Although his career did not exceed its ninth month with Al-Ahly of Egypt, Swiss coach Marcel Koller learned the lesson of not relying on a specific group, which could lead to physical and mental exhaustion for his players, so he expanded his circle of options and won the bet to regain the African Champions League title and control local football.
In September 2022, Kohler took over a physically and mentally exhausted team. His South African coach, Pitso Mosimane, left him, to bring the Portuguese Ricardo Soares, but the latter’s term did not exceed three months, amid a situation that Al-Ahly was not accustomed to of public discontent and administrative confusion.
A coach that many in Egypt do not know except for some middle-aged people who followed his career with the Swiss national team, while he spent his entire career as a midfielder with Grasshoppers.
Even those who read his autobiography questioned the ability of the coach of the Austrian national team, the German clubs Cologne and Bochum, St. Gallen, Grasshoppers and Basel previously, to overcome the frustrations of a disastrous season, from which the capital team lost the Champions League in the final against Moroccan Wydad, and the Egypt Cup in the same round, and finished the domestic league in the center. The third, away from the champion and runner-up positions for the first time in thirty years.
But last Sunday, Al-Ahly celebrated winning the Champions League title for a record eleventh time, and a third in the last four years, after taking revenge on Wydad himself.
Before that, criticism was leveled at Musimani (he led Al-Ahly to the 2020 and 2021 African Champions titles) for over-reliance on a specific group, which caused a state of stress that afflicted the players in the crucial stages of the season, and caused the Egyptian League to lose twice in a row.
Al-Ahly player and former coach, and veteran football expert Taha Ismail, told Agence France-Presse: “Musimane endured Al-Ahly’s loss of the league title twice, and more specifically the African Champions League title last year, because of his policy in selecting players.”
Sheikh Taha explained: “In the Champions League final, Al-Ahly was unable to match the Wydad players physically. Relying on a specific group and physical preparation had a negative impact on the crucial stages.
In the season before last, Al-Ahly neglected its progress against Al-Ahly Bank (1-1), Pyramids (2-2), Ismaili (1-1), and El-Gouna (3-3), to lose the league title in recent weeks in favor of Zamalek, Despite the difficult administrative circumstances that the latter went through.
The matter was repeated last season, and it was accompanied by the fall of more than one player with muscle injuries, most notably the two central defenders, Mohamed Abdel Moneim and Yasser Ibrahim, the midfielder Amr Al-Souliya, and the South African winger Percy Tau.
Balanced formations and changes
The sixty-two-year-old benefited from the lesson, expanding his circle of choices, whether in the Champions League or in the Egyptian League, which has become an extraordinary candidate for his return.
29 players participated in Al-Ahly’s 14 matches in the Champions League, so Abdel Moneim and Tunisian left-back Ali Maaloul were the only ones to participate in all of his matches. He used the most number compared to his rivals Wydad and Mamelodi Sundowns of South Africa (24), Esperance of Tunisia and Raja of Morocco (25).
Former Al-Ahly captain Walid Salah El-Din explained: “Kohler dealt with Al-Ahly’s list intelligently, and succeeded in equipping and resting the players, and this helped him at the decisive time.”
The former player, with whom he won the Champions League title in 2001, continued: “After reaching the final round, Koller succeeded in preparing his key players by resting them in the league matches. Even in the Champions League, his formations and changes were balanced, which gave everyone the opportunity to enter the matches with technical and physical readiness.
Adaptation of ideas
Al-Ahly was about to bid farewell to the Champions League early after losing to Sundowns 2-5 in the fourth round of the group stage, so it narrowly qualified at the expense of Al-Hilal of Sudan.
He lost before that to Spanish Real Madrid 1-4 and Brazilian Flamengo 2-4 in the Club World Cup, so Koller faced other criticisms for following the policy of open play, regardless of his opponent and the circumstances. The harsh loss of Sundowns was another lesson that the Swiss understood well, and helped him adapt his thoughts.
After that, he played 8 matches in the Champions League, winning 6 of them and drawing twice (both in Casablanca with Raja and Wydad). He scored 16 goals and conceded only two goals (back and forth from Wydad in the final round).
In total, Koller led Al-Ahly in 47 matches in various competitions, in which he achieved 35 wins, 8 draws, and 4 defeats, all in external matches (two in the Club World Cup and the same in the Champions League).
Kohler says: “Al-Ahly fans do not stop demanding to win all championships, and this is the team’s philosophy in general. I can understand that.
Perhaps it is still too early to judge Kohler’s experience with Al-Ahly, as the first year of his two-season contract has not yet expired. However, the introductions inevitably lead to the results that speak for themselves up to the moment.