“The worst trainer I have”. The words of Mostafa Mohamed, in an interview with Ouest-Franceare of rare violence. The Egyptian striker waited for the departure of Antoine Kombouaré to settle his accounts. But what could have created such a fracture between the two men? Behind this shock declaration hides a gesture, a precise moment when everything has changed.
The sidelines that never passed
This gesture is its sidelining of the group for the trip to Saint-Etienne, last January. A decision experienced as a supreme humiliation by Egyptian. Kombouaré had justified his choice by a lack of “performance”, but in reality, the discomfort was deeper. The coach reproached him for his lack of investment and his difficulty in accepting competition from Matthis Abbline. For Mohamed, this eviction was the point of no return.
He says it himself: ” If Kombouaré remained, I was leaving ”. An ultimatum that says a lot about the degradation of their relationship. It must be said that the management of Kombouaré, very directive and demanding a defensive work at all times, has never really “Matchy”
With the style of the attacker, more attracted by the goal than by pressing.
The arrival of Castro, a release for Mohamed
The arrival of Luis Castro this summer has changed everything.
“I am someone who needs to feel that I am trusted”,
explains Mohamed. A confidence he immediately felt with the new coach, and who convinced him to stay. Released, he regained his place as a holder and the net of the nets, and now sees his team fighting “for a European qualification”.
This case has nothing to do with possible religious tensions, Kombouaré having already had disputes with other players in the past on this subject. It is simply the story of human and professional incompatibility. Mostafa Mohamed needed another speech to flourish. And its media outing is a way of saying, in its own way, that it is finally released.
