Zamalek French coach Henri Michel, who has plenty of experience in Africa, sees every reason to consider the Egyptian League as 'a competition of quality'. The former Ivory Coast manager, who has been a target for Egypt national team on several occasions, arrived at Zamalek in January to have a new challenge in the North African country. Michel has been seemingly impressed by the Egyptian League's quality, compared to what he has seen in other countries in the region. "It was a good surprise to see such quality in the league. There are 16 teams in the first division and it isn't inevitable that a big team beat the last one in standings," Michel told France Football magazine. "The level of football in Egypt is better than Morocco for example. It is not a coincidence that Egypt have won the African Cup of Nations because it is obvious that there is much talent over there." Michel has set Zamalek winger Mahmoud Abdul-Razeq 'Shikabala' as an example of talents in Egypt. "Shikabala's talent is classified in the 'A' class. If he is more disciplined he will surprise the whole word in future." MICHEL REVIVES ZAMALEK FANS HOPES The Cairo giants' fans were delighted in January when they learned that a high-profile coach like Michel would lead the team in the upcoming period. They had been suffering for three years, in which Ahli dominated Egyptian football while Zamalek failed to win a single trophy.
Since Michel's arrival, Zamalek were crashed out of the CAF Champions League, the Egyptian Cup and the Arab Champions League in the space of five months. However, the 59-year-old remains positive over the club's future, just like Zamalek fans who gained hope from the impressive form produced by the players in the cup final, although the team was handed a 4-3 defeat to Ahli. "Despite failing to make any achievements since 2004 and losing the last cup title after having the lead for three times, Zamalek are progressing very well." "We have made several acquisitions to reinforce our defense for next season." It was quite clear that Zamalek's backline was a very weak point so the club signed four defenders in the shape of Khaled Saad, Beshir Al-Tabie, Karim Zekri and Mahmoud Fathallah. FINALLY: PROPER PRE-SEASON CAMP Michel spoke about Zamalek's pre-season training camp in France and how he rates his side's 1-0 defeat to Paris Saint-Germain. "We weren't good against PSG, the players were tired. The exhaustion is perhaps down to the high level of physical training we have conducted since our arrival in France." A period of administrative uncertainty as well as the haphazard change of coaches did little to help Zamalek make a proper pre-season training camp over the past few years. The men in white's below-par displays throughout every season in the past three years were definitely affected by the weak pre-season programs.
