If you told any Ahli fan that Manuel Jose is a poor tactician, you'll probably get some stick because there is no doubt that he is the most successful manager in the club's history. Jose knows how to lead a team, prepare his players mentally and make every one of them work his socks off for the sake of the group. His players have indefinite confidence in his abilities and that's why Ahli usually enjoy a mental edge over their opposition with the Portuguese on the bench. However, his tactical approach is no match to his managerial abilities and that was proven in the recent Cairo derby. Multiple mistakes Making some changes to your starting eleven to surprise opponents in big games is often welcomed, but it can also backfire when those changes are too significant. Ahmed Fathi is undoubtedly Ahli's most valuable player and using him as a left back is by no means a tactical surprise. With that, the team lost a massive asset and it was too late when Fathi came back to his normal position mid-way through the second half. This is apart from the inexplicable error of deploying a right-footed player who is not the best of dribblers as a left-back, something we never see except with two-footed players like Philipp Lahm or John O'Shea for example. Second, Mohamed Barakat is a key man for Ahli in the final third, but when he plays as a right-back in the 3-5-2 formation, he is not that ‘mercurial' anymore. Third, starting with three defensive midfielders when you have an embarrassment of riches in the likes of Dominique da Silva, Ahmed Hassan and Amir Sayoud on the bench is unjustified, especially with your side considered favorites before the game. Fourth, for the whole second half Ahli kept playing 3-5-2 with a sweeper behind the center-halves against a team with one striker, who is not the quickest. Moreover, Hossam Hassan did Jose a favor when he took off his lone striker Ahmed Gaafar, but there was no reaction from the Portuguese regarding his last man Sherif Abdul-Fadil. Finally, the half-time introduction of the impressive Dominique in three consecutive matches is not a masterstroke because when you have a player of the Mauritanian's caliber, it is not the best decision to keep him on the bench for half of the game. Even if he makes the difference as a substitute, Dominique's pace and technique is something Ahli are always lacking in the absence of the gradually-diminishing formidable partnership of Barakat and Abou-Treika. Jose relentlessly stuck with Flavio for a whole season before the Angolan adapted to the team's style of play to become a clinical source of goals, even though his start with Ahli was anything but good. So why not do the same with Dominique when he has already passed the introduction phase? No magician Despite that, one cannot argue that Jose is the most successful man to sit on Ahli's bench, but as usual, exaggeration is always attached to success or failure in Egypt. Jose is a great manager who knows how to deal with the complicated mentality of Egyptian footballers, but he is no magician and I doubt it he could have done better away from Egypt. Ahli's biggest defeat under Jose's management came at the hands of Angolan minnows Santos on 31 May 2009; the Portuguese's last day before leaving to coach Angola and end his second stint in Cairo. My analysis to such a shock defeat is that Ahli players have back then lost that mental bond with their influential manager…in other words, the only thing that keeps a Jose side winning.
