After two forgettable displays at the ongoing CECAFA Kagame Cup, Tusker joined whipping boys Wau Salaam of South Sudan and Ports SC of Djibouti as the first casualties of the regional club competition.
When the draw placed five time champions Tusker in group B together with minnows Mafunzo of Zanzibar and Azam of Tanzania, many Tusker fans must have sighed with relief. This is especially so considering that group A had three big clubs - Simba SC of Tanzania, Uganda's URA FC and Vita Club, the guest club from Congo DR.
Group C, which was tagged the group of death, also consisted of three big guns namely, Yanga of Tanzania, Atletico from Burundi and Rwanda's army outfit APR FC.
With such a seemingly favourable draw for the beer men from Ruaraka, it seemed a foregone conclusion that they would roll over their opponents and find themselves in the quarter finals without breaking a sweat. The opposite was the case, however, right from the first match when Tusker played out an embarrassing 0-0 draw against Mafunzo FC.
This result meant that Tusker had to win their next match against money-laden Azam FC, or at worst, force a 2-2 draw so as to eliminate Mafunzo. The Kenyan defending champions, however, returned to Dar es Salaam's National Stadium in worse shape than they were during their first match.
Obviously lacking creativity of any kind and sticking to an unproductive snail-paced approach, the team struggled to open up Azam's defence. Soon after, they resorted to wastefully shooting long balls into Azam's danger area.
Captain Joseph Shikokoti, who had managed a slightly decent performance against Mafunzo, had a performance to forget this time round. A blunt Azam forward line almost had the defender to thank for a gift of a goal when he powerfully headed towards his own goal, with goalkeeper Boniface Oluoch luckily preventing the ball from hitting the net.
The lowest point of Shikokoti's display was yet to come. It came courtesy of a school boy blunder. With an Azam striker breathing down his neck as he faced his keeper, the gigantic defender hesitated and left all defensive duty to Oluoch, who under the circumstances had no option other than committing a foul on the Azam player, earning a straight red card as a result.
Just like in the match against Mafunzo, Tusker's few chances came late in the match. One such opportunity involved substitute Obadiah Ndege, whose charge towards Azam's goal was suddenly halted a few yards from the Tanzanians' penalty area. Ndege's meek response when the resultant free kick rebounded towards him aptly summarised Tusker's miserable campaign.
Talk of leaving the party with a whimper when every one expected you were the guy to steal the show. With performances such as these, perhaps we should refrain from gloating and bragging about how our league has improved after professional management by the Kenya Premier League and cash injections by South Africa's Supersport and other sponsors.
20 July 2012
Logarusic and Jan Koops: new kids on the block?
When Dutchman Jan Koops took over as Coach at AFC Leopards in 2011, the club was
rooted to the bottom of the Kenya Premier League log. After only a few matches, even the most die hard skeptics were convinced that change had arrived at Ingwe. By the time the final whistle of the 2011 season was blown, Koops' boys were smugly perched in the top five section of the log.
In fact, such was the Dutchman's tremendous influence at the club that between July 2011 and April 2012, he masterminded an incredible 23-match winning streak.
Several weeks into the 2012 season, Gor realised they had to do a "Jan Koops"of their own. The club had ended the 2011 season unsatisfactorily and began the new one even more dismally, causing the sacking of Coaches Zedekiah "Zico" Otieno and Cameroonian Anaba Awono in the process.
By the time Croat Zdravko Logarusic smelt opportunity and caught the next available plane to Nairobi from Ghana, KÓgalo were flirting with relegation, just like Ingwe had only a few months earlier.
Well, the stories of these two Kenyan football power houses have since turned so rosy that their fans are again bragging about their chances of winning the Kenyan Premier League.
So what changed so drastically to alter the clubs' fortunes for good? Is it the the tactical prowess of the foreign coaches or their freedom from the tribalism, clanism and nepotism that so poisons Kenya's football?
From the attractive styles, enthusiasm and effectiveness being displayed by the clubs, one can confidently say that both cases apply. Clearly, the way players have either been offloaded or recruited at the clubs indicate that players' technical abilities are being considered above every thing else.
It is for this reason that a player like Collins Okoth who previously considered himself untouchable at Gor Mahia had no option but to quit the club. It is for the same reason that an almost entire squad was shown the door at AFC Leopards to create space for the desired kind of players.
It is also for the same reason that we have witnessed several high calibre transfers such as Eric Masika's move from Gor Mahia to AFC Leopards and Burundi international Floribert Ndayisaba's Ksh 1.3 million move from Rayon Sport of Rwanda to Leopards.
Listening to the Tacticians' statements in the local media, one cannot fail to notice their passion for realisation of a technically superior brand of football in the country. Croat Logarusic was recently quoted appealing for efforts to refine the abundantly talented Kenyan youth.
“There are thousands of talented young players in the country and they need to be nurtured since Kenya has great potential,” he said.
“The tempo is one thing that should be improved since the standards are way down (3-4 M/H) compared to what they do in Europe (7-8 M/H) but that can be improved.” said the bald headed Croat.
On his part, Jan Koops revealed a number of secrets that he would rely upon to transform Leopards when he took over at the then struggling East African giants.
‘There is no secret, I like to play ball possession, discipline in the team is important; one touch football, technical players. I like to talk to every player, if they have a problem...I like to be their friend but with a respectable distance so that they can respect me and I respect them,’ said Koops.
A year later, all these can be seen manifesting themselves as Ingwe confidently march towards a possible Kenya Premier League crown after such a long absence.
In fact, such was the Dutchman's tremendous influence at the club that between July 2011 and April 2012, he masterminded an incredible 23-match winning streak.
Several weeks into the 2012 season, Gor realised they had to do a "Jan Koops"of their own. The club had ended the 2011 season unsatisfactorily and began the new one even more dismally, causing the sacking of Coaches Zedekiah "Zico" Otieno and Cameroonian Anaba Awono in the process.
By the time Croat Zdravko Logarusic smelt opportunity and caught the next available plane to Nairobi from Ghana, KÓgalo were flirting with relegation, just like Ingwe had only a few months earlier.
Well, the stories of these two Kenyan football power houses have since turned so rosy that their fans are again bragging about their chances of winning the Kenyan Premier League.
So what changed so drastically to alter the clubs' fortunes for good? Is it the the tactical prowess of the foreign coaches or their freedom from the tribalism, clanism and nepotism that so poisons Kenya's football?
From the attractive styles, enthusiasm and effectiveness being displayed by the clubs, one can confidently say that both cases apply. Clearly, the way players have either been offloaded or recruited at the clubs indicate that players' technical abilities are being considered above every thing else.
It is for this reason that a player like Collins Okoth who previously considered himself untouchable at Gor Mahia had no option but to quit the club. It is for the same reason that an almost entire squad was shown the door at AFC Leopards to create space for the desired kind of players.
It is also for the same reason that we have witnessed several high calibre transfers such as Eric Masika's move from Gor Mahia to AFC Leopards and Burundi international Floribert Ndayisaba's Ksh 1.3 million move from Rayon Sport of Rwanda to Leopards.
Listening to the Tacticians' statements in the local media, one cannot fail to notice their passion for realisation of a technically superior brand of football in the country. Croat Logarusic was recently quoted appealing for efforts to refine the abundantly talented Kenyan youth.
“There are thousands of talented young players in the country and they need to be nurtured since Kenya has great potential,” he said.
“The tempo is one thing that should be improved since the standards are way down (3-4 M/H) compared to what they do in Europe (7-8 M/H) but that can be improved.” said the bald headed Croat.
On his part, Jan Koops revealed a number of secrets that he would rely upon to transform Leopards when he took over at the then struggling East African giants.
‘There is no secret, I like to play ball possession, discipline in the team is important; one touch football, technical players. I like to talk to every player, if they have a problem...I like to be their friend but with a respectable distance so that they can respect me and I respect them,’ said Koops.
A year later, all these can be seen manifesting themselves as Ingwe confidently march towards a possible Kenya Premier League crown after such a long absence.
It is with interventions such as these by clubs across the board that footballing standards in Kenya will rise to place the country in the position of the footballing pyramid that she so rightly deserves.
19 July 2012
Tusker's barren draw in Dar tells same Kenyan sad footballing story
Kenya's Tusker FC finally took the pitch in Dar es Salaam against Mafunzo of Zanzibar as they launched their campaign to win the CECAFA Kagame Cup, which they last won in 2008. And that is a story in itself because apart from that win, no Kenyan club has won the competition since 2001, when the brewers last brought the cup to Kenya.
Right from the opening minutes, Tusker displayed a very lethargic approach of play, moving the ball towards their opponents almost at walking pace. Theirs was a perfect example of Gor Coach Zdavko Logarusic's recent assertion that the pace of Kenya's players was too slow.
If this was a deliberate tactical attempt to slow down the game, the strategy clearly backfired, especially in the second half, as it allowed Mafunzo to confidently pass the ball around, even launching dangerous attacks on Tusker's goal.
It is only towards the end of the match that Tusker displayed some urgency in their attack. During this period, a charging Obadiah Ndege was brought down almost inside the penalty area. The resultant free kick by David Ochieng hit the cross bar but it was the most threatening shot at Mafunzo's goal. One wonders if a more pacy performance wouldn't have created such or even more fruitful goal scoring chances.
But it was the non-performance of the strikers that was most telling. Even when they managed to create goal scoring opportunities, the strikers' shots were either wayward or feeble, which begs the question: whatever happened to the training of strikers in Kenya? Whether it is at national or club level, Kenya's strikers have remained consistent in only one aspect: pathetic.
It is only the first round but already, strikers from Burundi's Atletico, Rwanda's APR and Uganda's URA clubs have appeared very sharp and lively, and more importantly, productive.
If Tusker makes it out of their group, one can only fear for the Ruaraka boys as these teams have displayed very high technical and tactical standards in their matches. Let us hope Tusker will have learnt a few lessons by the time they face their next group opponents, Azam FC of Tanzania.
Right from the opening minutes, Tusker displayed a very lethargic approach of play, moving the ball towards their opponents almost at walking pace. Theirs was a perfect example of Gor Coach Zdavko Logarusic's recent assertion that the pace of Kenya's players was too slow.
If this was a deliberate tactical attempt to slow down the game, the strategy clearly backfired, especially in the second half, as it allowed Mafunzo to confidently pass the ball around, even launching dangerous attacks on Tusker's goal.
It is only towards the end of the match that Tusker displayed some urgency in their attack. During this period, a charging Obadiah Ndege was brought down almost inside the penalty area. The resultant free kick by David Ochieng hit the cross bar but it was the most threatening shot at Mafunzo's goal. One wonders if a more pacy performance wouldn't have created such or even more fruitful goal scoring chances.
But it was the non-performance of the strikers that was most telling. Even when they managed to create goal scoring opportunities, the strikers' shots were either wayward or feeble, which begs the question: whatever happened to the training of strikers in Kenya? Whether it is at national or club level, Kenya's strikers have remained consistent in only one aspect: pathetic.
It is only the first round but already, strikers from Burundi's Atletico, Rwanda's APR and Uganda's URA clubs have appeared very sharp and lively, and more importantly, productive.
If Tusker makes it out of their group, one can only fear for the Ruaraka boys as these teams have displayed very high technical and tactical standards in their matches. Let us hope Tusker will have learnt a few lessons by the time they face their next group opponents, Azam FC of Tanzania.
11 July 2012
Is the U23 side Kenya's only hope?
Back in January this year, Kenya's under 23 football team travelled to West Africa to face Guinea and Senegal in international friendlies. The two West African soccer giants had assembled their biggest names for the 2012 AFCON and could not wait to white wash the Kenyan greenhorns.
when they came, the results surprised every one, including Kenyans who had prepared to welcome youths carrying a bagful of conceded goals. Three days after narrowly losing 0-1 to Senegal, Kenya stood resolute in a 1-1 draw performance against Guinea. Immediately, everyone was waxing lyrical about how this was the team that would save long suffering Kenyan soccer fans from constant humiliation.
Well, six months later, these young Kenyan footballers have an opportunity to prove to every one that indeed, they are the group that will restore Kenya's badly dented footballing ego when they take on a recently impressive Botswana in an international friendly at Nyayo National Stadium on 12 July 2012.
It might be that they performed well in West Africa because they were under no pressure and no one expected them to deliver, or they actually might be the real deal that Kenya has been missing for over eight years now (ditto the 2004 AFCON Harambee Stars outing).
If these lads put out an outstanding performance against fast-rising Botswana, we should all loudly demand that they be given the next Harambee Stars assignment.
when they came, the results surprised every one, including Kenyans who had prepared to welcome youths carrying a bagful of conceded goals. Three days after narrowly losing 0-1 to Senegal, Kenya stood resolute in a 1-1 draw performance against Guinea. Immediately, everyone was waxing lyrical about how this was the team that would save long suffering Kenyan soccer fans from constant humiliation.
Well, six months later, these young Kenyan footballers have an opportunity to prove to every one that indeed, they are the group that will restore Kenya's badly dented footballing ego when they take on a recently impressive Botswana in an international friendly at Nyayo National Stadium on 12 July 2012.
It might be that they performed well in West Africa because they were under no pressure and no one expected them to deliver, or they actually might be the real deal that Kenya has been missing for over eight years now (ditto the 2004 AFCON Harambee Stars outing).
If these lads put out an outstanding performance against fast-rising Botswana, we should all loudly demand that they be given the next Harambee Stars assignment.
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