harder for practicing players to play before sundown (not every LP1 stadium has floodlights), but more importantly to let the national team prepare for the oh so important WC qualifiying game against Nigeria on september 5th. Make sure to check out the Tunisia WCB for regular updates. But we will have to carry on with our african campaign, and hope to see more of today’s display. Who knows, it could probably pay off and guarantee us a spot in the semis. For now I’ll just stay ecstatic about today’s win.
Highlights and photos will be up as soon as they’re available.
Category: Étoile du Sahel Team News
Heartland FC 3 – 0 Etoile du Sahel : Absolute humiliation
By: Houssem | 2 Comments
I’m really starting to reconsider my cocky comments about how easy it would be to win this Champions League. Yesterday we seriously compromised our chances of even reaching the semi finals by losing in the worst fashion against Heartland FC from Owerri, Nigeria, another Champions League newcomer. It seems now that the form regain of the past few weeks was but a mere illusion, and that we’re now rediscovering the true face of this year’s Etoile : unable to score, naive in the back, inconsistent, and to sum it up, painful to watch. Read the rest of this entry »
Category: Étoile du Sahel Team NewsBumpy season start
By: Houssem | 1 Comment
I’ve been waiting for good stuff to happen before my first post, and now that we have finally got a win in our third game of the season, Champions League campaign included, I can finally begin to make my mind about the team so far. Read the rest of this entry »
Category: Étoile du Sahel Team NewsChampions League Group Stage Draw
By: Houssem | 4 Comments
Today the gentlemen in Cairo proceeded to both african inter-club competition draws : the CAF Confederation Cup – with fellow tunisians and title holders Club Sfaxien – and the CAF Champions League, with only one North African team left in the race : Étoile du Sahel ! We are once again Tunisia’s only hope of getting this title and joining the likes of Manchester United and FC Barcelona in the Club World Cup.Here’s what Lady Fortune has blessed us with :
Group B
- Étoile du Sahel (TUN)
- TP Mazembé (RDC)
- Heartland (NIG)
- Monomotapa (ZIM)
Étoile du Sahel 2 – 0 Al Ahly Tripoli (2-0 on agg.) : Group stage, here we come !
By: Houssem | Add Comments
Nice weekend, wasn’t it ?
1. Étoile makes it to the group stage of the CAF Champions League with not much effort
2. Real 2-6 Barcelona, you had to enjoy that even if you don’t care for the spanish Liga
3. Espérance 2-3 US Monastir in the Cup semi-final, and our rivals can forget about their ridiculous quadruple idea
Category: Étoile du Sahel Team NewsÉtoile du Sahel 7 (!!!) – 0 CS Hammam-Lif
By: Houssem | 1 Comment
Well, that was a nice thrashing. A hat trick by Bukhari, and goals by Abdennour, Gharbi, Opara and Berradhia, which you can enjoy here. As amazing this victory was, it’s completely useless, since the antepenultimate matchday of the Tunisian LP1 saw Espérance and Club Africain win against La Marsa and Stade Tunisien, thus completely removing us from the title race.
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 !
Category: Match PreviewsWorst Week Ever …
By: Houssem | 4 Comments
… as we must settle for another season without any silverware. After losing any chance to threaten Espérance in the league, we got defeated by them in the cup quarter final. I actually didn’t think our game could get any uglier after the CSS game, but they managed to prove me wrong ! No midfield whatsoever, only long balls from Felhi to Ziadi, Meriah as pathetic as ever as a left winger – hey, if Rohr thinks Meriah was NEVER made to be a defender, he must be right ! To sum it up, the defeat against Espérance was pretty inevitable. That goal was going in no matter what, because our defenders left 3 men unmarked on a set piece. Just brilliant. Read the rest of this entry »
Category: Étoile du Sahel Team NewsEspérance vs. Étoile Cup 1/4 Final Preview
By: Houssem | 4 Comments
The Cup and Étoile, that’s not exactly a love story. The last time we lifted the Princess – as Tunisians affectionately call it – was in the 1995/96 season, when we won the double with our legendary 90’s team. Since then, we only had two final appearances – 2001 against Hammam-Lif and 2008 against Espérance. Every year that goes by makes me think that we are the Liverpool of the Tunisian cup.
Drawing Espérance away in the quarters is never funny, but having to play them in such difficult circumstances is even less funny. After reducing our title chances to next to nothing, our only hope remaining hope for a domestic title is the cup.
After the defeat to Club Sfaxien, it’s obvious that some changes need to occur in order to make the team stand on the right foot again. Rohr will have to make new choices, and here’s an idea of what these may be.
Category: Étoile du Sahel Team NewsCS Sfaxien 2 – 1 Étoile : We’re out of it
By: Houssem | Add Comments
If you ever wondered how a player could almost single-handedly crush his club’s title hopes, last Thursday’s game was probably a good illustration. The obvious culprit is of course Mejdi Ben Mohamed, aka Manga, who was picked to fill Ammar Jemal’s boots. His sloppy attempt at a clearance gave the Sfaxians a 2-0 lead in what turned out to be our worst performance of the season, and the peak of a generally poor defensive display. I don’t want to put too much blame on Manga, because the whole squad failed us that day, but I can’t help wondering how Rohr didn’t pick the promising Boulaâbi instead of a player on whose lack of quality we all agree.
Category: Match ReviewsASO Chlef 0 – 0 Étoile (1-2 on agg.) : Heroic !
By: Houssem | 4 Comments
Sheesh, that was a stressful one. We progress by the slightest of margins, but I’m not one to check a gift horse’s teeth. Rohr chose the more prudent approach and stacked the midfield with defensive players (Mabrouk, Everson, Nafkha, Tenniche).
Being on the pitch in front of those crazy crowds must have been intense enough, that’s why the players deserve a lot of credit for holding on against the pressure kept by Chlef, especially Massoud and Gharbi with their long range shots (where were these guys in the first leg?). But Mathlouthi and the woodwork stood between them and a goal that would have been enough to get us out of the competition. But we didn’t stay in our half for 90 minutes, that’s just not how Étoile rolls in african competitions. We saw some nice collective play at times, but didn’t really take advantage of the few counterattacks we managed to get. Meriah almost surprised Chlef’s keeper with a high ball from a free kick when the stadium was covered up in smoke. With a bit more luck, it would have gone in instead of bouncing on the cross-bar. What a goal that would have been ! Most of the credit goes to the defenders, no doubt about that.
These are the games that show you if your team is able to handle the pressure and the environment, to concentrate on achieving a given task, like not conceding at any cost. Our next opponent will be Al Ahly of Tripoli, Libya in less than two weeks, with the return leg in Sousse. Piece of cake ? I wouldn’t put any money against l’Étoile anyway !
Category: Étoile du Sahel Team News
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