2021–22 USM Alger Season

In the 2021–22 season, USM Alger was competing in the Ligue 1 for the 44th season. It was their 27th consecutive season in the top flight of Algerian football. They competed in Ligue 1.

Season summary

Achour Djelloul spoke on Channel 3, made some revelations about recruitment and departures. While affirming that USM Alger will play the leading roles next season, Djelloul reveals that Denis Lavagne will be the new coach of Soustara's. also said that he would like to keep Mounir Zeghdoud with the team as an assistant, while Mohamed Lamine Zemmamouche who is at the end of his career, said we will prepare him to be a goalkeeper coach in the future. Returning to Antar Yahia case, it is first and foremost the relationship between an employer and an employee. Add to that Yahia was punished twice by the Disciplinary Committee, and for this we preferred to separate ourselves from this employee. The club's first deals were goalkeeper Oussama Benbot then contracted with ES Sétif duo Messala Merbah and Ibrahim Bekakchi, The fourth deal was the former player Abderrahmane Meziane coming from Espérance de Tunis and after great negotiations about the salary, they agreed for 260 million per month for two seasons.

On 1 September, USM Alger signed with the former player Hocine Achiou to be the new sporting director and Azzedine Rahim was appointed as assistant to Lavagne and Lounès Gaouaoui as goalkeepers coach. On 10 September, Saadi Yacef passed away at the age of 93, who was one of the leaders of Algeria's National Liberation Front during his country's war of independence, president of the club in the seventies and honorary president. On 14 September, team captain Mohamed Lamine Zemmamouche renewed his contract for two seasons and is considered the most player who played in the history of the club, with 400 games in sixteen seasons, and stated that he wanted to retire here. The first preparatory will be in Mostaganem for a ten-day internship like last season from September 19 to 28, is a very important step in the preparation for the offseason and include two friendly matches. On 18 October, Pr. Riyad Mehiaoui, member of the scientific committee monitoring the evolution of the COVID-19 pandemic in Algeria, said his organization was in favor of the return of supporters to the stadiums, 19 months after their absence. On 20 October, Hocine Achiou sighed with relief after Mazire Soula finally terminated his contract with USMA. Since the squad has 27 players, management can qualify all new recruits the Franco-Algerian striker refused to leave. After several rounds of negotiation, Achiou and the player failed to agree on an amicable separation. The latter demanded first, compensation that covers the remainder of his lease, which expires on September 28, 2023, in order to sign the termination of his contract.

On October 23, USM Alger opened the season against NA Hussein Dey outside the home and tied 1–1. USMA opened the scoring through Abderrahim Hamra in the 42nd minute, and before that Ismail Belkacemi missed a penalty kick. On the 30th of the same month, in the first match at Omar Hamadi Stadium, the fans of Ouled EL Bahdja raised a banner to honor Saadi Yacef, who died about two months ago. USM Alger achieved a great victory against RC Arbaâ by four goals scored by Belkacemi, Mahious, Zouari and Belaïd. The visiting team played with a squad of reserve players, which Hocine Achiou did not like it. On November 20, against the leader US Biskra they won by three including a brace from Benhammouda, US Biskra was forced to play with the reserve team due to the Players protested for not receiving their dues. On November 16, Soolking feat Rim'K released a song Her name is ''Lela'', some of which were filmed at Omar Hamadi Stadium with the supporters of USM Alger, Soolking is known as a big fan of The Reds and Blacks. On November 28, the medical staff announced the end of the season for Hamza Koudri, after the injury he received against US Biskra with a twisting of the left knee and a rupture of the cruciate ligament. Before the MC Oran match, Ouled EL Bahdja decided to raise a banner in support of Koudri, but the club's management prevented them and according to the group it was Achiou who refused, and after stumbling against them, USM Alger decided to terminate the contract with Denis Lavagne due to poor results. Achiou stated that they will not rush to sign a new coach, who should be worthy of the club's philosophy, Lavagne asked for 198,000 euros after unilateral termination of the contract or to go to FIFA. On December 26, left-back Mehdi Beneddine moved to LB Châteauroux on a six months loan. After winning against Paradou AC, interim coach Azzedine Rahim stated that he does not want to burn the stages and in order to be a head coach you must go through several stages.

On February 6, 2022, the former player in the seventies and eighties Abdelmalek Ali Messaoud died at the age of 66 due to complications from the COVID-19 pandemic in Algeria, and in his career with USM Alger, Ali Messaoud won the Algerian Cup title in 1981 and with the national team two gold medals for the Mediterranean Games in 1975 and the African Games in 1978. After the end of the first stage led by a temporary coach for more than a month, USM Alger contracted with Serbian Zlatko Krmpotić with Moroccan assistant Djamil Ben Ouahi, Krmpotić who has coached several clubs in Africa, will sign a 6-month contract and could be renewed in the event of a place in the league standings at the end of the season. On March 5, in a match against JS Saoura, USM Alger stumbled in a goalless draw and the match witnessed the cancellation of a goal for Al-Ittihad due to the offside situation, and with the replay it was found that the goal was correct, the sports director stated that he will not turn his back on the team and will play for the title, and that there are people within the team as if we were playing for the fall and not in third place, Mustapha Ghorbal who managed a fateful match in Saudi Arabia is not the same as the one who managed our match. After a series of negative results and seven consecutive matches without a win, On April 15, USM Alger decided to terminate the services of sports director Hocine Achiou, Asked on national radio about a possible withdrawal from Groupe SERPORT, Achour Djelloul assured that the public company had no intention of separating from USM Alger. Three days after the defeat against MC Oran, Krmpotić was dismissed from his position and USM Alger decided to rely on his assistant Jamil Benouahi to complete the season.

Management Shakeups, Sporting Revival, and Tragic Loss

On May 6, Achour Djelloul announced on National Radio that several players would be laid off, and the club would rely more on young talents such as Abderraouf Othmani and Mohamed Ait El Hadj for the upcoming season. He also criticized those advocating for the return of Saïd Allik, claiming they did not want what was best for the club. Additionally, he revealed that the position of sporting director would be abandoned. Djelloul stated that Réda Abdouche would remain with the club next season in an administrative and technical capacity. Furthermore, Djelloul confirmed that USM Alger had officially requested to use the Baraki Stadium, and Groupe SERPORT was ready to complete the remaining work to enable its opening as soon as possible. He emphasized that Omar Hamadi Stadium had become a safety risk for supporters.

However, 25 days later, Djelloul was dismissed from his position following a scandal involving the release of containers of Hyundai vehicles imported by the Tahkout company in 2019. He was temporarily replaced by Abdelkarim Harkati, the former CEO of l’Entreprise Portuaire d’Annaba (EPAN). Following this administrative change, USM Alger recorded their first victory in two months against WA Tlemcen. In the subsequent Algiers Derby, the team secured an important and unexpected win that reignited their hopes for continental qualification. After achieving a fifth consecutive victory, this time against Olympique de Médéa, head coach Jamil Benouahi expressed his desire to remain at the club, saying he had become a fan of the team.

Tragedy struck on June 9, 2022, following the Algeria A' national team’s match against DR Congo A'. Coach Madjid Bougherra had given the players a day off. During this break, USM Alger midfielder Billel Benhammouda was involved in a fatal car accident on the road between Douaouda and Bou Ismaïl, after calling a friend to drive him home. His death was confirmed the following day after NA[ tests. Benhammouda was just 24 years old. As the team was preparing to travel to Sétif for their final league match, they returned upon receiving the news of the tragic accident. The Ligue de Football Professionnel (Algeria)">Ligue de Football Professionnel