Essam Marai, former Zamalek star, confirmed that the tactical mistakes of the team’s head coach, Yannick Ferreira, were the main reason for the inconsistent performance of Zamalek players in the derby match against Al Ahly.

Marai stated in an interview on the ‘Zamalekawy’ program with Mohamed Sabry on Zamalek TV that allowing Al Ahly to dominate possession despite their technical decline was one of the main reasons for Zamalek’s loss in the derby. He added that Ferreira failed to exploit Al Ahly’s defensive weaknesses by applying high pressure on them.

The former Zamalek star pointed out that Ferreira made a mistake by substituting Nabil Emad ‘Donga’ despite the absence of a defensive midfielder replacement.

Marai concluded his statements saying, “The negatives and mistakes must be addressed before the upcoming matches, and I hope to close the chapter of the Al Ahly match completely and focus on the upcoming match against Ghazl El Mahalla to maintain the league lead.”