Marked for Oussama Benhaoua
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
Ahmed Zaouache scored one and made one — 7.86
Two of the goals had his name somewhere on them, which is the afternoon a manager wants from anybody asked to both create and finish. 7.86, and 2 involvements.
Match31 Oct 2026
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between ES Ben Aknoun and ES Setif, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Match31 Oct 2026
Beaten 2‑4, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Mohamed Benchaira falls out with a teammate over standards
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.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
The manager makes an example of Abdeljalil Saâd
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Squad2 Nov 2026
200 games in these colours. Service of that kind gets rarer every season, and the crowd knows it.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
Ninety minutes of Oussama Benhaoua at his very best
Marked 8.01. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at ES Ben Aknoun.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 2‑4 defeat, delivered by Abdelhak Mahrez to a room that had heard them before.
Squad2 Nov 2026
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 Ben Aknoun this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match12 Sep 2026
0‑4 against JS Kabylie, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Squad14 Sep 2026
8 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Words at ES Ben Aknoun training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Housseyn Selmi 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.
Transfer targets14 Sep 2026
ES Ben Aknoun asked and Al Ahly said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Transfer targets14 Sep 2026
A deal that was a phone call from completion at lunchtime was dead by midnight. ES Ben Aknoun will try again when the window opens; CR Belouizdad may not be selling by then.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Boardroom14 Sep 2026
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑4, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Abdelkrim Oukali and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad24 Aug 2026
Abdeljalil Saâd 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.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
ES Ben Aknoun offered $41.0K; MC El Bayadh said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Words at ES Ben Aknoun training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Housseyn Selmi 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.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. FC Nantes have kept their man, and ES Ben Aknoun go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
A loan enquiry to Al Ahly: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. ES Ben Aknoun will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
MC Alger offered $1.1M; MC Oran said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Ayoub Abdellaoui 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.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Mohamed Zoungrana falls out with a teammate over standards
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.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
Zamalek have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Boardroom17 Aug 2026
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $44.5K — a club that wants Sofiane Abdellaoui enough to be asked twice.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. ES Ben Aknoun have done the hard part with MC Alger, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Abdeljalil Saâd and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
The offer went to MC El Bayadh this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Words at ES Ben Aknoun training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Housseyn Selmi 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.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad17 Aug 2026
No place for Moussa Benzaid in the new shape
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation ES Ben Aknoun are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
Market17 Aug 2026
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
Squad17 Aug 2026
The competition arrived without a word said to him about it. Housseyn Selmi keeps the shirt for now, at ES Ben Aknoun's convenience rather than his own.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market17 Aug 2026
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. MC Alger have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Market17 Aug 2026
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
MC Alger asked and Al Ain said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
MC Alger have gone to MC Oran with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Boardroom17 Aug 2026
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $66.8K — a club that wants Safi Eddine Atmania enough to be asked twice.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Le Havre AC is saying, and nobody at MC Alger is enjoying the guessing.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad3 Aug 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Mohamed Zoungrana and MC Alger agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad3 Aug 2026
A falling-out at MC Alger
Ayoub Abdellaoui and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Mokhtar Ferrahi arrives at the club he grew up with
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Mokhtar Ferrahi has, at MC Alger, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Market3 Aug 2026
Add another name to the list: USM Khenchela have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Mehdi Boucherit. The answer from MC Alger has not changed — yet.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Words at MC Alger training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mohamed Zoungrana 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.
Transfer targets3 Aug 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Stade de Reims have kept their man, and MC Alger go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Market3 Aug 2026
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
Market3 Aug 2026
49 months to run and not a word offered. A club that lets the calendar negotiate for it usually ends up losing to the calendar.
Transfer targets3 Aug 2026
FC Nantes have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.