[FM20] H.C.H's career - Africa

[GreenTriangle]

After years of playing FM I managed (finally !) to move from the level "expert in failures and dismissals" to the level "if i'm lucky a could get some good results". So, being a player with some experience I decided to try a more difficult career, i.e. a career somewhere outside of  the European continent. The question was ... where? Which continent, in which country? I couldn't decide. Then, I got an idea: where do most of the foreign players who play in the national competitions in Europe come from? Of course, most of them come from other European countries. But the others ? Most are from South America or Africa.
After a quick check I found that in the 25 strongest national competitions in Europe play a total of over 1000 African players, over 800 South Americans ... but less than 300 players from North and Central America and less than 250 Asian players. So, a career in some countries from which a lot of great African players come from could be very interesting.
But where ? Which country ? I knew very little about African football. I knew that clubs from Morocco, Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria are very strong. I also knew that the national teams of Nigeria, Senegal, Ghana, Cameroon or Cote d'Ivoire achieved remarkable results in previous editions of the World Cup. But that was all I knew.
It seemed to me that a good idea would be to make a ranking of African countries according to 3 criteria: club performances in the continental competitions, performances of national teams and performances of national youth teams. Based on these rankings I selected 25 countries in which I could start a career:

This does not mean that a career would not have been interesting in the countries I did not select. But there is a reason why I chose only 25 countries: the reputation of clubs and competitions is not very high in Africa.  A comparison : reputation of the best club teams from Africa is similar to the reputation of the best teams playing in the English second league. But some teams teams playing in these 25 selected African leagues may have similar reputations to teams that play in the fifth or even sixth English league. Of course, many clubs in the lower leagues may have even lower reputations, some of these reputations being similar to those held by English clubs playing in the 9th league. From this point of view a career in Africa is very difficult. Not because in Africa there wouldn't be many very good players, but because the various competitions are little known and because the prizes and the revenues from the TV rights are very low, maybe even 15-20 times lower than in European domestic or continental competitions.
List of selected leagues :

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Very short story : a guy named H(ead) C(oach) Hay is looking for a job.  He has only a National C license in his pocket and he has never played high level football.

His intention is to find a job at a lower league club and thus gain some experience.  To begin with, he intends to find a job in countries where the reputation of the lower league clubs is not very high. Kenya, Tanzania, Togo, Benin, Uganda or perhaps Burkina Faso. Unfortunately he is disadvantaged by the fact that he started his search only in September, after most clubs have already hired a head coach.  He has no other solution than to send CVs and he hope he will be noticed somehow.
Of course, some of his CVs were ignored. In other cases he was invited to the interview but was not contacted afterwards.  But finally, after many months of waiting, he got a job :

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A few words about Benin. Compared to other African countries it is a rather small country. But not very small. It has about half of the UK area and here live over 11 millions people.  More than half of the population is concentrated on about a quarter of the territory in the southern region of the country. The capital of the country is in Porto Novo but the largest city of the country is Cotonou. The official language is French. Historically speaking, in the present territory of Benin there was a powerful kingdom called "Dahomey". The capital of the Kingdom of Dahomey was the city of Abomey.  An interesting detail : the religion of the Dahomey Kingdom was called "vodun", but in Europe and America it is known as "voodoo".

And a few words about beninese football. The national team (nicknamed "The Squirrels") has never qualified for a final World Cup tournament. They have qualified 4 times in the final tournament of the Africa Cup and in 2019 they obtained the first notable performance, qualifying in the quarterfinals. Club teams did not achieve any remarkable performance in the continental cups, none of them succeeding in qualifying in the groups of Champions League or Confederation Cup. The best clubs in the country are Dragons de l'Ouémé (12 times champions, 6 times winners of the cup), Buffles de Borgou (5 times champions, 3 times winners of the cup, champions of the last 3 seasons) and Requins de l'Atlantique (de 3 times champions, 5 times winners of the cup). Other clubs that have won either the league or the cup in recent years : AS Oussou-Saka, ASPAC, AS Cotonou, JS Pobe.

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So ... HCH got a job. But who hired him?

Dynamo d'Abomey is a relatively small club that has not achieved great performances over the years. They have never won the championship or the national cup and never even played in the continental competitions. They are a kind of yo-yo team that periodically promote in the first league, survive one or two seasons, then relegate to the second league.

The facilities available are ... as they are. "Poor" and "Basic".  But the stadium is quite large. 7500 places in a city with only 90000 inhabitants is more than reasonable.

However, for unknown reasons, the dimensions of the playing field are rather unusual. Length 115 meters, width 55 meters. Considering that the usual dimensions are 100-105 and 65-70 can be said that HCH will have to make a difficult decision. Either he will ask for some changes of the dimensions of the playing field, or he will "invent" a tactic suitable for a very long and very narrow playing field. But surely this tactic will not work on the opponent's stadiums.

About the technical staff. Unfortunately HCH is not lucky. All the staff is made up of itself, a scout and a physio. There is no assistant manager, no coaches and no coaches for the U21 team. Moreover, the club is already spending a lot more than it should. Which means that any staff members who will be hired will not get high salaries ... so they will not even be the best available.

What was HCH asked for when he signing the contract? "Top half". And "work within payroll budget". Reasonable aims, although HCH is inexperienced.

The current situation of the club is not very bad. A place in the first half seems within reach. Paradoxically, players did better without a head coach. After the former head coach was dismissed the team played 4 more matches and won 3. So far players seem pleased that HCH is their new head coach. It is to be seen how long this will last.

********************

HCH's schedule for the following days:
1. finding an assistant manager
2. finding out more information about available players
3. finding some coaches
4. elaboration of some tactical configurations depending on the available players
5. already 4 tasks are sufficient, the fifth can wait

[GreenTriangle]

... sometimes simple things are very complicated.  Especially for HCH.

HCH therefore sought an assistant manager. And he didn't find it. In fact ... no assistant manager holding a "national C" (or better) coaching qualification did not even want to talk to HCH.

But there were some guys who would be willing to negotiate. None of them had any coaching qualifications. And they asked for a minimum of 7500 / year. Unfortunately the club could offer a maximum of 6000 / year (115 per week). As a result, until he finds someone to sacrifice for a very low salary ... HCH will have to work without an assistant manager. About another coaches, HOYD or other luxury items, there's no point in talking.

Okay, so what did HCH find out after being informed at the club and then meeting the players? It has 43 players. 22 of them being 21 years of age or older, and 21 players being 20 years old or younger. None of them are in danger of being sought after by top European clubs. The bad thing is that those few players who have some abilities ... also have somewhat negative personalities. And those whose personality is acceptable can not boast with who knows what skills.

Over 21 players :

... and under 21 players :

At the end of the season all player contracts will expire. and HCH must avoid by then any renegotiation of salary because many players will want higher wages. And ... the club doesn't have money. The simplest solution would be for some players to be put on the transfer list. But surely the weakest players will not be asked for by anyone. And HCH 'll have to use these players in the league matches. Who are "the weakest"? Hard to say.

In the absence of an assistant manager no one can inform HCH about some aspects such as "consistency" or "important matches". Nor does he have a list of players familiar with the various playing positions.  Until he finds an assistant manager he have to use a handmade list of players ... ... and to select the players according to how much they were used by the former head coach :

Some details about league rules :

********************

Three week later : a historical day. The day when HCH finally found an assistant manager. HCH's new fellow comes from Togolese second league, more precisely from the weakest team in this league. By the way, the second Togolese league have a lower reputation than the second league in Benin.

********************

The first matches of HCH's career ended with an unexpected success. Not because HCH would be a great manager but because he is very lucky :

... and some details about the matches played :

Why is HCH lucky ? Because the opponents do not take his team very seriously (for the moment), because some players who seemed to be surplus to requirements have played well beyond expectations ... and because he accidentally found a tactic that really works (for the moment). But that does not mean that in the future, things will go just as well.

League table looks good. Really good, considering that HCH is just a beginner.  To be honest, promotion is not a realistic option, but a place in the first half seems achievable.

Unfortunately the team started to climb in the media prediction. From the 6th place he came to the 4th place. And this means that the opponents will play much more seriously from now on.

Transfers. The transfer period ended on January 29th. Nobody came, two players left. For HCH it would been been better if more players would been gone but unfortunately reserve players did not get many offers.

*****

Well, facilities are on a "poor" level. HOYD does not exist. There are no youth coaches. The reputation of the club is extremely low. Youth recruitment is "average", that's true. If, in these conditions, a "terrific group of young players" will come to the club... it means that the level of players from the first team is very low.

[GreenTriangle]

February 2020

Not bad ...

**********

March 2020

Not bad at all. But these good results are due more to luck than the way the team plays. In almost every game the opponents had many chances to score. But they missed a lot. Certainly the tactical configuration used by HCH cannot be the cause of a series of games in which opponents shoot numerous times without being able to score even one goal.  However, apart from luck, HCH should thank its own goalkeeper, Deen Aina.  In some matches this guy played better than Lloris, De Gea and ter Stegen in their best days.

After watching some games the club president said in an interview: "I do not know what HCH did but I know that I have not seen in my life a guy more fortunate than him. And if his luck can help the club to try to get even promotion in the first league ... why not ?". 

**********

Youth intake 2020

Impressive ... but normal for the first season. Many of these young players already have more developed skills than some first team players. The trouble is that for now  they do not have a youth coach and the quality of the club facilities will not help them to develop further.

 

[wesl]

Very nice introduction posts. Good luck with the late push for promotion!

[Minuy600]

Interesting career mate, good luck.

[GreenTriangle]

Thanks

*****

April 2020

Three wins. And a small chance for promotion ... but with one condition : the next match (which will be played against a direct counter-candidate, ASOS) must be won.

*****

May 2020

Maybe next year will be better ...

To he honest, HCH has no reasons to complain. His team lost the two most important matches of the season. And a team ranked 10th in the middle of the competition is not very likely to promote if they lose too many points. In any case, for a young and inexperienced head coach 15 games won out of 20 played is not a failure.

However, even if the club president and supporters are - for the moment - satisfied with the 4th place, HCH has little reason to boast. Dynamo is a club with a good reputation in Benin, so it can draw pretty good players. And it's not a poor club, at least compared to other clubs in Benin.

Such a club should be able to promote without any problem in the second season. Unfortunately, HCH discovered that it would not be so simple. Because at the end of the season a lot of players seemed appalled by the idea that in the next season the club should try to promote in the first league. Probably the first Benin league is something particularly creepy. Or, much more likely, many players do not have the ambition needed to play in a higher league.  It was shocking, but only one player (Gbaguidi) reacted positively to the idea of a possible attempt to promote. Absolutely everyone else was against it. Instead, they were very happy with a top half position.

Dynamo is the richest club in the league ... but it does not have the best players. Abilities of many players are at the level "they are good enough for a team ranked in the top 6 but not good enough for a team that wants to promote in the first league"

There are currently 57 players at the club. And absolutely all contracts expire at the end of June. Theoretically, for HCH it is easy to keep better players and not to extend the contracts of less useful players. But the choice is difficult because only a few players are really good. Many of them have a lot of strengths but also a lot of weaknesses :

(Normally HCH should not need such a detailed table. But unfortunately HCH' assistant manager is inexperienced and he does not have a coach license. And that means that his opinions are not exactly trustworthy). In any case, for the next season HCH would need 20 - 22 players for senior squad and 18 (maybe 20) players for youth squad. And about 2-3 new players (transfers or loans)

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Some details about the national competitions that took place in other African countries. African football is quite little known and many clubs are only known in terms of their "exotic" names. However, some African clubs may have teams as good as some known Eastern European clubs. Even smaller African clubs can have good players, in some cases better than some European clubs that have more money.

Benin, first league (I also attached the media prediction because it represents an assessment of the clubs reputation and the quality of the players)

Northern Africa (the strongest African club teams)

Western Africa (countless players with a huge potential ... but not enough financial resources)

Central Africa and Nigeria. (as in West Africa. Very good players, limited resources)

Southern Africa

Eastern Africa

Champions League and Confederation Cup

And some details about the Benin national team. Some very good players but unfortunately none of them play at any of the top 20-30 European clubs.

********************

July - Augst 2020

Big (and unrealistic) news for HCH :

Why unrealistic ? Because the largest payroll budget in the first league is 270,000. Much smaller than the budget available for HCH in the second league. But ...

 ... no player wants to hear about promotion anymore. Everyone is very happy to play in the second league . It's time for some changes ...

***

September 2020 (before the start of the league)

Senior squad

U21 squad

Staff (improved, including a new assistant manager)

Transfers (not too spectacular, but for now these are good enough)

And something (maybe ?) less important :

It is not clear how much the size of the playing field matters. But for HCH, a playground with a length of 105 and a width of 68 seems more normal than one with the dimensions 115 X 55

*****

Naturally, the other clubs could not abstain. They jumped with countless offers, all containing the huge transfer amount of 0 euros / dollars / pounds / whatever else. And, of course, some players were really upset when HCH dared to decline these offers. Unfortunately, even if unhappy players have no influence in the locker room, the team's morale has been affected :

For HCH the real problem is Moussoro's reaction. It's important ? Yes, because Moussoro is the best midfielder in the squad ... and because on the field he acts as a playmaker. Not because he is asked to play the role of playmaker. Normally Moussoro plays as a central midfielder with defense duty. But his position and his abilities gives him the chance to to act exactly like a playmaker:

By the way ... some details about the tactical configuration used by HCH during the last months :

It cannot be said that HCH used a single tactic but a set of tactics applied to the same configuration. Defenders played all the time using the formula FB / S - CD / D - CD / D - FB / S. Central midfielders played CM / S - CM / D. But for the midfielders and attackers HCH used several roles and duties. Also, team instructions were different from match to match, but HCH never used more than 3 instructions at the same time.

[GreenTriangle]

September 2020

October 2020

Not bad ... but not very good either. Dynamo do not have the best players in the league but even with the available players they should be able to fight for promotion. Unfortunately the offensive does not work well. A lot of shots, but most of them were caused by the lack of other options (free players available to receive the ball).

(Mention : this kind of tables are useless for an experienced manager because he can see what is the problem without any table. But can be useful for HCH who is an unexperienced and unskilled manager)

So .. these are the configurations used by HCH. These are generic because sometimes HCH changed some roles (one of the wide midfielders was used as winger and the striker was used as advanced forward, pressing forward or deep lying forward). In all cases the problem was the same : central midfielders did not have enough available options.

*****

November 2020

Looks better, especially because the team played very good against two of the best teams from the league (JA Cotonou ang Delta FC de Glazoué)

*****

December 2020

Good results, although the defeat was a bit embarrassing.

Tactical configuration used in all these 9 matches :

Frequency of the shots from outside the box is lower and, more important, central midfielders are now more constructive. Is not an ideal configuration but is better than those configuration used in previous matches

***

Some infos about the squads :

Senior squad

Some guys played really well, especially Soule, Tossavi, Moussoro and Zounon. Others did not impress at all, even if the assistant manager claims that they are very good players.

U21 squad (none of them played any match for the senior squad, theirs stats refers to U21 team only)

Some young players (especially Abessou) look to be good enough for the senior squad even if they are 16 years old.

****

HCH has some troubles. First, the club cannot get enough revenues to support a very large salary budget. The budget was reduced from 350,000 to 260,000 / year. So, HCH will have to give up some players who are not really needed :

Second, the club president does not want to let HCH to improve his coaching skills :

Third. The chief scout (who is his own chief because he is the only one scout at the club) recommended this young guy :

From any point of view this guy is a treasure. Is way better than any player who is playing now at Dynamo. But ... for get this player HCH needs some money. Not only for transfer but also for his requests. He wants to sign a contract only as "star player" and with a salary three times higher than that received by some important players.

*****

For the moment locker room atmosphere, team cohesion and leadership support are very good :

But ... in a few days the transfer period will begin. Some players will want to leave, others will give up. Inevitably some players 'll become unhappy and the morale of the team will not be so good. And even if everything goes well, there will be a problem: in the case of promotion, the team will not cope with the first league. HCH need better players. And better tactics. And better ... many other things

[GreenTriangle]

January 2021

A not so good month, 6 points only. Dar HCH was lucky because AS Cotonou, Delta and Hodio played even weaker, none of them being able to win more than one match out of four played.

*****

February 2020

Very good month, but with some luck. At Avrankou the team won after a brilliant first half ... and a very weak second half. And about the last game ... HCH must be honest, this draw was clearly undeserved.

***

Surprising but the transfer period was not eventful. Only a few offers for some young players. In fact, the main problem for HCH was that the team leaders were unhappy because the team "was not strengthened enough".  Is not clearly why they believe of their teammates have to be replaced by better players, but ...

*****

March 2020

Well ... hot, cold and hot. In the league, 7 point only. An undeserved defeat against the leaders (when the team played really good) and 2 points lost foolishly against a weak team that can no longer avoid relegation. On the other hand, two big wins in the Benin Cup and an unexpected qualification in semi-finals.  Why was this qualification unexpected ? Both opponents (Sèmè Kraké and Ayema d'Adjarra) are first league clubs and they have better players than Dynamo. But from another point of view ...  both teams play poorly, being on the 15th and 16th places and having high chances to relegate to the second league. Probably their players have a very low morale and consequently they play weaker than usual.

Unfortunately in the semifinals the opponent will be much stronger. ASPA Cotonou won the first league in the previous season and this season they are undefeated after 25 rounds played. Moreover, they are the only team from Benin that managed to qualify in the group stage of a continental competition.

***

Yay ! A lot of money !!!

***

Youth intake 2021 :

An unexpected good intake. Of course, good for a small west-african club. It is hard to believe that any of them could end up playing for an important club, not even for an important club from Benin. Anyway, these guys seem to be almost as good as the young players from the last year intake. On the other hand, the opinion of the assistant manager Olokalila can be subjective. Some young players can be better than he thinks and others less good. For example, Olokalila thinks that Tossavi and Gbaguidi are "surplus to requirements". But for HCH these are important players who deserve to play in the first 11 :

Locker room and cohesion. Everything seems to be good. Except the fact that Moussoro has moved from the level "player lacking confidence in his qualities" to the level "player who teaches HCH how to build a competitive team". It's not exactly what HCH wanted from him ...

[GreenTriangle]

April 2021

7 points won out of 9. And only 3 more points needed for promotion.

*****

May 2021

Promotion. And a good end of the season, even though the defeat in the Cup semi-final was a bit humiliating. 

*****

The best eleven ... it's in fact "the best nine". Because there were two positions (central defender / left and advanced midfielder / left) where none of the players used was the ideal solution

Squads 

Senior squad :

U21 squad : 

Strange. Why do all U21 players have such high potential ? The assistant manager is an amateur and his skills are very limited. However, he should be able to distinguish between an important future player and a mediocre player. Are all U21 players better (potentially) than most of the players from senior squad ? Hard to believe that. Senior squad players are not very good but they are good enough to get promotion in the first league. However, with a few exceptions (Abessou, Kounasso and Awi Sowanou), the U21 players do not yet have the experience and skills needed to play in the first league.

On the other hand, it is not clear why Awandjinou (13 goals, 6 assists) is rated as one of the weakest strikers from senior and U21 squads. Tossavi (9 goals scored, 7 assists) is rated as "surplus to requirements" even if he is one of the best players in terms of attributes. Zounon is a much better player than the assistant manager thinks while the much praised Yvan Medenou is not at all one of the best players in the team. 

In principle it would not be a problem if the assistant is  subjective, but HCH will have to build a team capable of survive in the first league. And this will be difficult to do if it is based on the wrong assistant manager advices.

The payroll budget allocated for next season is huge ... but probably the club management will change it after a few months. In the second league the club had revenues of 120-150,000 euros / year and the first league does not guarantee much higher revenues. HCH should be cautious and not spent too much.

The prizes are small ... and neither the TV rights allocated to the participants in the first league are much higher

*****

Good news for HCH: the goals set by the club president for the next season are not very high-aimed :

Team cohesion and leadership support are at high levels and it would be good to stay at high levels as long as possible. This would mean that the squad should not be modified too much. Bringing in 3 or at most 4 new (and good) players should be enough for survive in the first league.

*****

Club facilities are at a very low level (and the club president is refusing any improvement so far). In addition, coaches who are willing to work at Dynamo are not very good, being people who do not have a license or who have at most a "national C" license. This means that it is unlikely that any player can reach his full potential even with a good training scheme.

*****

The promotion has significantly improved the reputation of the club, now listed as the 11th best club in Benin :

*****

HCH's abilities have improved. Not much, of course, there is no danger for HCH to be requested by clubs like Barcelona or Bayern. But, anyway, his attributes look pretty good after the first 17 months of his career.

**********

**********

Some details about the national competitions from Benin and other African Countries :

Benin

Western Africa 

Central Africa and Nigeria

Northern Africa

Eastern Africa

Southern Africa

*****

African continental competitions

Surprisingly, a clear domination of South African clubs. However, it is normal because the big clubs in South Africa are rich compared to other African clubs.

*****

... and the senior national team which will play soon the first game in the final tournament of the African Nations Cup (in an extremely difficult group with Morocco, Mali and Ivory Coast)

...

[GreenTriangle]

Well, for unknown reasons, the Benin national team achieved an exceptional performance at the final tournament of the African Nations Cup. Not because they played very well but because their opponents attacked and forgot that their own defense can be vulnerable to counterattacks.

For HCH this is a positive thing because his CV has improved without any effort from him. He can boast now that he is not managing a team in an obscure competition but in the national championship of an African Nations Cup semi-finalist.

*****

So ... a new season. A season which seems to be rather complicated for HCH, despite the fact that the expectations set by the club president are not very ambitious :

Why is so complicated this season ? Because one day HCH had the idea to organize a meeting. Guests: the entire staff, including the assistant manager. Meeting theme: which are the strengths and weaknesses of the senior squad. Conclusion of the meeting : the weaknesses are countless but the strengths ... only a few. In short : players are very good, except their natural fitness, acceleration, pace, balance, stamina, anticipation, composure, decisions, off the ball, vision and almost all technical abilities. 

So ... what to do? First of all, is needed a better quality staff. Solved :

It looks impressive but, of course, all these coaches have a low level of skills and qualifications. They are good enough for the first league in Benin only because the reputation of this league is quite low :

The club president did not accept the hiring of a goalkeeper coach. Reason? Poor club financial situation. Additional physios or scouts ? No way ! A coach for the U21 squad ? Forget it ! Some facilities improvements ?

Conclusion: there is no money. The fact that the payroll budget is very large does not mean that the club can spend too much. But in this case the transfers are drastically restricted because the really good players do not sign contracts for small salaries. HCH can easily find players as good as those players who are already part of his senior squad. But if he want better players ... many of them do not even want to negotiate a contract. And those who want to talk ask to play as "star player" and to be paid with at least 15.000 / year.

On the other hand, "team cohesion" and "leadership support" are very good. What is better : a team with a high cohesion or a team with many new (and maybe better) players ... but with a lower cohesion ? Hard to choose but ... because the club does not have a lot o money to spend ... the better option looks to be  "one or two new (and good) players and a better cohesion".

*****

Good news for HCH. Team meeting on the first day of pre-season. Although the team is not made up of very ambitious players, everyone seems determined to fight heroically to avoid relegation.

The "less good" news : due to the lack of ambition and determination of some players, probably any series of good results will be followed by a series of less good results.

*****

Media prediction: as expected. Which is good because in the first rounds all opponents will try to score as much as they can, so their defesive will become vulnerable.

*****

Transfers : two players in, one player out. And 10 useless players released.

Team cohesion is impressive. Locker room atmosphere is not so impressive, but it can be improved if the HCH team will be able to raise the morale of some players.

*****

Club vision : nothing was changed. Fight bravely against relegation. 

*****

The senior squad : all the key players from the previous season + Ilboudo (a very good player, even if his professionalism is not very high) ... and 4 young, good but inexperienced players from the U21 team

The U21 squad : a lot of potential 4 stars+ players but with no chance to develop their abilities due to poor club facilities.

*****

Tactical configurations : HCH has manifested his creative genius by designing 3 completely devastating tactical configurations ... okay, that's a bit exaggerated. So ... HCH chose a tactical configuration (4-3-3 wide) that would allow him to use all three very good central midfielders he has in his squad. Unexpectedly, the results were surprisingly good. The other two configurations are the one used in the previous season (4-4-2 assymetric) and the one used by the U21 team. By the way, HCH also manages the youth team matches because this allows him to discover any player who could play in the senior squad.

*****

September 2021

Well ... not bad at all. Honestly speaking HCH was a little lucky, but anyway, the team has played unexpectedly well so far.

.....

[GreenTriangle]

October 2021

Only two matches in the league. And two friendly matches. The results were ... normal. AS Togo Port and Buffles are very strong teams, even though the "buffaloes" had a very weak start to the season. And the U21 team can sometimes be hard to beat.

The reason for the interruption of the league was the participation of the Benin national team in the qualifying stage for the 2022 World Cup. Unfortunately, the national team not only failed to qualify for the final stage but they not even manage to avoid the last place even if their group was not very difficult :

*****

November 2021

Well ... four games played against some weak teams. Unfortunately, the "weak teams" proved strong enough to win two matches. It seems that the team managed by HCH is not much better than the teams which fight to avoid relegation.

Team cohesion and leadership support looks great. For HCH it is not clear to what extent "team cohesion" and "leadership support" can improve the results of the matches ... but some rumors claim that the results could be better if the cohesion and support are as high as possible.

*****

After countless requests (all rejected), HCH finally understood that he has no chance to improve his coaching skills in the near future, at least if it is about the courses for obtaining a higher license :

*****

Oh ... HCH's fame as a wizard begins to make victims. He was offered the unique opportunity to manage a team whose chances of avoiding relegation are hard to be seen even under the microscope :

*****

December 2021

Six matches played, only four points won. But it was to be expected because the team does not have the mentality and the skills needed to stay in the first half of the table. For most players avoiding relegation is a great performance. And for HCH is hard to convince them that they have to fight to get more.

Even the club president is very pleased with the evolution of the team. And if the president is very pleased ... players have no reason to make some additional efforts.

 

However, there is a problem. At the beginning of the season the opposing teams played very aggressively. They tried to score as much as possible and were not concerned with protecting their own defense. After a few rounds, however, the opponents realized they had to play more carefully. Also, they realized that HCH's defense is very slow, not very skilled and not cope well with free kicks or corners. As a result, they are now able to create more and more clear chances.

Is this a problem for HCH? Not necessarily. Normally 30 points are enough to avoid relegation. And in the next 14 rounds the team is likely to win easily those 9-10 points it needs. HCH now has the opportunity to try to build a strong team. And that means he'll try to transfer some good players ...

[GreenTriangle]

He did it :

Seven new players. Two central defenders (Abimola and Adome), one left defender (Mousse), two central midfielders (Adikpeto and Kiki), one wide midfielder (D. Abessou) and one striker (Tokpo). The striker was not necessarily needed but the "great star" Olayode Abessou (who scored only one goal in 10 games played) insisted on being loaned. Probably 10 matches are far too few for a 17 year old player. Still, it's not Olayode's fault. HCH is the one who promised him that he will be a "regular starter". And the boy even thought that HCH is a good manager. (He is not).

Of course, there were other changes too. Two young players (Orou and Zagnon) were sent to the U21 team. Sohou was loaned. Another three other players were listed for the loan but no one was interested. Even if those clubs didn't have to pay any money. Bad luck ...

So ... this is how the senior squad looked at the beginning of the January :

... and so it looks at the end of the month :

Is the team stronger now? Hard to say. Some attributes have improved, others ... (comparison between July 2021 and January 2022) :

Vision, technique, off the ball, first touch, anticipation and stamina are clearly better. Not much, but better. Unfortunately other attributes like concentration and flair are worse. Decisions skills are almost unchanged and this is not good because the team cohesion was greatly decreased in just 3 weeks :

*****

January 2022

The first match was painful. Because HCH's team had chances to score at least 3-4 goals but they were defeated by 0 - 3. The last match was also painful, but for opponents. ASPA played much better and they only got a draw. After the first match the team morale became dangerously low and a team meeting was needed. Fortunately, the players reacted positively.

*****

Did I ever say that HCH is an inexperienced manager? It took him more than two years to discover that there is a FIFA rule that sounds like this: "Players may be registered for a maximum of three clubs during the period from 1 July to 30 June of the following year. During this period, the player is only eligible to play in Official Matches for two clubs". This means that Elie Kiki, the best player transferred by HCH ... has no right to play for Dynamo d'Abomey. Good job, HCH !

*****

February 2022

One hot, one cold. The first match ended with a remarkable qualification. However, the result was influenced by the fact that Tonerre insisted on shooting from a distance (16 shots from outside the box) instead of using the wide areas of the field. The second match was probably the most awkward of the last 3 seasons. A weak team (JS Pobe) defeated in a humiliating way a very weak team (Dynamo d'Abomey).

*****

March 2022

Three hot, three cold. Unexpectedly, the team plays very well in the Benin Cup. The qualification in the semifinals is remarkable because the opponents defeated in the previous rounds (Tonerre, AS Tado and Dragons) have better teams than Dynamo. On the other hand, results of matches played in the league were ... painful. Fortunately, the difference between Dynamo and the relegation places looks to be large enough (7 points).

HCH does not know to what extent the team meeting can influence the result of a match. But it is clear that it can influence team morale and sometimes better morale can mean better play. In any case, after the defeat against Beke FC a new team meeting was needed, and the effect was obvious : the team played much better in the next match.

*****

Really ?!? Oh, that's wonderful ! HCH's managerial skills strikes again ...

Don't say anything! No one should know! It's a secret! HCH himself will deal with the problem. You will be surprised! (By the way, HCH has no idea what he should do)

*****

Nothing special. Some guys who want to play football. None of them seem to be good enough to ever play in the first 11.

....