Ahli full-back Sayed Moawad does not believe that coach Hossam Al-Badri needs to adopt a zero-tolerance policy to emulate the success of his predecessor Manuel Jose. Al-Badri, who enjoyed his first competitive win at the helm when Ahli defeated Ghazl Mahalla in the league opener, has been consistently compared with Jose since taking over at the club in the close season. Portuguese boss Jose, who led the Red Devils to 19 local and continental titles during the past five years, used to come down on underperformers and was widely acclaimed for imposing a strict discipline. Al-Badri prefers a much calmer attitude when dealing with his players. "Jose's success was not down to his toughness," veteran left-back Moawad told FilGoal.com on Saturday. "He had other qualities but toughness is not necessary, some players don't like that. "Such an attitude may strain the relationship between the coach and his players. "I like Al-Badri's way. He imposes his own personality and can still make the players love him. We (the players) prefer to love the coach not to become afraid of him."
Moawad, who became a regular member of Ahli's starting line-up under Al-Badri, cited Hassan Shehata's success with Egypt as an example of how the good relationship between the players and their coach can lead to glory. "Coach Shehata, who is not tough, guided Egypt to two successive Nations Cup titles. The current atmosphere in the national team is very healthy," he said. Moawad put in some impressive displays in Egypt's Confederations Cup campaign despite the Pharaohs' first-round exit. He outplayed Brazil right-back Daniel Alves in Egypt's cruel 4-3 defeat to the five-time world champions. "When you prepare well for such big contests, you can match anybody," he commented. Not Entertaining Al-Badri opted to deploy a 4-4-2 formation with Ahli this season, which is unfamiliar to most of Egyptian clubs. Full-backs in the traditional 3-5-2 strategy are always burdened with many responsibilities.
Moawad: Toughness is not necessary They should close down spaces at the back, penetrate the opposing defense and whip in crosses. With no aid on the flanks, it is very difficult for the full-back to accomplish both defensive and attacking duties in that system. "The 4-4-2 formation might be better for the full-back because he will be mainly burdened with defensive responsibilities with little work up front," Moawad said. "But I think that this is not very entertaining for me. I like to go forward and use my attacking skills." The diminutive 30-year-old is renowned for his ability to elude challengers and float inch-perfect crosses into the box. Not many players can do that in the Egyptian league now. "Some players can do that, others can't. They should learn such things when they are young," Moawad added.
