How to Analyse GKs: Mamadou Wurie Jalloh – AFCON U20
Sierra Leone have reached the quarter finals of the U20 AFCON for their first participation in the tournament. I’ve put the initial game vs Zambia in the background to catch something, then proceeded to watch their subsequent games.
Speaking of, one player who did catch a few things between the sticks is Sierra-Leone’s Mamadou Jalloh.
Born in Denmark from Sierra-Leone and Guinea heritage, he’s made a dozen saves in the group stage including 6 vs Egypt ; most in a single game in the tournament so far.
An easy to use review of goalkeeper saves, with technical details and decisions.
And some notes on talent hotbeds, unconventional talent pathways and COSAFA
Sierra Leone rotated in the final group stage game, knowing they qualified
Having beaten host country Egypt 4-1
And will face (likely favourites) Morocco at 6pm on Monday
· Sierra Leone are the first debutant since Uganda in 2021 to defeat the hosts. Uganda won 2-1 against Mauritania in the group stages in 2021.
· Sierra Leone are the first debutants to score four goals in a game at their first finals since Benin in 2005, who defeated Cote d’Ivoire 4-1 in their second pool fixture in 2005.
· In its current format, only one debutant since 1991 has avoided defeat in their first two games, which was Burundi in 1995. They won one and drew one game. They lost their third group game.
On the subject of goalkeepers, I wrote that introductory article on Kepa vs Mendy
The TL;DL being
Kepa has academic footwork and ball catching, but can not jump
Mendy has idiosyncratic goalkeeper technique, but unbelievable reach
These are top end examples of a false positive, and a false negative in recruitment and why casuals on both sides have been fighting with what they think they understand about goalkeepers. Which is frequently less than they would care to admit.
There’s goalkeepers who can move their feet quickly, more springy
There’s goalkeepers who can jump with strength and reach far
Both fit for purpose, just different styles
Notes on Adel, the gigantic and beaming goalkeeper I signed from grassroots in 2018 as a 15 year old GK for my U19 team in 2017-18
who’ll play the next AFCON with Comoros, after finishing 4th at the COSAFA Cup 2024
And for vexillology connoisseurs, well
Setting up a wall
A football wall on direct free kicks is set up with the tallest player in line with the near post, then add 3 more players. In case the taker is notoriously keen on outswingers, you can add one more player outside the trajectory.
Making sure to see the kick of the ball
The GK stance is usually feet a bit larger than shoulders, slightly leaning forward
Then jockeying (on toes) laterally when the ball is in the air
Making sure to push with the near leg (from the trajectory) from the position that can allow to reach the ball (after jockeying)
Balance between “reducing angle” and “time to react”
On crosses, in there’s no presence at the near post, it can however make sense to reduce the space between goalkeeper and last man
So that it makes it less inviting to shell a “cross in the mixer” defences hate to handle
Bad habits are hard to fix
MJ has a continental GK education, and even if he didn’t, the point isn’t to patronize (there’s scrubs everywhere) but point that goalkeepers who do not move whilst out of possession to stay alive and in line with the ball, rarely go places unless they’ve got some other super strengths
CAN U20 with some absolutely glorious pieces of decision making from a shot selection standpoint, but Jalloh was in line with the ball anyway with these two small steps.
People from Zambia are good people anyway. Ce sont des Zambiens.
The subtitle is a wind up, there’s good foundations here
Hit refresh
Goalkeepers in 1v1 situations are the last obstacle before a goal
For any smartass pseudoscience dweebs (thinking of the “positionism/relationism” buffoonery) who never had a look at this – no pressure, it’s out there since 1979
First striker peep at the goalkeeper’s positioning:
Decision making is based on affordances. “checking your shoulder” is a tool, just like giving a violin to a pianist won’t turn him into Yehudi Menuhin
You “check your shoulder” (here, quite literally) to perceive what the environment “affords” you to do, based on what you can “afford” to do.
This is based on what’s out there, but a blend of past experience, and approach to problem solving
do you try stuff
do you do the same stuff whatsoever
are you inhibited because what you do doesn’t align with the coach’s ego trip
do you come up with unexpected solutions ; that’s creativity
Key thing for goalkeepers is to move fast, in the second stage of
the moment the striker takes a screenshot of the GK and space he perceives
the moment the striker looks at his boots, the supporter mooning in the stands or whatnot
the moment the striker looks up to shoot.
Most of the time strikers look at the ball, sometimes in these OJ Simpson Car Chase counters, on their rear mirrors.
Goalkeeper, ball, Goalkeeper ; point for the GK is to move when the striker looks away
Le Zambien voit bien, à l’inverse de son voisin Ivoirien anyway.
Position of the goalkeeper, a foot in front of the 6 yd box as the striker is checking his shoulder
Time Mamadou Jallow uses to eat up ground
Defending 1v1s for goalkeepers is a game ;
“Grandmother’s Footstep” in the UK (1-2-3 soleil in France)
“Red Light – Green Light” in the US because most of you use your Cybertruck to buy eggs, milk and bread in another State.
The game where you walk forward whilst the master of the game doesn’t look, and you must freeze when they look. For the TikTok generation.
Move between the second before last check, and last check.
Change the picture, quite literally for the striker.
Unless he hits “F5” and refreshes, the information changed from his last screenshot and usually shoots at the one thing that moves (and bright, orange etc…) which is the goalkeeper. Which is why it’s always better for GKs to wear these phosphorecent jerseys fit for purpose to cross the highway in the fog.
Goalkeeper’s stance is strong, that’s the strongest he can be to not be put off balance, shoulders slightly forward, legs with an angle (to spring or resist)
Reflex is excellent
And parry zone is decent, away from danger.
“I’m paying you to save shots” and efficiency rules here, no need for a PhD thesis.
Punch the ball away from danger. Some do, some don’t.
Play or sign the ones who do.
That strong stance prevents the GK to collapse and fall on his arse as well.
“F5”
That’s *a* counter attack
And also the last time the striker checked the position of the goalkeeper
Who then eats up ground whilst the striker’s looking at making a clean first touch
Which he kind of doesn’t, but the screenshot doesn’t reflect the timeline anymore
The surface is wide, legs bending at 45° so that it’s easier to unfold the knee for a footed save
Arms at the ready, palms open which is a bigger surface.
Also intuitively easier to “parry” (spread arms up) than down.
A reminder that “The French” call a corkscrew a “De Gaulle”
Another key criteria for goalkeepers: do you throw yourself on goalbounds shots
ie: do you turn the chest, or head because you’re afraid of the football
MJ – is not.
Catch a cross to not catch a comment
A routine collection, watch how the leap is synchronised with arms almost fully stretched to catch the ball in front of his face
Some goalkeepers keep “chicken arms” not unfolded
Some goalkeepers mis-read the trajectory and catch the ball away from their face or behind them
Some fumble it because they mis-judge and catch with the fingers, or palms both sides of the ball (failing to use the thumbs as “lock” behind the ball). Or just drop it like a bar of soap by clumsiness.
Dog’s kennel and Taibi
Some nice adjustment feet laterally to stay in line with the ball
Using his bent knee to make sure the ball technically can’t go through
To not do a Taibi who let Le Tissier score from range. Well, makes you think…
Goalkeeper stance : stable base (wide feet), chest slightly forward, arms slightly open
Lateral skipping getting legs across (to not tangle legs)
To make sure to push with the ball side leg
Trajectory is well covered ; with a combination of lateral footwork to set a good stating position to jump, and jumping strength to reach far
If MJ only relies on his strength to push from that point, he ends up woefully short.
“Unlucky”
Lateral movement is fairly self explanatory ; but is where you spot goalkeepers who’ve had that training, or naturally have that feel for goalkeeping.
Usually, you try to keep the (right) leg in line with the rest of the body with even more core strength
Angle vs time conundrum
The through pass is a curveball
Much of the conceptions of “modern goalkeeping” revolve around gimmicks ;
Such as “be as high as possible” (not on substances, even if some of the microwave tacticos reasonings seem unhinged enough to ask the question. That is until they actually have to win a game with a team people care about for the money that it will cost them if they don’t take the W).
The reduction of angle is an urban myth whose trade off value is well off the mark compared to the time available to react.
Pochettino’s goalkeeper coach Toni Jimenez worked with Hugo Lloris when Tottenham made two Premier League title charges, with the youngest team in the league and also the best defensive record
and also with Robert Sanchez last season
Backtrack when you’ve got time allowed by a bad touch
or back pass
Benchmarking with Chelsea goalkeeper Robert Sanchez
Backtracking at pace, legit at this stage
But then giving himself even more time to handle the shot
Withdrawing the outside leg (left)
Core strength, the leg doesn’t move all over the gaff
More on that after
Corner punch
The rule of thumb for goalkeepers is to start at 2/3 of the distance between both posts (7 mètres 32 centimeters which is 8 yards)
for a clean punch
Away from danger, not a home run but probably the farthest he can go
Control momentum to stay whithin the posts
Common mistake for goalkeepers is to be “ball watching” and get dragged beyond the near post, which delays them for handling any subsequent cross
MJ doesn’t, stops and navigates from roughly 2/3 of the goal ball side
Leg withdrawal
The shot probably takes a bit of a deflection between the defenders’ legs
The point for MJ is to withdraw his leg on the side of the ball, to replace it with his arm
The hand is replacing the foot, who are at the same height at the same time, which is the criteria for good execution
Due to the deflection, he actually parries it with the shoulder – and out
Angle / Reaction time trade-off
Another instance of the tradeoff
That’s two schools ; reduce the angle vs give yourself more time to make a save)
The cross is a tricky-ish one, up and under full of snow ; difficult for everyone to gain momentum and use the trajectory to head, flick or clear it
MJ, sligthly in between (goal and last defender)
Backtracks and gives himself more time to make a decision
This is basic triangulation : speed, distance and time.
Goalkeeper can’t impact the speed of the ball ; which is down to striker’s finishing skill
But can influence the distance he gives himself to make a save
Time is a function of distance and speed (distance / speed)
Safety first, using his right leg and knee + hands to make sure the ball technically can’t go through.
He’s not a Sierra Leologram.
Rush off his line
Defender puts the arm in front
The run is never exactly straight, it’s a bit curvilinear to
go to ground and catch the ball
A GPS vest won’t prevent injuries. Training football specific movement at the right time does.
Performance Managers are watching TikTok or reading blue tick Tacticos .
Key (general) point is that you’re not developping teams or winning games with gimmicks like “I want a modern goalkeeper”, “I want a goalkeeper as high as possible”
It comes down to
Perception / action : some players perceive relevant cues faster, and process it to make better decisions
Range of movement : actually eating up ground to get to the ball first
Sure, from a coaching standpoint you can put players in problem solving situations to experience a wider range and sample size of carefully designed situations (or chaos within boundaries to explore)
you can also work on refining movement, ideally with football specific actions (catch a football to learn how to catch a football, the old Mourinho one liner that the pianist doesn’t run around the piano to warm up).
Unless, well, he carries the piano himself. Legend.
But generally, you work with what you’ve got, some players have better foundations than others ; subsequently cost more money because they can handle larger distances (from a ground eating standpoint) and shorter distances (to make faster decisions).
Shots from range
Adjustment lateral footwork
To push with the outside leg (right)
Parry area is only OK though, could be worse but still live
On the follow up, the GK stance is good
Largest surface (palms open), legs not too far apart for a potential footed save
And ready to spring if needed
If he was stiff, leg apart, that’s the typical low driven shot that goes between the legs as a own goal Cruyff turn
Reaction time
Trampoline first touch
Perception-action, eat up ground
Withdraw the leg, go to ground
Egypt’s opener
In the Suez Canal Authority Stadium.
Yep, found a gap at the near post just there.
This time, the trade-off between distance and reaction let him down
A closer distance might suggest a foot save, no matter how idiosyncratic it is
MJ is slightly bit late to withdraw his left leg to replace his foot by his hand :
Foot still on the ground, whilst the palm goes low
Trajectory would’ve been covered ; with the difference being having given himself a slightly bit more time to make a decision
An example from Hugo Lloris who worked with Toni Jimenez (Pochettino’s goalkeeper coach) at Spurs – from the school of “give yourself more time to make a decision” (by going back on the goal line) rather than chase the bag of gold at the bottom of the rainbow by “reducing the angle”
Is the trade off worth it? Lloris stands on the purple line, with “more width” to cover” as opposed to the black line if he was “reducing the angle”
But on the other hand, he gets a non negligible fraction of second more to react
Some quick Microsoft Copilot napkin math
assuming the goal is 7 yards away from Lukaku
The shot goes 30 meters per second (100km/h , 67 m/h)
It takes 0.23 second to reach the purple line, and 0.2 seconds the black
Formula One pilots react between 0.2 and 0.3 seconds to the start of a F1 race.
Lukaku does shoot across, but the leg withdrawal process is similar
Better synchronised in terms of “hand replaces foot”
Lloris gave himself more time to make the save with a deeper positioning
Force the striker into making a decision
Football is a weak link sport, a sport of mistakes
Put it kindly, the higher you get the less mistakes there is, that kind of defence splitting pass that bounces between defenders who also get outpaced shouldn’t happen and creates situations that are unusual but still require being dealt with
MJ is a bit of a sitting duck, and a large share of damage mitigitation is also about not doing dumb shit. How do you define “dumb shit” ?
well, being a victim of circumstances, having to hunt a striker inside the box with millions watching. Just stay… in the way.
There’s more chance to be ragdolled with a fake shot, or concede a penalty by going to ground
MJ makes himself as big as he can
And the shot is shanked wide
“He HAS tae score that” would say double Golden Boot Ally McCoist
Damage mitigation doesn’t mean damage what can still be saved
Aerial save
GK stance ; can you see the ball, is the tallest player in the wall in line with the post
Lateral adjustment footwork
Pushing with the outside leg
With core strength to prevent the legs to go all over the place
Neuer vs France 2014
On this one, MJ probably makes it a bit too difficult for himself and gets lucky the shot doesn’t end up in the roof. Player has to hit the target from inside the box
Advanced positioning that makes it look harder than it probably should be
It took me some objectivity to accept Neuer parried it, and not the post
The shot is wider than the 6yd box, but the point still stands (so does Neuer)
Neuer’s positioning ; deeper.
Time is a function of distance and speed (distance / speed)
Deeper positioning = more time to react.
Tip on the woodwork
Good initial positioning to be in line with the ball
thanks to lateral adjustment footwork to his right shoulder
And bravery to go in the mixer to punch it
6 yard box is your yard
Keeper have to handle whatever crosses their 6yd box. Parry the corner
Empty handed
These crosses “in the mixer” are a nighmare to handle
But MJ makes a meal out of it, and stands like a sitting duck, even if it can be flicked on by anyone
Ends up diving backwards-ish, diving into the cross is difficult but can be done
Not a gotcha, but usually trying to dodge the contact ends up with getting hit another way
2 saves vs Tanzania
This one is routine:
Just for the shades of blue, keep scrolling
Golden hour?
So is this one save
This one should probably be a foul
As the Tanzania’s player small nudge on the arm makes MJ fail to connect.
Some will say a taller goalkeeper will have their arms a few dozen inches above the melee ; this can only be part of the explanation / solution
Was it meant to be a catch or a punch ; better keep danger away, than trying to catch it and fail (even if that should be a foul)
“Popeye would never”
My take on MJ
A fairly decent goalkeeper with academic foundations in terms of footwork making sure his positioning is in line with the ball. His shot saving is alright to keep danger away. His leadership skills have been noticeable to organise his team on set pieces.
Stands out for the right reasons ; saves, but only caught a few times doing things he can’t do. A few short passes to midfielders that led to turnovers with resposibility shared, but on the other hand not caught like a sitting duck despite some of the wild counter attacks his team has had to handle
At 1.85 – 6ft1 meters tall, Mohamed Jalloh isn’t the tallest goalkeeper in the circuit, but has the variety to play long and short (I’d say his long range game could be refined to be lower and a bit more driven than it is at the moment).
Looks like a goalkeeper ;
which as the old adage goes “quacks like one, probably is one”.
Getting even stronger will make the outlook of some saves even better (keep the legs aligned with the chest, collect crosses even being challenged in the air), but the foundations in terms of jumping reach are a solid base to work with
Career up to date
At the moment he’s at Brøndby ; and was involved in the First Team pre-season tour
Won a U17 Cup saving a few penalties in the final, thanks to the magic bottle
Was also called for Denmark U19 in February but opted for Sierra Leone’s U20s instead
Probably made the numbers at home ; which is regular practice for the 4th goalkeeper (usually U19s)
Yes, the same photo than the James Bogere article and breaking down how to platform wide strikers because well, there’s another player who’s been going places from that 2017-18 team
I signed Adel (2001) in the summer 2017 ahead of the season where I took charge of the club’s U19s and got my UEFA A license.
How to turn around whithin a month the
Oh, all the U13s we signed from village clubs all over the place, carried in family minivan
Stop being driven to training from the other side of the county
Actually want to play for “their” club
Aforementioned club promises them they’ll train with the first team in say Regional 1 (7th division) ; but they actually make up numbers whilst Jean-Kévin is at Argelès sur Mer in August and they end up on the bench for the B team in 9th or 10th division at County level. And beg to come back after 6 months.
Therefore your legacy squad of 14-16 players (aiming to get the teams to National U17s leagues, you must be very good at coaching or recruitment to nail 14/14 that will get you there) quickly shrinks to 6-8 players between May-June
with many falling for the idea that these departures at the same stage every season are conjunctural and not precisely systemic and per design.
In other words; what makes one of the most renowned talent hotbeds in Western France (are they even west?) having seen the 2005-2015s with dozen of pro scouts including Rennes, Angers, Nantes or Monaco’s fighting for a corner of handrail ; with academy teams pasting any visiting team by 3 to 6 goals.
Or even Chelsea’s scouts, who made the backpages in 2014
Into a place where any visiting team comes “to the big club” to get a historic 1-5 win at U16 level, take a picture on the pitch “with the big stadium in the background” ; or club teams above U14 couldn’t win a single game against regional rivals Limoges and Angoulême.
Around an empty handrail, scouts being long gone by that point, without any club house to get a drink anyway except for the small bar where negativity would reign supreme.
Something all the more intriguing that the club was based in an estate on the periphery of that medieval city – in the middle of nowhere, really.
The talent is right here, at your own doorstep.
No Roman urban grid layout, the structure of the town was very much medieval up a hill, with a river circling around.
Mostly known for it’s University (1431) where I got my MSc Sports Management ; the city holds 30k students out of a 80k population ; think of a smaller Oxford, dorkier too.
The City had a few “estates” on the periphery (called ZUP : ““Zones to Urbanise in Priority”” from the 1960s)
Which at the difference of most French cities where estates (designed by white collar post war architects) are isolated from the urban layout (for connections, jobs and day to day services) leading to pauperization ; Poitiers’ are surprisingly well connected.
France is layered (losely) with working, upper class with a wide middle class.
Usually, in most settings, middle class make the other two stand out but also act as a buffer in between (as in : middle class kinda relate to both)
Poitiers doesn’t really have a large middle class ; making the gap between the extremes starker.
A poor remix of the infamous Netherlands 1996 tables was always around the corner or up in the air and was a regular theme to kind of be mindful of.
There’s a huge community of Western-African but also South-East African heritage, not so much from Portuguese and North-African (compared to other medium FR cities).
A military base with links to Djibouti and New Caledonia with families moving in/out
France being generally rubbish at talking about minorities, beside “them” or words people shouldn’t use.
Sports being a huge part of the Poitiers life (Basket, Hockey, Volleyball, Rugby, Athletics, Tennis Excellence centre and even football with motor bikes but the less said the better) ; with a lot of public funding.
Mostly on the “Omnisport” charity and their 5300 sportspeople, making it one of the biggest in the country.
And football ; in a white elephant 12.000 seater stadium hastly built in the end of the 1980s
Largest glued laminated timber beam in Europe (127m) – oh shit wood doesn’t age well
Concrete stands with more sand than cement, oh shit it’s aging like it would if you cheap out on cement.
Can you see Bryan Mbeumo and Yehvann Diouf?
The daily life and narrative would always revolve around concepts like “talent hotbed” (for football goalkeepers, notably) but also “living together” (without middle class) and “identity” (the club being a fusion of the small rival club and the big bankrupt shell with a new logo and marine blue in 2006)
From the outside, that would always be some kind of ideological war of “who’s taken over our club”.
Let’s say some people disagreed with the way the Academy teams looked and it’s impact on whoever was more deserving of opportunities.
Perpetually challenged by the cognitive dissonance of the white elephant stadium and that one time Ligue 2 season in 1995 ; followed by a couple of bankrupcy.
Whilst the club navigates in the treadwaters of 6th, 5th, 4th division
We therefore orgainised player trials for the National U17s, and Regional U19s in the summer 2017
Which is always an enriching experience, players coming from all over the place, often scrambling to find goalkeepers. Preparing lineups and adjusting for people who are late or actually don’t show up. And find a way to not miss out on the good players.
Adel turned up (he remembers when), I liked the looks of him, with both arms scrapping the floor and well clear of 6ft at 15, turning 16 in November 2017 (so U17 for 2017-18).
He was 1.87 then which is almost 6ft2
And was friends with the half dozen players who used the “Playing Trials” to actually come back to *their* club ; living virtually the other side of the road but having left for a varety of reasons.
Turns out Adel was playing grassroots locally ; a dozen council houses past the bakery were I’d grab the same honey + goat cheese sandwich before training
He could also ping low mid-range passes like I’ve rarely seen before even for outfielders, notes which I compiled in my UEFA A report after a few training sessions delivered in June with the newly assembled squad.
I initially signed Adel as backup goalkeeper having a decent U18 legacy goalkeeper that would provide me with two options
One with quick footwork, good reflexes, decent on his line
Adel, long, with extraordinary strength without strong academic footwork technique.
Opportunities frequently pave the way of people who do good around them.
Due to a variety of injuries, suspensions, form ; he ended up playing a dozen games at National level for the U17s, and my U19s.
One of the highlights was to beat the 2nd placed home and away 0-2 and 4-1 in April.
Knowing they liked to “bait the press” with two midfielders back to goal in build up (that was 2017-18 btw, the sun always shines on your very own doorstep)
I played the return leg with two players in theia area ; and we constructed a well deserved victory.
Play where the space is, and feed your attackers early.
Adel played 5 games in 2018 as U17 goalkeeper in U19 League, and one in 2017.
Had a debut at U17 National level on March 11th… where he stopped a 85th minute penalty vs Niort to protect the 0-0.
In 6 competition games, we only conceded 3 goals including 2 from direct free kick and corner for 5 clean sheets ; with 6 wins out of 7 and 6 consecutive away wins between October and May with Adel as a goalkeeper.
Adel stayed one more year at the club, where he won the Nouvelle Aquitaine Cup 2019 now as a senior goalkeeper in Tier 5.
With the 2017-18 batch of signings I was involved in (U19 and First Team in Tier 6-5)
There’s two professionals and two international players on that photo ; who joined from grassroots in the summer 2017 ; here winning the Regional Cup in 2019.
I moved to Quevilly Rouen in the summer 2018 and as I was taking charge of the U18 team shadowing the National U19 team, I brought Adel at the club ahead of 2019-20
He played in the National U19 league where he played against the likes of Lille or Le Havre academy sides
Adel subsequently trained with the professional team, whilst playing for the B team
Showing off his trademark mid-length pass
Ballers gonna ball, you can take the boy out of “Les Couronneries” estate, but can’t take “Les Couronneries” out of the boy.
Named Man of the Match to win against Le Havre’s reserves
and ended up training with the professional team.
Adel got international recognition with Comoros ; affiliated with CAF since 1979 and FIFA since 2005 and currently 32rd best African team.
🤖💬Comoros is an island nation in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of East Africa, with a population of approximately 882,847 people, known for its volcanic landscapes, rich cultural mix of African, Arabic, and French influences, and its capital, Moroni
This photo gives me shivers
2017 notes from the trial sessions : ‘“reads trajectories” as a 15 year old GK
2023 Comoros supporters with a player cardboard now he’s international.
Winning games is cool, but the feeling of seeing players access to opportunities trumps everything else ; especially when leapfrogging the conventional talent pathway.
Adel captained the team vs Cape Verde in a 4-team tournament around Paris in late 2023
Spoiling the party for AFCON bound Cape Verde
One of the things Adel and Mamadou Jalloh have in common ; celebrating goals by running across the pitch
??
Adel was then involved in the COSAFA Cup 2024
COSAFA Cup is an annual football tournament for national teams from Southern Africa, organized by the Council of Southern Africa Football Associations (COSAFA)
🇦🇴 Angola
🇳🇦 Namibia
🇲🇿 Mozambique
🇰🇲 Comoros
🇿🇦 South Africa
🇿🇲 Zambia
🇧🇼 Botswana
🇱🇸 Lesotho
🇸🇿 Eswatini
🇿🇼 Zimbabwe
🇸🇨 Seychelles
🇰🇪Kenya
Having only won 4 games in the competition previously
Adel’s Comoros finished top of their group despite an initial defeat vs Zimbabwe, but overcoming Kenya (2-0) and Zambia (1-0)
Adel was subsequently rewarded with a place in the Team of the Group Stage
to eventually finish 4th
Later in the year, Comoros finished top of their group to qualify for the 2025 AFCON
Adel is regularly called up for Comoros
Comores are dreaming to qualify for the 2026 World Cup
Having beaten Ghana
This season, Adel joined Martigues in Ligue 2 ; trying a great escape to avoid relegation ; and has appeared 12 times on the professional bench
He made his senior debut in Coupe de France early 2025
Quick flashback to this photo.
Summer 2019, winning the Senior Nouvelle Aquitaine Cup
I signed 2 players and was involved in signing the other two ; all from grassroots in the summer 2017
In 2025, there’s two internationals 🇬🇫 🇰🇲
two professionals for EA Guingamp and Red Star in Ligue 2
I could even add Ansley (22), striker who was also in my 2017/18 squad, from the same “Couronneries” estate.
Talent hotbed, an all.
Poitiers has 88k inhabitants, 220k inhabitants for the urban area.
This is one of the profile of cities nailed by Jean Coté :
Birthplace biais towards smaller cities, with professional athletes being over-represented in cities of less than 500,000 and under-represented in cities of 500,000 and over
When “where” is more important than “when”: birthplace and birthdate effects on the achievement of sporting expertise.
Côté J, Macdonald DJ, Baker J, Abernethy B.
J Sports Sci. 2006 Oct;24(10):1065-73. doi: 10.1080/02640410500432490. PMID: 17115521.
Adel is the third international goalkeeper in the past 25 years originating from Poitiers.
We’ll have the decorum to not add former Arsenal winger Nicolas Pépé as the list of “international goalkeepers” coming through Poitiers
Bit embarassing ; Times, that’s Fodé Ballo-Touré
The club received 4x the yearly budget in FIFA rainfall
Speaking of slipping away unpredictably, here’s a photo of Nicolas Pépé
SĂ©bastien Chapuis 