Zim
footballSince independence Zimbabwe football have evolved from foreign coach to
foreign coach with little success in Afcon. Our football became of age in the
late 90s when Reinhard Fabisch was appointed as Head Coach of the Dream Team.
The Warriors were successfull in the World Cup group stages only to be denied
by Egypt at the last hurdle. By then that was our philosophy build on strong
defence, patience and good attacking prowess. Amongst our local coaches no one
managed to learn and shadow Fabisch who at that time was like our Mourinho as
Zimbabwe played good fluid passing football which was a joy to watch. Please
click here to Donate and support Zimbabwe Football Develop Academy Currently we
don’t seem to have our own style and we have borrowed from abroad without
deciding our own football identity. Midlands outfit Chapungu FC under Lovemore
Nyabeza had the renowned Waka-Waka style, which was played one or two passes in
their half before lumping it forward to the strikers. At one point Ashton
“Papa” Nyazika is claimed to have said, “I just tell Stix, Joe and Stan to pass
to Shackie and we will win.” This was during his coaching era at Caps United
before he moved to Black Rhinos. We at Zimbabwe Football Development Academy
have identified our own football brand and identity called “iTouch” which was
adopted from the Spanish Tiki Taka mixed with German efficiency football played
by Fabisch with the Warriors. When you think of football styles or philosophies
as most football coaches are prone to say, a number of formations cross the
mind. They range from the “Samba” of Brazil popularly known as the “Beautiful
Game”, . This style’s emphasis was on individual skills and attacking flair.
The legendary Brazil team which captured the hearts and minds of football fans
at the 1982 world cup tournament in Spain, with Zico, Socrates and Careca all
producing astronomical individual performances. When we look at the German
style with its emphasis on a well choreographed technical team which is
efficient in achieving results in all conditions as a team. The German
philosophy is patience, passion and efficiency. A lot has been talked about the
“Tiki-Taka”; this is the buzz-word in football world these days. This style
emphasises on more possession and insists on winning matches by denying the
opposition of the space and ball possession. Its like running a country with no
Water or Electricity. The emergence and success of Spain and Barcelona in the
recent years has led to modern teams attempting to adapt this style. The
Italian style, the “Catennacio” well known as the door bolt, places strong
emphasis on defence and denying the opposition opportunities. This will
probably describe Atletico Madrid or Chelsea who are difficult to breakdown and
penetrate. As highlighted by Wikipedia(2015) this style is premised on the idea
that if the opponents cannot score a goal, they cannot win. This system was
developed by Karl Rappan, an Australian coach but made more popular by Argentinian
coach Helenio Herrera who used it successfully with Inter in the 60s. Italian
teams have adopted it and it became the Italian national team philosophy but of
late modern thinkers regard it as outdated; no team uses the extra defender any
more known as the libero or sweeper. “Total Football” is another philosophy
which many teams, especially the Dutch, have invented. Innovated by Rinis
Michels the Dutch coach, it had in Johan Cruyf one its strongest adherents who
had this to say about the system, “Attackers can play as defenders and
defenders as attackers, everyone can play everywhere. Rotation of positions is
the key to this philosophy and it served as the template for the development of
“Tiki-Taka”. In Africa, South Africa had their “Shoe-Shine Piano”, a system
described as township soccer whose template is short sequential passes with
individual player intelligence. It was mainly used by former national team
coach Tshabalala. All these playing styles were met with varying degrees of
success and, needless to say, Zimbabwe has jumped from one unknown style to
another thereby confusing the players and gifting the opponents. Having noticed
this deficiency our academy took the responsibility of identifying and
developing a vision and philosophy which will be of national interest as it
impacts on all young players development. To achieve this, our Galaxy coaches
identify the strengths of the players which if properly harnessed can lead to
the development of a unique football identity for the nation. It is also
paramount to have the football association adopting and supporting the vision
and philosophy of iTouch football. We’ve basics right We currently only have
the basic football which is not enough to compete at national level ie.
kicking, heading and shooting without good control and passing. Defenders can
also learn to control and pass the ball. This is acquired by years of playing
on the streets or bumpy pitches. All over the country, young boys can be
observed expressing their skills on the dusty streets or football pitches. This
means that their dribbling and ball control develops from an early age under
difficult conditions. It should therefore follow that coaches have players
whose ball control and passing is nous. To succeed at the top, ball control is
paramount. While I appreciate this praise, let me say that this is nothing new
for any Zimbabwean football fan. Masters of the ball control who come to mind
are Stix Mtizwa, Moses Chunga, Willard Khumalo, Ronald Sibanda and Archford
Chimutanda. Ball control allows a player more time during possession to make a
decisive pass and Zimbabwe is blessed in this area and hence our football
philosophy should incorporate this attributes in football education. Zimbabwe
has always produced top defenders, the likes of Enerst Mutano, Francis
Shonhayi, Misheck Marimo and Ephraim Chawanda. The added bonus of Zimbabwe
football is that it has produced attacking wing backs, players like Oliver
Kateya, Mercedes Sibanda, and Garnet Muchongwe. It can be argued that for Zimbabwe
it is possible to play from the back with the use of wingbacks, a concept which
is not new considering that we have always had overlapping defenders. The
argument therefore is not about reinventing the wheel, but simply identifying
the strength and harnessing them to develop a football style for the nation.
Zimbabwe has never had a shortage of midfielders; this is one of the strongest
areas of the modern game. Great midfielders have graced the national game, the
likes of Memory Mucherahowa, Stix Mtizwa, George Shaya, Willard Khumalo just to
mention a few. These players had all the attributes – ball control, vision and
passing ability. The nation has always produced midfield magicians and geniuses
and hence creativity should not be a problem in any system suitable. In
addition, the country has always produced wingers who could create goals
through dribbling, pace and crossing ability. I ‘m reminded of players like
Stanley Ndunduma, Edward Katsvere, Madinda Ndlovu, Moses Chunga and Peter
Ndlovu, just to mention a few. These players had an assortment of skills which
reflect a common trend, pace and dribbling skills. Masters of the dribble
include Vitalis Takavira and Boy Ndlovu, and the system must take cognisance of
these strengths in the national game. As we analyse about football style we
have to accept that the game is about scoring goals and in this department
Zimbabwe has a history of producing top strikers. The likes of Shacky Tauro,
Gift Mpariwa, Peter Ndlovu and Agent Sawu come to mind. The football philosophy
should incorporate this trend in the national game and remind the current
players of their responsibility and national ability. As we reflect on our
football history we examine past teams e.g. Zimbabwe Saints perfected the pass
and move style, almost like Tiki Taka; Highlanders have always played at a high
tempo with width, trickery and pace while Dynamos are renowned for their
passing and attacking prowess and the same can be said of Caps United. From
these examples one can identify a pattern, close ball control, pace, trickery,
width and attack and hence a national philosophy should capture these
attributes. Junior football development is key to our nation, academy and
beyond as we are the beacon of hope for children in Zimbabwe To develop a football
style, it is important to involve teachers in junior football development.
Teachers who spend the early years with the young players must be empowered
with coaching skills up to, at least, a level two certificate. This will
encourage a more robust and holistic approach to coaching at schools level as
they catch them young. I witnessed players only being taught to launch a long
ball in the opponent half hoping for a miracle to happen. This is negative
football education from an early age and this must be eradicated. We need more
parents,teachers and coaches employed and trained, and the national philosophy
will begin to take shape which will be a success at national level. The Germans
are on record with their success at the World Cup after adopting the youth
system. A grassroots youth league must be implemented to give exposure to young
players with tournaments. It is a good thing that coaches now have to be
qualified to work in the Premier League, and must follow a given national
curriculum. Some academies are there but they do not have a sense of purpose
However they should be monitored at national level and follow a set football
curriculum. Our academy must be treated as a school, their curriculum should be
monitored and adopted. This allows the development of the type of player and
playing style that Zimbabwe needs. If Zimbabwe appoints former Dynamos coach
Callisto Pasuwa as national coach, this will be a brave as a local coach he
knows the strengths of the national game and will develop a style to suit our
players. In Zimbabwe’s short history, we have been through coaches from all
over the world.. We have a corktail of Polish, Ghananian, German, Dutch ,
British, Brazilian coaches and, further confusion to that, local coaches and
one can begin to envisage the lack of clarity on style. It is our hope at
Zimbabwe Football Development Academy of developing our own football philosophy
; i will be a proud when one day we can pronounce of a Zimbabwe style just as
we speak of the much exported “Tiki-Taka” or “Samba soccer”. Ideas can be
borrowed and football is a universal language but the end product should be our
own iTouch football. By Lord Morris Kakunguwo
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