Thursday, 17 May 2012
 
 

Paint The Town Moroccan


B'net Houariyat @ Kennedy Cntr

Morocco-US: Visa Talk

Hamid Kachmar's "Intricacies"
Constitution Referendum TV Debate


Moroccan Vocalist in Detroit  1  2

Polisario In Washington


Kids:    "My Morocco"

 

Submit classified free
Morocco: A soccer Meltdown in Gabon PDF Print
Friday, 03 February 2012 08:02

Washington  / Morocco Board News--Morocco’s soccer fans are still under the shock of their national’s team early exit at the African Nations Cup (ANC 2012). Morocco came to Gabon and Equatorial Guinea as a favorite to win the tournament just to be routed by archrival Tunisia and an emerging Gabon team. The fans reactions to this humiliating showing were emotional, raw and livid. The Moroccan press blamed the coach, Eric Gerets, while some fans questioned the commitment of some national players. The Moroccans describe their teams’ showing in the ANC 2012 as a “national disaster”.

If the Moroccan national team’s poor performance during the ANC 2012 is a sporting affair, the ramification of “the Gabon performance” may be political. The management and officers of the Royal Moroccan Football Federation (RMFF) are coming under fire for their own mediocre organization. The Moroccan public considers the manner in which the RMFF is run as an illustration of what is wrong with several official and semi-official organisms in Morocco  where nepotism and the lack of transparency in management is rampant.

Clean House, Please
M. Said

Here is my analysis of each player.   I am not judging the players for their performance with their team.  I am only concerned with how they perform with the Moroccan national team:
1) Lamyaghri: Arguably the best keeper we had at the national level since Zaki.  the dude is haphazard and inconsistent though. Verdict: get rid of him
2) Basser:  get rid of this guy once for all. It is just me or does it seem likehe has just started playing soccer yesterday? I don't care if he plays for Real Madrid??  with the national team, he always underperforms, ALWAYS!!! Verdict: Get rid of him
3) Kaddouri: he is my favorite of all time! you're kidding you say?! of course I am kidding? I encourage you to go back and see every game that Morocco has lost in the past 6 years. I guarantee you most of the plays come from his side.  He is horrible and let me tell you something: You know how I knew that Gerets is not up to par? yes, you guess it right! the day I saw Kaddouri in his formation. Apparently, he did not review past performance tapes!! Verdict: Get rid of him. Leave that spot open. I will thank you forever.
4)Koutari: Where did you find this guy? when I played Soccer we used to do these 100m dashes to measure speed.  Did Gerets do that? I am confident, this guy could be beat by a snail at 100m dash race.  Verdict: Get rid of him!!!!
5) BenAtia: One of the best defenders in the game.  In his place, I will refuse to play along side Kaddouri, Koutari, and Basser.  Verdict: A BIG WIN for Morocco. Keep him and build the defense around him
6) Kharja: ah, my favorite subject!. Remember those exams you took where you got every question in the exam wrong and every question on the extra credit right? yeah.. Well my friend, that's Kharja for you.  Yes he scored 3 goals but he failed to setup plays (as Doulmi used to do) and cut counter attacks (like Doulmi used to do).  He is no Doulmi my friend.  Verdict: Get rid of him.  Besides, his name Kharja NOT Dakhla so....that should give you a clue!
7) Bousoufa: Here is a guy who wants to step up and become the leader / the Messi of the team. Problem: he is not up to the task and I can cross the ball better than he does, which means... he should not be playing for the national team.  Verdict: Get rid of him
8) Belhanda: I don't have many things to say about this guy as I have really not watched him that closely.  that being said, he really stood out for me at the CAN.  Verdict: Give him a shot
9) Chamakh: I really believe that Marouane is the only player in the team that plays ( and cares) for the flag.  Most of those that have not played soccer before will say: Chamakh is dead, he cannot score anymore.  I say, find someone that can place the ball on Marwan's head (for instance Xavi) and watch it start raining goals. Verdict: keep him, team captain
10) Hadji: I love this guy and like Marwan, I really thinks he plays for the flag.  the only thing is that I notice that he has lost some speed lately so maybe it is time for him to head to "emirates" to make some money and call it quits after that. Verdict: Hadji, thanks for your services, we have to let you go...
11) Taarabt: this guy in my opinion is the most talented player that has ever stepped into the pitch for Morocco in the last 12 years.  He absolutely makes a difference every time he comes in.  Verdict: find him a shrink first! then keep him..

Rest of the team.  I cannot remember their names which means they probably don't matter so...I'd say get rid of them too...there! feels much better.

As for Gerets: well, I knew this guy was a joke the day I heard that he was on the Moroccan federation payroll and was still in Saudi Arabia.  Besides, why would you want to hire a coach from a team in.....Saudi Arabia??? I was one of the few who were laughing when all Moroccans got out to the streets after the Algeria win.  

My answer was: 1) you just beat your brother so what is the whole fuss about 2) the Algerian team sucks anyway!!! As for the head of the federation, Fihri, well that's easy! I would say get rid of anyone that has the combination of Fassi and Fihri. By the way, wasn't he the head of ONE???? how do you go from that to soccer??

The Moroccan public has been upset with the way the RMFF selected the current national coach and with the terms of his contract especially the generous monetary compensation. Several Moroccan soccer veterans who played with the national team in past African cups were not involved in the process to find a national team coach despite their first hand experience in the subject matter. The likes of the Moroccan international Aziz Bouderbala and the former national coach Badou Zaki are upset and disturbed with the manner in which Coach Gerets chose the players for his team, the venue he decided to use during the preparation, the Spanish city of Marbella, and his reluctance to adjust his game strategies when the team is losing.

Despite the Gabon debacle, Coach Gerets still has his supporters in Morocco. Some Moroccan sport analysts view Gerets as a distinguished coach who came to Morocco after “successful” seasons in Europe and the
Middle East. Gerets defenders argue that Moroccan soccer officials made a flawed decision by bringing a coach unfamiliar with the particularities of  “African” soccer”. Gerets is a good coach in the wrong place at the wrong time.
The head of RMFF, Mr. Ali Fassi-Fihri, was the subject of a vicious campaign on the Web in the aftermath of the Gabon game. Mr. Fassi-Fihri tried his best to come up with a winning formula for the National team, but fell short in cleaning up the Federation. RMFF critics charge that Mr. Fassi-Fihri did not rid his organization of members that joined the Federation because of “connections “and not expertise. Some members sit on the RMFF board to travel and watch games without bringing expertise to the table.
The same critics allege that the Federation is managed in an unprofessional manner with undemocratic and arbitrary procedures. The RMFF did not ask the deans of the Moroccan soccer for feedback during the vetting process to choose a national coach, stated the former National goalkeeper Raad in an interview with Moroccan national television. He declared that coach Gerets, a Belgian National, is not familiar with the African teams and so are some of the Moroccan players that play in European Leagues.
The players were also subject to ridicule. Several Moroccan fans complained that some of the players were less “nationalistic” and “too pretty to play in the physically demanding African cup”.  In fact, most of the Moroccan Internationals who took part in the African Cup do not get much playtime with their home teams. It was obvious, during the game against Gabon, that some of these players were in a faint physical shape and incapable to keep up with the more fit Gabonese players.
Most of the Moroccan observers and a good portion of the fan base think that a clean and competent Federation, a Moroccan or an African coach and more local players are the key to a brighter future for Moroccan National team.

 

While MoroccoBoard.com encourages discussion on all subjects, including sensitive ones, the comments posted are solely the views of those submitting them. MoroccoBoard.com does not necessarily endorse or agree with the ideas, views, or opinions voiced in these comments. This is a moderated forum. Comments deemed abusive, offensive, or those containing profanity may not be published.

 
Trackback(0)
Comments (7)add comment
feedSubscribe to this comment's feed

Arfan said:

The Lions are no more
We never had a real soccer team anyway, so why do we complain about? The entire federation is corrupted and our so called Star players, what do they do instead of taking their sportive duties seriously? Well they smoke weeds and drink alcohol while on duty. That's what Moroccan Stars do when they smell a little success in the air.
02/08/12

S Hassi said:

Moroccan Soccer RIP
The Moroccan soccer federation is either a club of i***ts or madmen running the asylum . Not pointing Zaki as the manager is more to do with some high powered force not wanting him for some reason!!!! So as long as our King keep putting his noise is every aspect of Moroccan life , the Moroccan team has no chance in hell
02/04/12

Rachid b said:

...
Unscientific analysis, simply based on emotion rather than facts
02/04/12

Hicham-NC said:

By the way, wasn't he the head of ONE???? how do you go from that to soccer??
It's the typical Moroccan style responsibility assignment, we all know that ljami3a is a big joke and we need a real management team to take care of it's business, now when it comes to fihri, I just don't see how a business man can manage a sport federation. But as usual fassi and fihri won't go away and will expect that to stay for a while. And we will not see them jobless in morocco since with or without performance they are there because they are fassi or fihri, and good news a new generation of them is surging morocco from France and Canada so it's a paine we have to live with forever.
02/04/12

nabilino02 said:

Nice analysis
How about Carcela, Saidi, and Amsif the new goalie?
02/03/12

Sahrane said:

Here you go!
the regime gonna keep on giving:
Ram
Atlas's mice...
Pimping girls to desert's pingouins(as maids wink wink)...
more to come soon to a dictatorship near you, stay tuned...
.....
02/03/12

Noureddine Boutahar said:

Thumbs up
Thumbs up M Said for your analysis of the players. I can't agree more.
02/03/12

Write comment

busy