A NEW CHIPOLOPOLO WHACKS LESOTHO 4-0: POSITIVES AND NEGATIVES Not since lifting the Africa Cup of Nations in February, 2012 have the Chipolopolo of Zambia showed positive attacking football that they did against Lesotho. They dictated play throughout the match. The coach read the game very well and made three positive changes in attack. Positives 1. Herve Renard departed from his usual defence oriented formation of playing one centre-forward supported by Christopher Katongo to fielding two strikers – Collins Mbesuma and Jacob Mulenga. This time, instead of playing on the counter they took the game to Lesotho and attacked throughout the game. 2. All the substitutions Herve Renard made were all attack-oriented and they improved the forward thrust of the team. Fwayo Tembo came on for Noah Chivuta and held the ball very well and pushed back Likuena’s right back. He was better in possession than Chivuta and his coming on signalled a change in the fortunes of Chipolopolo. James Chamanga replaced Jacob Mulenga and his solo run on Lesotho’s goal and rounding up of the goalie resulted in him smashing the post and Mbesuma burying the rebound. Bonwell Mwape who replaced Collins Mbesuma could himself have inked the scoreboard but for a bit of inexperience. 3. As predicted by New African Football, Mukuka Mulenga took up the midfield slot vacated by Isaac Chansa and played a much more advanced midfield role in his first full match for Chipolopolo. He was frenetic on the ball and always looked to combining with Jacob Mulenga and Collins Mbesuma upfront. His passes were directed more to the strikers and he made direct runs at goal off the shoulder of Mbesuma. He showed the ingenuity that Zambia has been missing in midfield. 4. A much more selfless Christopher Katongo showed up on the day and was able to create the first goal for Jacob Mulenga and score the second one. In the first half, he went for glory on a couple of times when passing would have created goal scoring opportunities but in the second half he produced one of his best games for Chipolopolo since hoisting the Africa Cup of Nations. 5. The experience of playing at the top level in Europe showed in Jacob Mulenga’s case. He did not have a particularly great game by his standards but he took the chances that fell for him with an experienced goal-poacher’s hunger. He was not as mobile as Mbesuma during the game but his first goal in the first half was the key that opened the floodgates to the Chipolopolo goals that followed. 6. Chisamba Lungu appears to have reinvented the role of a Zambian left-back. He is not the type that runs to the by-line by out-sprinting the opposition and pinging in crosses; he pushes the ball forward by holding on to it and joins the attack through clever passes and running into space to create havoc in the opposition. 7. The future of Zambian football seems very assured with the youth on the pitch – Chisamba Lungu, Mukuka Mulenga and Fwayo Tembo – turning in some stand out performances. The young goalie, Danny Munyau, also had a good game not that he was really troubled by a goal-shy Lesotho attack. 8. Nathan Sinkala put up a commanding display in defensive midfield showing that his position is now personal-to-holder. He broke up play and initiated some of the attacking moves from deep midfield positions. His long range passing to wide forward positions was accurate. He is good in the air and in the absence of Stoppila Sunzu in central defence he dropped back to assist in defending the few attacking forays of Lesotho. Negatives 1. It was quite clear, especially in the first half, that Kondwani M’tonga was making a maiden appearance for Chipolopolo. Though he gained in confidence as the game wore on, he appeared a disaster waiting to happen in the first half as he needlessly lost position and committed himself earlier than he should have done so. It did not help matters that he was playing alongside Hichani Himoonde who is himself not a calming influence at the back. 2. Davies Nkausu could not control the ball on a number of occasions when he had no cover behind him and, at one point in the second half, stopped pursuing a dangerous ball even when the referee had not blown the whistle to stop play. It is time his experience began counting for Chipolopolo. 3. Utility player, Noah Chivuta was roped into the side to replace Rainford Kalaba on the left wing. He started brightly by putting in crosses from the left. Most of his passes and crosses were over-hit perhaps evidence of the fact that he does not play regularly for his club side. In the second half he faded quite badly and surrendered the left flank to the Likuena right-back who started pinning him back. Fwayo Tembo came on and restored the initiative back to Chipolopolo 4. The combination of Jacob Mulenga and Collins Mbesuma took long to gel in the match and did not really click into gear for the whole match. The duo was not able to hold onto the ball in the first half. The presence of Mukuka Mulenga in the ‘hole’ and Christopher Katongo kept ensuring good supply of balls through the middle and the right flank, respectively. The incompatibility of the two notwithstanding, they managed to find their names on the score sheet, which is all that Zambia. Chipolopolo were always expected to win at home against lowly-ranked Lesotho. They will face some sterner test against Sudan in the forthcoming qualifier. It remains to be seen how Herve Renard will approach the game against Sudan whether his usual conservatism will kick in and play a much more cautious game.
Posted on: Sat, 08 Jun 2013 21:29:57 +0000
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