Smouha coach Patrice Neveu came down hard on his striker Ahmed Belal in the wake of his side's 1-0 home loss to MCDR in the Egyptian Premier League on Monday.
"Belal's bad performance shocked me," he told the post-match press conference. "He seemed to be in-form during training and that's why I included him in the starting line-up.
"Changing him only after 20 minutes wouldn't have made sense, so I had to keep him on the pitch in order for him to redeem himself."
Belal, who joined promoted Smouha in the close season from Ahli, has been out of sorts so far this term.
The 30-year-old was taken off in the 54th minute when Ibrahim Abdul-Khalek was introduced, a substitution that didn't add much to Smouha's firepower.
When asked whether he will step down from his role, French tactician Neveu didn't give a definitive answer.
"I'm here to develop the players," he replied.
نرشح لكم
بقيادة أحمد جعفر.. دياموند للصعود لدوري القسم الثاني "ب"
قرعة موجهة غير مسبوقة.. اتحاد الكرة يكشف لـ في الجول حل أزمة كأس مصر
مؤتمر عمر جابر: لن نشكو من الحرارة أو غيرها.. ونتيجة الذهاب لن تساعد الزمالك
مؤتمر جوميز: حزين لغياب شيكابالا.. وهذا ما ننوي فعله أمام دريمز
التشكيل - مابولولو يقود هجوم الاتحاد في مواجهة الجونة
مباشر الدوري المصري - الجونة (0)-(0) الاتحاد.. محاولات دون خطورة
إلى وصافة الدوري.. زد يفوز على بلدية المحلة في مباراة ركلات الجزاء
انتهت الدوري المصري - بلدية المحلة (0)-(3) زد