Johnson: This is not the same Al Ahly

Former Al Ahly assistant coach, Cavin Johnson, has lambasted his former team for the poor performance against Mamelodi Sundowns.

The Egyptian giants were hammered 5-2 by Sundowns in Caf Champions League Group B. And Johnson, who joined the team in October 2020, says his former team were badly prepared for the game.

“Al Ahly prepared very badly for the match against Sundowns; they have the same team but tactically they got it completely wrong,” Johnson tells Touchline News. “I don’t think they have prepared properly for the Caf Champions League and I don’t think they analysed Sundowns well.

“They thought Sundowns was the same Sundowns that played the last time. But it’s not the same Sundowns, at the same time this is not the same Al Ahly.

“They were poorly prepared; they went to the game with a very defensive mindset and sometimes they played with five defenders and sometimes four – their midfield was not strong enough.

“Sundowns were able to overpower them. Sundowns like to play in small pockets of spaces and they are good at going forward. They have very good technical players, who can play a small game.”

With two matches remaining in the competition, Al Ahly must win both matches and hope that beat Al Hilal this coming weekend. But Johnson believes that his former team’s chances of making to the quarter-final are very slim.

“I watched the game live and I saw Al Ahly using five defenders and there were only two attackers from Sundowns. Sundowns just overpowered them tactically.

“They have a very slim chance of qualifying for the quarter-final, they have to go out and win their last two games and hope that Sundowns does them a favour and beat Al Hilal. Sundowns will probably beat Coton Sport.”

By Zola Doda

error: Content is protected !!