After a comprehensive victory over Medeama, TAP Group brings you valuable insight on how Emam Ashour was instrumental to Al Ahly’s win, with just under an hour left until they visit Tanzanian giants Young Africans in their second group game of this season’s CAF Champions League.
The Red Devils defeated Medeama 3-0 in their opening game of the CAF Champions League group stages last week.
Despite a frustrating 45 minutes for the hosts, second-half goals from Mahmoud Kahraba, Hussein El-Shahat, and Salah Mohsen sealed all three points.
Summer-signing Emam Ashour proved to be instrumental for Al Ahly and played a part in all of their goals. Here’s why the midfielder was key to their success last Saturday.
Moving between the lines
Emam’s biggest strength is moving between the lines. What makes him stand out is his ability to receive the ball and make a turn while having the vision to release his teammates with an accurate pass in one swift motion.
Attacking the space
The 24-year-old can also be an offensive weapon for Al Ahly with his intelligent movement. It was his deep runs that attracted Medeama defenders allowing his teammates to find some gaps upfront to create more chances.
Positioning inside the box
Another attacking quality the midfielder possesses is having the needed awareness in the opposition’s box.
Ashour would be found playing the role of a second striker at times and positioned in areas where the ball would drop in the case of a cutback or a potential rebound.
Despite not getting on the scoresheet, his hard work certainly didn’t go unnoticed.
Marcel Koller recreating the ‘Hamdy Fathi’ role
After playing 11 games so far for Al Ahly, comparisons can easily be made with Hamdy Fathi from last season.
The latter was a focal point in attacking transitions and helped his side move the ball forward while maintaining possession.
It seems that Marcel Koller has made a like-for-like replacement and tasked Ashour with the same roles as Fathi.
*TAP Group are a performance analysis company that specialises in player development and individual player analysis. They’ve worked with several top players in Egyptian football over the course of the past year, and have recently launched an initiative to analyse and develop players under the age of 12 with their very own league.