The most common injury in the game and the most rushed back from. ES Setif will quote 15 days and will be careful with it, because the second one is always worse than the first.
At 22 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Zakaria Naïdji and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Riad Benayad is on it.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
The offer from ES Mostaganem for Mick Kila Omfia was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 20 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Zakaria Naïdji was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mahamoud Metwaly was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Kamel Hamidi is on it.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at ES Setif, and both men came out saying it was fine.
64 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. ES Setif lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Riad Benayad and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mahamoud Metwaly was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Alexandre Oukidja is on it.
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Cheickna Samaké has written the date down.
The words a physio says slowly. 88 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” ES Setif have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Riad Benayad was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad10 May 2027
Words at ES Setif training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mahamoud Metwaly is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Nobody at ES Setif will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Position 4 on 60 points, and the places that carry a European ticket are close enough to count. Seasons like this are decided by two results in April, and the club knows which two.
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Cheickna Samaké has written the date down.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Riad Benayad and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mahamoud Metwaly was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Issam Abdelhamid Naim and ES Setif agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Nobody at ES Setif will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Cheickna Samaké trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. ES Setif know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Position 4, 60 points, and a run-in that decides whether next season has Thursday nights in it. Nobody is calling it a race yet, which is what people say during one.
Position 4 on 60 points. Every season is a story and this is the last line of it, and now the club has three months to decide what the next one is about.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Daniel Gnahoua did not need any: 9.97, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mahamoud Metwaly was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at ES Setif this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Hillal Benrahma on a 3‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at ES Setif this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Bakary Haïdara was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody at ES Setif will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Hillal Benrahma after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
Mahamoud Metwaly was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
6 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Words at ES Setif training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bakary Haïdara is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
ES Setif asked and Al-Qadisiyah said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The medical room confirms 16 days on the sidelines for Mick Kila Omfia, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Hillal Benrahma chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
20 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. ES Setif lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Riad Benayad and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mahamoud Metwaly was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
ES Setif asked and Al-Shabab said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Successful dribbles: 14. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Hillal Benrahma after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
The words a physio says slowly. 27 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Bakary Haïdara and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
ES Setif asked and Al-Fayha said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Hillal Benrahma could afford to be generous.
The words a physio says slowly. 23 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around ES Setif people have started saying his name in the past tense.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at ES Setif, and it is not being withdrawn.
Riad Benayad and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Words at ES Setif training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mahamoud Metwaly is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
ES Setif asked and Al-Wehda said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
The words a physio says slowly. 30 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Lecco is saying, and nobody at ES Setif is enjoying the guessing.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at ES Setif this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
9 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ahmed El Sheikh was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
52 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. ES Setif lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Mahamoud Metwaly was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Brahim Benzaza was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Issam Abdelhamid Naim and ES Setif agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at ES Setif, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The words a physio says slowly. 60 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at ES Setif this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
At 21 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Marked 8.34 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
93 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. ES Setif lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Riad Benayad and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mahamoud Metwaly was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Ibrahim Bekakchi has his answer from ES Setif; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Hillal Benrahma after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Squad23 Nov 2026
6 new faces, and ES Setif are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
101 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. ES Setif lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 19 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Daniel Gnahoua did not need any: 8.21, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
At 20 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Match14 Nov 2026
Another one collected away from home
3 on the bounce on the road for ES Setif. The coaches leave early, arrive at unlovely grounds in the dark, and keep coming home with three points.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Daniel Gnahoua. 1‑0 against MC Oran, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
109 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. ES Setif lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. ES Setif will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Daniel Gnahoua provided it, and the 9.53 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
A season average of 7.07 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. ES Setif know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
Mahamoud Metwaly and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Some transfers need a press campaign. This one needed a shirt with the old number on it. Ibrahim Hachoud is a ES Setif player again, and the town has its story of the summer.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason ES Setif will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
There is no crueller way to lose a football match. ES Setif scored in the 93th minute, the restart barely happened, and the away end was still standing when the whistle went.
4 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at ES Setif this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Words at ES Setif training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Brahim Benzaza is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
15 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason ES Setif will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.98 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 20 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
One scored and one made, which is a different afternoon from scoring twice and an easier one to overlook. Marked 7.64, and involved in 2 of his side's goals.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at ES Setif this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason ES Setif will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
Daniel Gnahoua, 20, plays like he has been here for years — 7.80
A mark of 7.80 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 20-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Mahamoud Metwaly was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
At 21 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Words at ES Setif training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Brahim Benzaza is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.