CAIRO - Egypt's soccer experts have blamed Al-Ahly's technical coach Manuel José da Silva for his team's poor and dull recent performance, blaming the Portuguese for the 1-1 draw in the third week of the Egyptian Premier League against Gouna. Taha Ismail, a soccer expert said that the team performed inadequately in the first three games of the Egyptian Premier League, taking into consideration that the board of the club fulfilled the manager's needs after he signed more than six new players. "José is responsible as there is no clear technical view," Ismail said after the game, explaining that the coach insisting on depending on the Brazilian player Fabio Junior. "The player failed in all the chances the coach gives him, but José insisted on signing him and defying everyone." The Red Devils only collected five points from their first three games as the team were held to a 2-2 draw at Petrojet while they grabbed a victory over Haras el-Hodoud. The team's results cast doubts over their ability to keep the League trophy and win it for the eighth consecutive year. Mohamed Seif, another soccer expert added that the technical coach takes the responsibility for the 1-1 draw against Gouna. "José's changes were the main factor that led to losing two precious league points," Seif said. "The changes made by the coach didn't benefit the team as the Mohamed Abou-Treika shift was not good for the team, as the player can change the result of the game anytime," Seif explained. The Red Devil's draw against Gouna has increased pressure on the Portuguese tactician, who had already come in for fierce criticism after the team exited from the Egyptian Cup and the African Champions League last month. Mohsen Saleh, a soccer expert, added that Al-Ahly in the first half differed from Ahly in the second half clearly showing the effect of the José changes as well as “El-Gouna's good performance with their veteran coach”. He stressed that the “El-Gouna technical coach Anwar Salama succeeded in using better tactics to face the Devils' ambitions. I think the Gouna team will be distinguished this season." El-Gouna held this season Egyptian Cup title-holder Enppi to a draw and defeated Ismaili, before being held to a draw against Al-Ahly. Saleh added that the El-Gouna goal came because of repeated mistakes by the Red Devils' defence and the goalkeeper without their being corrected by from the coaching staff. Hassan el-Shazli, another soccer expert, also argued that José's changes were very strange. The soccer expert asserted that he was “wrong in changing Mohamed Naggi ('Geddo') and Mohamed Abou-Treika, which resulted in El-Gouna domination and control of the second half." He also stated that the team's recent performance period was poor and dull. "The team's lines are too far from one another, resulting in decreasing the team's chances of achieving victory. Hossam Hassan, Zamalek and Ismaili ex-coach, expressed his astonishment at the Red Devils' play describing it as “random; there is no plan, no method". The former international player for Al-Ahly and Zamalek explained his charges, "The wings did not play an effective role in pulling the team towards making real chances." He pointed out that there were “no specific roles for the players, especially the team's wingers Sayyed Moawad and Ahmed Fathi; really the team has no flavour or taste". Anwar Salama, El-Gouna coach, meanwhile praised his players for their remarkable performance in the first three games of the Egyptian Premier League, urging them to continue like this until the end of the League. "Gouna's 4-1 win over Ismaili and draw with Al-Ahly and Enppi will motivate their players to continue the same performance till the end of the season," the skilled coach contended. Salama, the Gouna coach, added that he had warned his players not to be over-confident, particularly after the historic 4-1 victory over Ismaili in the second week of the Premier League. Concerning the game against Ahly, the coach explained that his team entered the game with the aim of achieving one point. "Really the changes made by Al-Ahly coach helped me in achieving our goal," stated Salama. He pointed out that after the changes made by the Red Devils' coach, “we changed our tactics in order to snatch a win. The change of the Brazilian Junior instead of 'Geddo' was in favour of my team". Salama argued that Al-Ahly's main problem is the huge number of talented stars making it difficult for their coach to choose from them; this is because every one of these players will not accept sitting on the bench." Al-Ahly's football director Sayyed Abdel-Hafiz said the league has a long time to go, highighting that what's happening now is a repeat scenario of what occurred the previous season. "Al-Ahly always plays to win and to win only, and this puts pressure on the players." The Red Devils' director declared that his team was always used to winning and the fans never accepted anything else. Elsewhere, Haras el-Hodoud had a 2-1 victory over Wadi Degla, while Petrojet defeated Misr Elmaqasah (MCSD) 3-2, Smouha was held to a 1-1 draw by Arab Contractors, and Military Production was held to a 1-1 draw by El-Masry.
