Ndiraya lauds Belgians

Petros Kausiyo

DYNAMOS coach Tonderai Ndiraya has praised the tactical input and professionalism of Belgian coaches Valere Billen and Dirk Beelen and feels their attachment at the club is now helping the Harare giants turn the corner.

Billen and goalkeeper specialist Beelen spent three weeks at DeMbare having first worked with Ndiraya’s predecessor Lloyd Chigowe.

They also presided over the brief transitional period between Chigowe’s axing and Ndiraya’s arrival.

Although the duo has since returned to Belgium, the impact they made at Dynamos who are on a revival mission under Ndiraya, has not been lost to the Young Warriors gaffer.

Ndiraya will lead Dynamos at Rufaro this afternoon for a date against Yadah Stars hoping for another victory that will ensure they continue with their climb up the ladder. But he had some special praise for his Belgian counterparts Billen and Beelen. “Firstly I want to thank my colleagues from Belgium for taking charge of the team during the transitional period. I found comfort when I arrived at the training ground and discovered that the team had been under their supervision.

“I relied on them for the information I needed in particular on the trajectory the team was supposed to take as well as the player status. I was amazed by the amount of football knowledge they possessed as well as how quickly they had become accustomed to the Dynamos Culture.

“I learnt a lot from them in the few days I worked with them and they gave me a lot of football literature which has really changed my approach to the game.

“I look forward to further engagements with them and it is my wish to reciprocate and visit Belgium in future so that we share more ideas,” Ndiraya said.

Billen on his part reckoned DeMbare have the capacity to reawaken from their slumber and become the dominant force they were in the domestic game but that would need at least a year to achieve.

He said he was generally impressed with what they saw in the Zimbabwean game.

In what promises to be a massive partnership deal in store for the Harare giants being facilitated by their manager and sports consultant Gino Laureyssen, the coaches are set to return to the country in June to offer more assistance to Dynamos.

But it is the evaluation of the team that has received from the Belgians and their commitment to assist the ailing giants that left Ndiraya with a huge degree of optimism and more importantly, gave hope to club chairman Isiah Mupfurutsa and his management crew.

And his he left Harare for his Belgian based, Billen who has also previously coached former Warriors international Cephas Chimedza at St Truidense, spoke about his observations at Dynamos and what he felt needs to be done in the short to long term future of the club.

“I was very impressed by the support base for Dynamos, even the top Belgian clubs do not have as much support. There is a lot of potential for the club to grow even bigger.

“A club like Dynamos needs to have identity, identity in the way you dress, how you warm up, how you play… we need to train with the game philosophy and tactical principles. “People must be able to come to the stadium and recognise the Dynamos style,” Billen said.

Billen said there was need for Dynamos to establish a club philosophy which would be inculcated in every player and administrator, from the junior to senior levels.

“There is need to educate the younger boys about the Dynamos philosophy and the coaches who come at Dynamos must have a club philosophy that they must follow. “Coaches at Ajax Amsterdam know that the club has a philosophy and they work within the framework of that philosophy”.

Billen said it was imperative that Dynamos return to the big boys club in the Champions League.

“Dynamos need to be the best club in the country again not just for one year but all the time and this needs everyone from management to the players to understand the philosophy.

“Our manager Gino is trying to arrange a twinning arrangement for Dynamos (with a Belgian club) and he is determined to help them achieve that.

“But for Dynamos to come back stronger it needs a minimum one year. Everyone knows that it is a new team, there are young, inexperienced and this means it will be difficult to be a dominant side this season… yes they will win games and they will lose games too”.

“When transfers are to be done it needs to be done carefully and without emotion. But one thing is clear the physical condition of the players needs a huge improvement, physical condition is the basic of everything if you are to play with intensity.

“How can you have confidence to implement your tactics, or your skills when you are not in the right physical condition?

“Tactical issued need to be improved so that the players clearly know what to do from standard situations, there is need to be organised from the goalkeeper up to the last man in attack.

“I have worked with them for three weeks and I can see that improvements can be done. I had a fruitful discussion with Tonde and I had good co-operation with Lloyd. Tonde has an open mind, he likes to learn a lot from the way things are done in Europe and the good thing is that where he is not in agreement he points out and asks questions, Billen said. Both Billen and Laureyssen are not new to Zimbabwe having previously worked with CAPS United’s championship winning side in 2005