Online Reporter
Stanford Chiwanga, [email protected]
HIGHLANDERS’ recent struggles in front of goal have once again put head coach Benjani Mwaruwari under the spotlight. For some sections of the club’s demanding supporters, the instinct is simple — when results are not convincing, the coach must be the problem. But a closer look at Bosso’s performances this season suggests something very different.
The truth is that Benjani is not the problem at Highlanders. If anything, he has quietly laid the foundation for a team that is beginning to grow into a serious contender.
The narrow 1-0 victory over Agama City at Barbourfields Stadium on Thursday is a perfect example. On the surface, it looked like another frustrating afternoon, a team struggling to break down an opponent. But beneath that result was a more important story — Highlanders dominated the game from start to finish.
They created chance after chance. Benjamin Adeogun, Mongameli Tshuma, Rainsome Pavari and Isaac Ngoma all had clear opportunities to score. Ngoma even rattled the woodwork. On another day, Bosso could easily have won the match comfortably before half-time. This is where the real issue lies. It is not tactics. It is not structure. It is not even effort. It is finishing.
Benjani himself admitted after the match.
“A win is a win, no matter how ugly or beautiful it comes. We won it badly or, today (Thursday) we started brightly but it’s unfortunate we didn’t score more. If you start like that you have to finish off teams. It’s always frustrating to create chances and miss them. However, at the end of the day, we finally got the goal, whether it was an ugly one or beautiful one.”
That quote says everything. A coach can organise a team, create a system and put players in positions to score. But he cannot step onto the pitch and finish the chances himself.
If anything, Highlanders under Benjani are doing the difficult part — they are creating opportunities. What is missing is the final touch.
This is what makes the criticism of the coach feel misplaced.
For weeks earlier in the season, Highlanders were labelled “draw specialists”. It became an easy narrative. But those draws were not the result of a team without ideas. They were the result of a team that had not yet learned how to turn good performances into wins.
Look at the bigger picture, and a clearer story emerges. Benjani has focused on building a strong defensive base. As a result, Highlanders are no longer easy to break down.
They stay in games. They frustrate opponents. They give themselves chances to win. That is not the sign of a poorly coached team. That is the sign of a side being built with purpose.
Modern football is full of examples of teams that start from the back. Structure first, goals later. Benjani has clearly taken that route, understanding that Highlanders needed stability before they could chase flair.
It may not always be attractive, but it has kept them competitive. More importantly, the team doesn’t just lose games. That is a crucial point often overlooked by critics. Highlanders are hard to beat. They sit within touching distance of the top, and their defensive record keeps them in contention. In a league where consistency is everything, that matters.
It is also worth remembering what the expectations were at the start of the season. After a difficult period in recent years, the priority was stability, not immediate dominance. The aim was to rebuild, not rush.
Benjani has delivered that stability.
What is happening now is the next stage — turning that foundation into results.
Of course, there are still problems to solve. Finishing remains a major concern. The team must become more clinical if they are to challenge for the title. Creating chances is not enough at the highest level. They must be taken.
But that is a player issue as much as it is a coaching one. Coaches can drill movement, shape and patterns of play. They can prepare teams to attack. But they cannot guarantee goals. That responsibility ultimately lies with the players on the pitch.
Blaming the coach for missed chances misses the real point.
If anything, Benjani deserves credit for keeping Highlanders competitive while the team continues to find its attacking edge. He has shown patience, belief and a clear plan. Rather than panic, he has stayed consistent and that consistency is now showing signs of reward.
Even in the Agama match, when frustration was building and the clock was ticking, Highlanders did not collapse. They kept pushing, kept attacking, and eventually found a way through. That resilience is coached. That mentality is built over time.
It is easy to judge a team based on a single performance or result. It is harder, but more important, to look at the overall direction. And the direction for Highlanders under Benjani is clear: steady growth. They are no longer soft. They are organised. They are competitive. And increasingly, they are learning how to win.
For supporters used to instant success, that progress may feel slow. But in football, real success is rarely built overnight.
Highlanders are building something. It may not yet be perfect. It may not yet be polished. But it is real. And crucially, it is not the coach holding them back. If anything, Benjani Mwaruwari is the reason they are still firmly in the race.
