George Moore

Adel Amrouche’s tenure started in disastrous fashion with that infamous 1-0 aggregate loss to Malawi, which saw the Zebras knocked out of World Cup qualifying at the first round of asking. Although he was largely blameless in that defeat, having taken over less than a month before the game (the BFA’S wisdom in appointing a Head Coach with such little time to prepare for such a crucial match should seriously be questioned), it could be argued his reign never really recovered.

Since September 2019, in the 10 fixtures Amrouche has overseen, the Zebras managed just one win and three draws. His biggest failing has been his inability to get the Zebras firing up front. A return of two goals in 900 minutes (that’s 15 hours!) of football is quite frankly pathetic by any standards. To put that into context, in the ten games before Amrouche took over, the Zebras managed 12 goals.

Admittedly, apart from the 5-0 thrashing by Algeria, Amrouche’s teams have always been competitive, never losing by more than a single goal. However, for a man whose reportedly on P250,000 a month, is that really good enough?

Certainly, Amrouche has gained the players’ respect, as they all seem to have positive things to say about him, his coaching methods and his man management. He has ruffled feathers at the BFA and his passion for the job cannot be questioned. He has also had to work under the most trying of circumstances, with Covid-19 hitting just five months after he assumed the Head Coach role.

Also, it has to be asked, should the BFA decide to part ways with Amrouche, who would they get to replace him? For P250,000 a month, you’d certainly hope they find someone!