Pasuwa’s Afcon hit, miss

ESTEEMED followers of the game of football, thank you for finding time for interaction.

For Warriors coach, Kallisto Pauwa, the Shona common saying: “Muvhimi unofamba nembwa dzake,” principally holds true, especially given the choice of assistants he picked and players he conscripted to do duty for the nation during their wretched run at the Africa Cup of Nations in Gabon.

Well, for the uninitiated, not “imbwa” in its simile, but metaphorical sense. Not “imbwa” as in that derogatory slur the fairer sex use to describe machismo chauvinists each time they feel they have gotten the shorter end of a stick.

But “imbwa” to allude to the bodies that a person chooses to surround himself with and those people’s characteristics towards their “master”.

And for the Afcon excursion Pasuwa wakafamba nembwa dzake, indeed!

While the Warriors tactician took some stick for investing trust in his two assistants, Saul Chaminula and Mkhupali Masuku, he was not spared criticism for the faith he showed in some of the players.

As with signing up new players for a team, where they may misfire or get it right, picking the right players, who will deliver – especially for tournaments – is one inevitability that comes and goes with being in the dugout as a coach.

Coaches could get a hit or miss with players.

And young goalkeeper Tatenda Mukuruva together with his Dynamos teammate and defender Elisha Muroiwa stood out, although for starkly contrasting reasons, among the bunch of Warriors Pasuwa went to hunt with in Gabon.

As Mukuruva enjoyed a memorable outing, Muroiwa had a nightmare. While Mukuruva was an undoubted hero, Muroiwa was somewhat a villain.

Tatenda Mukuruva

The youthful ‘keeper was easily the pick of the Warriors cast and shone bright like a lone star among a suspect defence that somewhat conspired to expose him to relentless marauding attacks, most of which he repelled with distinction, as he saved the rearguard’s blushes on countless occasions.

As well as making sure that the Warriors stayed in the game, or at least keep the scoreline respectable, ChiTate – to adoring fans – was usually the last man standing in our rearguard as the ever-lingering threat of a Warriors capitulation refused to be batted away.

Starring in arguably his career-defining moment, the gifted goalie made numerous stellar saves that won him plaudits and several admirers in all our three group matches.

So polished was Mukuruva’s performance that he repaid the faith Pasuwa had thrust in him after overlooking last season’s best shot-stopper in the land Petros Mhari, whom many felt had a strong case for a Warriors call-up and have the rule run over him, too.

In the end, he vindicated his former coach at DeMbare with those match-saving heroics.

Mukuruva is certainly one for the future, a sure and safe bet to remain the custodian between the sticks for the Warriors.

Zveshuwa, tototenda Tatenda uyu for saving and serving us so well.

Elisha Muroiwa

A t times Muroiwa waitoita hake kunga wakaroiwa!

He looked jittery when under pressure, which he clearly could not handle at times, and proved the weakest link in our back four that covered the goalkeeper. Sometimes overwhelmed by the occasion, his decision-making in key areas and at crucial moments was too pedestrian.

Put simply, the Dynamos strongman did not really step up to the plate at the tournament.

For someone who had sat out a considerable part of the local Premiership, although he had featured prominently in the Afcon qualifiers, that he was a first-teamer in Gabon certainly boggled the minds of many a fan.

That he played all our group games even as he underperformed from the outset only Pasuwa knows the wisdom of.

Pardon the goals he put past his own goalminder as the Warriors put in the hard yards in Gabon, that Muroiwa evidently struggled with his game but continued to be a starter provided enough ammunition to his critics and those of his coach.

This is the same centre-back who almost turned a virtually innocuous cross into his own net as Zimbabwe precariously held onto their slender 2-1 lead against Algeria.

As mi d fielder Danny “Deco” Phiri shepherded Riyad Mahrez towards the Warriors goal, Muroiwa did not get into a challenge, or at least close down on the Leicester City forward, to prevent him from cueing up the shot for Algeria’s equaliser and the goal whose handsome price we dearly paid for with two precious points.

For Senegal’s opener in our second game, the out-of-sorts defender should have cut out Keita Balde Diao’s lawnmower cross as he allowed it to roll across our face of goal to allow an unmarked Sadio Mane to ghost in from the blind side for a simple tap in.

At the end, was this a case of misplaced faith in Muroiwa by Pasuwa as the coach stuck by the below-par and error-prone defender?

Red lights flash at Liverpool

From losing their first game at Anfield in over a year to getting eliminated from two cup competitions inside three days at home, Liverpool have just plunged to a new low in a year they have started on a horrible footing.

Battling a difficult start to 2017, in which they have won just one in eight matches across all competitions, the Reds look a pale shadow of the side that started this season in irresistible style even as pundits questioned if they would have enough steam to sustain their high-energy and pressing game to last the distance with their foot on the pedal.

Now German coach Jurgen Klopp’s charges look somewhat disillusioned as they appear to be losing the plot.

Has the Klopp, oops clock, developed a fault and stopped ticking?

Has Jurgen stopped jogging the psyche of his boys?

Will the Kop stop klopping, oops clapping, for its red army?

From difficult two legs with League Two lightweights Plymouth Argyle in an FA Cup Third Round tie that required a replay to determine who progressed, the slump for Liverpool then began with three defeats in quick succession at Anfield – the first of which was going down to the then bottom club Swansea in a league match before Southampton compounded their misery with a English Football League (EFL) Cup semi-final elimination, while second-tier side Wolverhampton Wanderers handed them an FA Cup Fourth Round defeat.

Will the charismatic Klopp, a fascinating tactician often consumed by his passion and mannerisms on the touchline, rally his troops to save and turn around their season? Will the Reds, who have looked like they terribly missed Mane who was away on national duty with Senegal at Afcon, show the reaction and character to bounce back and make the “mission impossible” of winning the championship, their only chance left for silverware this season, an accomplished feat?

As Yours Truly signs off every installment, it certainly is game on and the teams play on.

Being one of a Liverpool persuasion and conviction, Gamechanger will always draw comfort and solace, even as it may be scant, from our club anthem which reminds all bonafide Kopites that “You’ll Never Walk Alone”! And, indeed, even as we walk through this storm, with our dreams being tossed in the rain and blown in the wind, we will hold our heads high because at the end of a storm is a golden sky.

#YNWA

It’s Game On, Play On!