Zambia vs Nigel: What we learned It was a welcome victory for a coach and team in desperate need of a dosage of confidence. The three unanswered goals were crucial as goal difference may eventually come into play to decide who goes through. Despite the victory though, here are my humble observations that I feel were evident from this match. 1. This result shouldn’t hide the fact that Zambia won without playing well. We were uncomfortable in possession and hesitant when without the ball. Our defence looked anything but resolute. On several occasions they were left seriously exposed due to lack of a commanding figure in the holding role. 2. The first half I felt sorry for the fans that paid to watch this match. It was dull, lacked purpose and cohesion. Again one wonders what the game plan was as Zambia kept sending long balls hoping to find Mayuka. This did not work owing to the diminutive nature of most if not all of our players compared to players from Nigel. You’d think the coach would’ve done his homework after meeting the same opponents just few days ago. The first 45 mins were played almost in slow motion due to lack of pace especially on the flanks. (Not sure if the pitch was heavy or because of the uneven surface that always makes it difficult to control the ball). 3. Zambia needs to have a technical bench that comprises of goalkeeping coach, defensive coach, and attacking coach. Our two full backs were dormant and provided next to zero help going forward. On many occasions Kalaba was found just outside the penalty area hoping to have the right back bombarding forward to provide an option but it never happened. Our full backs need to know the art of modern day defending. Take time to watch the likes of Ashley Cole, Evra, Alves, Zabaleta, Rafael etc etc 4. The captaincy and vice captaincy has come way too soon for Sunzu and Sinkala. Sunzu is a decent player but from time to time he shows alarming signs of poor decision making in one-on-one situations. (He got away with what could’ve easily been a penalty for Nigel in the first half. Thankfully the Nigel player didn’t go down in the box). His commitment to Zambia is unquestionable as is Sinkala’s. I just feel Zambia needs a leader who is confident, vocal, decisive and reliable. And in my view, the pair of Kennedy Mweene and Rainford Kalaba fits the bill for captain and vice-captain respectively. 5. Our players need to work on their physic. There are too many softies in the team and opponents seem to have a field day bullying our boys around. 6. Watching teams like the resurgent RSA, Cameroon and Ghana only points to why Zambia seriously needs more and more players to try and break into the European leagues. Our players need exposure that comes from competing against the best in club football on a weekly basis if we are going to produce quality players. Overall, this was sweet victory for mother Zambia and congratulations to the lads.
Posted on: Thu, 16 Oct 2014 06:25:02 +0000
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