Pitso Mosimane has offered his opinion on his successor at Al Ahly Ricardo Soares, saying he wouldn’t have got the job if he wasn’t capable.
Soares was lured from Portuguese top-flight club Gil Vicente back in July after Mosimane walked away from his role as the Red Devils’ head coach.
And despite being regarded as one of the finest young tacticians from the country, he’s not found life easy in Cairo as Ahly are nine points behind league leaders Zamalek with four games remaining.
But Mosimane feels that it takes more than just coaching ability to make a success of yourself at the elite level in African football, citing the complexities of the most successful club on the continent.
“I must respect the coach that’s there, he’s a European coach, he comes from [UEFA] Pro License, you know the story. He’s done his work in Portugal, he wouldn’t be able to coach Al Ahly if he wasn’t good,” Mosimane said.
“I know Al Ahly is complex, it’s a complex club and African clubs are complex to European coaches because it’s a different cattle of fish.
“It’s what Dr. Jordaan was saying, you fly two hours, then you there, play Champions League, you go Kinshasa… go to wherever. You see how the game is there, it’s played more outside the [pitch] than inside.
“Somewhere, somehow that’s where the whole thing [goes wrong] with European coaches. I don’t know if you can put Pep [Guardiola] in the [CAF] Champions League and he’d do well.”
