Bobby should field the right players

Jan 04, 2009

WHEN Uganda Cranes condemned their acidic rivals Rwanda to a historic 4-0 defeat on the night of January 1 at Namboole Stadium, this success-starved nation exploded with uncontrollable excitement.

By Fred Kaweesi

Saturday results
Somalia 1 Tanzania 0
Uganda 0 Zanzibar 0
Today’s fixtures
Rwanda v Somalia
Tanzania v Zanzibar

WHEN Uganda Cranes condemned their acidic rivals Rwanda to a historic 4-0 defeat on the night of January 1 at Namboole Stadium, this success-starved nation exploded with uncontrollable excitement.

The result was obviously as sweet as it came, the best possible outcome from a fixture that had more to it than just the three points Cranes needed for a perfect winning start to their CECAFA Senior Challenge Cup campaign.

But what a majority didn’t understand (yes, including Cranes’ coaching team in particular), was that underneath the result lay serious tactical gambles that had crept through unpunished. The win evidently superseded a majority’s senses.

The fans should certainly be excused for believing otherwise, but the Cranes’ coaching staff must be seriously reprimanded for sticking with a tactical formation that has never worked for Cranes before, not even against Rwanda (forget the result) and were never ever going to overrun a Zanzibar side that was there for the taking on Saturday.

Until Cranes coaching staff excel in their primary roles, Uganda’s agonizing experiences in major competitions is not about to end.

That is, choosing the right tactics, selecting the right players, getting the best performance out of these players, and making tactical adjustments as necessary.

Tactical decisions
The manner in which Cranes midfield was assembled right from the Amavubi match was the most glaring tactical error

To begin with, whatever role Tony Mawejje has had to play on the left-side of midfield has evidently been non-existent.

For the player we know he is, the URA FC midfielder has been average to say the least.

True, he had a wonder strike for the opener against Rwanda, but struggled in his newly-imposed role as either an anchor or schemer down the left.

Mawejje’s abilities have always been being able to execute that long range pass and from what’s available in camp, the best possible choice to seat in-front of the back-four as a holding card.

His first touch and movement within restricted areas has never been superb and asking him to eat through down the left, with a man to beat, was always going to prove a miscalculated gamble.

His presence on the left in the second consecutive game simply reinforced the belief that Cranes’ coaching staff are either unable to make needed changes on the fly or assistants Sam Simbwa and Jackson Mayanja aren’t doing enough to help the Scottish manager.

Mawejje is an integral figure in the team’s set-up but he is a no Steven Bengo or any other natural left-footed winger that should have started there in a 4-4-2 formation Cranes are often comfortable with.

It took over 160 minutes (90 minutes against Rwanda and 70 against Zanzibar) for Cranes’ coaching team to understand that the team needed a dynamic player such as Bengo to add width and vigour to a side that had been so reliant on that long ball for forwards Caesar Okhuti and Geoffrey Massa and fast feet of Dan Wagaluka down the right.

Mawejje’s other midfield comrades, Patrick Ochan and Owen Kasule, have proved down the years that they can only serve best pivoting in a free role or breaking through their accustomed roles behind the forwards.

For his all their industry, neither Ochan nor Kasule is tailor-made for the holding role. The two, fitted as cardinal midfielders, have in two games denied the team that central penetrative instinct the occasions have demanded.

Right players
Among the pre-requisites of modern football is the ability to build play from the back. Habib Kavuma has probably been decent for Bunamwaya but sadly not for the Cranes.

Aside from being average offensively, his staple option of passing out of defense so often excludes Cranes central attacking players from play. And besides, was he a better choice than Ismail Kazibwe, who has been restricted to the terraces?

Besides, were Ronald Muganga and Simon Sserunkuuma so bad that none could be considered for the team’s problematic left-sided attacking position? Muganga has been an integral part of Cranes’ previous CECAFA teams and him or Sserunkuuma would have been a better choice than even Bengo.


What next against Somalia?

It’s now a must-win, and because of their stunning 1-0 over Tanzania, the fixture has fast-transformed into no game for the fainthearted.

There will be no room for egos, or complacency.

Cranes must stick to a 4-4-2 formation and while the coaching staff may argue that the temptation to be cautious has to be there, sometimes you can be too cautious and play straight into the hands of the opposition.

Although the Cranes beat Rwanda and managed a point against Zanzibar, the Promised Land is a long way off. The Red Sea has been parted, but the waves can still come crashing if Cranes coaching team does not stick to the basics.

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