Florent's time with Al Hilal Sudan: Lessons from an unfinished project
by ... Anwar Ali Ibnouf
In football, as in life, success is not only measured by results, but sometimes by the transformations created by the experience, no matter how it ends. This is exactly the case with Congolese Florent Ebenge's experience with Sudan's Al Hilal. Although it did not culminate in the continental crown that Blue fans had hoped for, it marked a pivotal stage in the club's trajectory and posed profound challenges for his successor.
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*A technical project with continental ambition*
Florent arrived at Al Hilal in mid-2022 from Morocco's Nahdet Berkane, bringing with him a successful African experience and modern technical ideas. He was not just a passing coach, but was hired to establish an integrated project that would put Al Hilal among the continent's top teams.
Florent relied on inclusive football, pressing spaces, and building from the back. He also bet on a combination of local players and foreigners, seeking to create a "homogeneous team" capable of competing with the top African teams.
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*Achievements and gains despite exit*
Under his leadership, Al Hilal reached the group stage of the African Champions League and performed competitively against the likes of Egypt's Al Ahly and South Africa's Sundowns. But he was eliminated from the tournament in the final moments, in a dramatic scenario.
Despite the elimination, the team made several gains:
A clear evolution in the identity of the game... Improved mental structure and tactical discipline..... The emergence of promising players.... and gaining confidence against big opponents.
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Administrative and technical instability: Frequent changes within the club affected the progress of the project, such as high public pressure. Al Hilal's fans demand immediate results, making patience with the project difficult. On top of that, the difficulties of traveling and playing away from home due to the security situation, which affected the mental presence of the players.
In addition to the lack of a permanent stadium of African standards
and the experience gap between local players and their opponents from North and West Africa.
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*Challenges for the next coach*
The coach who succeeds Florent, whoever it is, will not be starting from scratch, but will face a complex reality:
- The need to build on what has been achieved without torpedoing the previous technical project.
- Forming a team capable of continental competition, not just local.
- Managing the dressing room in light of multiple nationalities and cultures.
- Maintaining the trust of the fans in light of frequent changes.
- Keeping up with the huge administrative investment with a parallel technical bid.
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*Conclusion: After Florent... between ambition and realism
Florent's departure does not mean the failure of the experiment, but rather shows that Al Hilal's project is still in the process of taking shape, and needs a long-term vision and strategic patience. The challenge now is to capitalize on the past, avoid the mistakes of the past, and lay firm foundations to build a team that does not fear the big boys, but rather becomes one of them.
Al Hilal has the fan base, the ambitious management, and the financial support, but it needs a coach who believes in the project more than the fleeting victory, and knows that continental success is not made in one season.
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