40 call ups for Cape Verde date: Panic or strategy?

Harambee Stars coach Bobby Williamson has set the ball rolling for the forthcoming world cup qualifier tie against Cape Verde on November 13 by unveiling a provisional squad of 40-odd players.

With the huge reward for the winner of this tie being a ticket to the group stage to battle for one of Africa's five slots for Russia 2018, everything done in the way of preparing the team should be geared towards ensuring that the team becomes stronger, not weaker.

With the short time between preparation and match-day, I wonder whether inviting so many players to camp is a wise consolidation strategy to plug weaknesses identified from the Mauritius preliminary tie or a risky tinkering adventure that might backfire come match day.

The provisional squad retains regulars like Victor Wanyama, Ayub Timbe, Johanna Omollo, Allan Wanga, and Arnold Origi. However, the coach sprung a major surprise by introducing a quartet of complete unknowns to the team.

Majority of Kenyans will be hearing of Nicholas Kipkirui (Zoo Kericho), Ken Maritim (Ligi Ndogo), Mark Bikokwa Baraza (Nzoia United) and Calvince Omanga (Palos FC) for the first time. 

A Gotv Shield Cup tie between Gor Mahia and Palos FC introduced Palos' striker Omanga to Kenya's football fans after the youngster scored too classy goals against Gor, obviously impressing national selectors. The other three are yet to have their day of national limelight but I believe that they must be good enough to earn national call ups. 

While it is good to have a continuous programme of injecting new blood to the national team, I believe this should be done in such a way that it does not affect the stability of the team, especially in the run up to major national assignments like the one coming up in two weeks' time.

I believe that coach Williamson has most of his starting eleven sorted out already and all he is doing is bringing in new players for assessment for possible integration into the national team in case they prove good enough to plug the weak points in the team. 

That is obviously a good strategy that can ensure the team grows stronger, especially with the CECAFA Senior Challenge Cup, where the foreign based players will most likely not feature, just around the corner. In deed, the fact that the coach has been bold enough to name untested players from the little clubs is laudable, considering that most selections have been from the traditional big clubs.

The worry would be if the naming of the huge provisional squad, including the four fresh call ups, was a panic reaction triggered by the looming Cape Verde tie. I hope that is not the case.