The Canarian has been out of Real Murcia’s calls for two weeks, punished by Mario Simón for his poor performance in training
Ismael Athuman (Las Palmas, 27 years old) is a footballer who arrived at Real Murcia in bad shape. The Canarian midfielder needed two months to adapt to the competitive rhythm of the category. He had a gradual introduction in the month of October that was stopped in November, where he barely had any participation. In December, with the first injuries and sanctions, Ismael Athuman had an opportunity and finally found a place in the Real Murcia starting eleven.
The international with Kenya has added 11 starts so far with the elastic paprika. He earned, after three months, the confidence of the coach in midfield. His attitude and his performance in midfield, and even as a center back when necessary, allowed him to be a regular in Mario Simón’s schemes.
However, fortune has changed for Maspalomas in recent weeks. On March 5 in Pulpí, Athuman had his last short film appearance as a Real Murcia player so far. In minute 53, the manchego coach replaced him in midfield and since then he has not had him again. It is true that Real Murcia did not play a notable game in Almeria in a stadium with synthetic grass and that it was more typical of rough play than of combination. And it was difficult for him to adapt, but it is surprising that that moment was decisive for him. Until today it is unknown if something happened that upset Mario Simón during the San Miguel municipal meeting, although it seems that as a result of that afternoon spent under water, the coaching staff has decided to stop counting on him.
The international with Kenya is one of the best paid in this low-cost squad and, for this reason, the club demands much more from him
off the list
A week later, Athuman was once again absent among the 18 called up to fill out the list of players who faced Atlético Levante in the pepper fiefdom. Murcia played a great game and outperformed its rival with solvency. Simón did not want testing the following weekend and only introduced one change, that of Juan Fernández for the suspended Pablo Haro. The canary also did not appear in the expedition of Real Murcia in El Ejido and the club did not issue any statement about his absence.
However, on March 13, Mario Simón spoke of Athuman’s withdrawal from the call. What seemed to be a topical response to get out of trouble has been taking shape over the days. It was after beating Atlético Levante at the paprika stadium, where Simón spoke about those not present in the call: «Except Héctor Martínez’s withdrawal, everything has been technical decisions. We have tried to choose the best in the call with what the game asked of us. The one who leaves has to do a good job during the week to be able to return. The coach was referring to the level shown in training.
The relationship between Simón and Ismael Ahtuman is not going through its best moment. Both have had some friction in the work sessions and the person in charge of the bench understands that the international is not giving the level that he should in training. In addition, the Canarian with Kenyan nationality is one of the best paid in this ‘low cost’ squad and is struggling with budgets much higher than Murcia’s. It was a clear bet to replace the loss of Youness Lachhab in the month of August. And that’s why more is asked of him.
Even the youth squad Jorge García, who serves as the center of defense with solvency, has been summoned in these last two weeks. Athuman has already shown that he can function there, but Mario Simón has opted for the young central defender. There are eight days left and many games to play. The first of them, this coming Sunday, where La Nucía will visit Real Murcia at the Enrique Roca and we could see changes with respect to the last scheme of the coach in Almeria. Will Athuman be pardoned?
Pepe Garré dies
In other matters, yesterday Pepe Garre, who was director of Real Murcia in the 80s, passed away. del Segura in the golden years of the grana club. He later moved to Plaza de Santa Catalina. A regular in La Condomina, he was also well known in the Torre de la Horadada, where he spent his summers. He was always close to Real Murcia and was vocal in several directives during the 80s.
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