IT’S PAINFUL AND WE’RE FEELING IT

Bothwell Mahlengwe
THE Monday edition of The Herald summed it all — LIFELESS, HOPELESS, SPIRITLESS, TOOTHLESS, DIRECTIONLESS, RECKLESS, COLOURLESS, POWERLESS, VISIONLESS AND JOYLESS.

That was this newspaper’s description of the way the Warriors played in their CHAN qualifier on Sunday.

Where did we get it wrong or where are we getting it wrong — is it that there is no more talent, no money, is it the coaches or the administrators?

There is no question that ZIFA could have done better in the way they prepared for the CHAN assignment and the Association’s leadership, as pronounced by vice-president Omega Sibanda on Monday night, are right to apologise for what happened.

We can do far better than how we approached both matches against Namibia, from an administrative point of view and, sadly, we came terribly short and it showed in the results that we reaped.

Save for the defence that remained resolute under some pressure from the Namibians, other departments lacked cohesion and creativity.

The midfield couldn’t string more than three passes among themselves, let alone receive balls from defence.

The link became the missing link and we ended up resorting to long balls.

For starters, I still cannot get the formation we used on that day, in general and the shape of the midfield, in particular.

What was Simon Munawa’s role and how did he serve it to deserve to be on the pitch for 90 minutes?

And how did he get to play ahead of Raphael Manuvire, a tried-and-tested creator and taker of scoring opportunities?

No wonder we didn’t really test the Namibian goalkeeper for the entire game.

Besides making a lot of changes to the team that did duty at the COSAFA Castle Cup, coach Sunday Chidzambwa also made too many changes to the team that lost in Namibia.

That alone showed that he was unsure of his plan for the decisive return leg.

Chidzambwa cannot give the excuse of lack of preparation time for the team to the extent of citing one day with the full squad.

As a seasoned coach, a member of the High Performance Committee and the person who knew the job at hand, he should have demanded better preparations.

He should have gone to the extent of asking for continued camp after the match in Namibia and demanded the cancellation of the CAPS United game against How Mine.

All that was within his rights and he didn’t do it and, instead, players from the two teams who had played in midweek were thrust into the first team for the battle against Namibia.

Maybe because he wasn’t assertive enough or he also believed Namibia were a stroll in the park.

I have a lot of respect for Chidzambwa as a coach and as a person but I strongly feel he, like many others, also needs some refresher courses to upgrade their football knowledge to modern day expertise.

I am of the opinion that he and ZIFA owe the nation an apology.

Just imagine that we won’t have international football until next year.

And for the first time since the CHAN tournament started our beloved Warriors won’t be among the finalists in Kenya next year.

It’s really sad.

In addition to the senior team disappointing, our Under-17 national team performed dismally in Mauritius.

And again, it’s all excuses, the main one being age cheating.

Let us be clear on junior football.

It requires specialised skills which many of our esteemed coaches don’t have. Unfortunately that doesn’t seem to mean anything to us here.

You cannot deny that the appointment of our coaches has been on some partisan lines rather than the required knowledge, experience and expertise.

Sadly, it’s football that suffers.

One thing that would make an interesting read is the HPC’s review and recommendations on the CHAN qualifiers and COSAFA Under-17 tournament.

It’s my hope that it sees the light of the day.