Otti deserves praise not blame

Mar 04, 2002

FIFA instructor Heinz Marotzky once told me that without motivation not even the skills of Brazil can overcome a village team.

By James BakamaFIFA instructor Heinz Marotzky once told me that without motivation not even the skills of Brazil can overcome a village team.His comparison might have been a bit to the extreme. But, it undoubtedly stressed the importance of motivation to sports excellence.Interestingly, my KCC FC friends are determined to disprove this old concept. The unfortunate victim is coach David Otti.Otti was a fortnight ago accused of failing to conjure up a winning strategy. Then when the team won, he was blamed for failing to instill classy football.Not that Otti has no flaws. I am actually one of those who disagree with his over-emphasis on defensive play. But I feel he is this time being unfairly blamed. Firstly, we should accept that the kind of standards KCC is demanding require both the mind and body to be at peace. Do KCC players have any of these? I doubt.Visit Lugogo and you will find torture and not conditions to develop exciting soccer. Players refresh on saliva, lunch is sporadic and boots are hired. Balls, which are most important in skill development, are shared with KCC’s youth team. The field on which the classy football is supposed to be taught is bumpy and at times too bushy to allow proper ball control.Interestingly, the head of the Parks department, which is supposed to maintain city fields, is the chairman of KCC's technical committee.Everybody knows KCC's payment record. Maybe this is the reason it has a generally average squad, whose capacity was not helped by departure of five starting players. That the executive virtually made no resistance during the departures, was bad enough. For the same officials to now be uncompromising about results, is hypocriticalThey should also take into account the current international trend towards a physical and result oriented approach.The shift of power from north Africa’s passing game to the more athletic west African approach has definately also affected Lugogo.But most important, KCC officials should realise that a team is as good as its management.jbakama@newvision.co.ug

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