The ZamFoot fans gave George Lwandamina a thumbs up on his selection for final 23 man squad for the game against Kenya.
A poll on Zambianfootball.co.zm asking the question “Are you satisfied with the final 23 man squad named by Lwandamina for the Kenya game?” produced the following results:
- Yes – 46%
- Not Sure – 21%
- No – 31%
However when the starting eleven was announced, curious eyes were on how teenage full back Boyd Mkandawire and Benedict Chepeshi would fare against the Kenya attack.
There have been mixed reactions after the game as to whether budding talents who represented Zambia at the U20 Africa junior championship earlier in the year are worth their salt and there have not been as many topics as the starting of the two that have drawn much debate in the post match analysis.
The ZamFoot Crew has compiled the fans perspective on the same:
Billy shared –
There are games these two young boys should play and games they should not play. For instance in the friendly against Gabon tomorrow at home, they can be thrown in.
We are not saying that the boys shouldn’t’ play, but I think there are certain games we need to play them and not crucial ones. I can bet my finger if we feature these two young defenders in the game against Congo in Brazzaville, they will be torn apart to pieces. Congolese are very huge, rough and difficult to play. There are games we can introduce these youngsters for them to gain confidence such as in the game tomorrow (against Gabon). In such games as the friendly, the pressure is low and it’s a home game.
Koms wrote –
The task was too big for them (Chepeshi and Mkandawire), being the first time to play in the national team a competetive game at the same time an away game, as for me these are talents discovered which we shouldn’t throw away but to be motivated by all soccer loving Zambians.
Luapula Fish –
Let these new teen fullbacks be the present and the future stars . Its very encouraging to start teenagers in an away game, Lwandamina should be commended and applauded for his courage and confidence for making these tough decisions. We can only judge these kids when they fail to grow in confidence and rise as they play more games. Mtonga and other named players have failed to live up to expectation despite carrying the ‘people’s favourite ‘ tag. Chicken is by far a better local coach and we should give him much needed support. Just like Kalusha received criticism when he introduced a lot of young players to the national team, who went on to be become peoples favourite and lifted the Afcon in 2012. We should not aim to maximize our performances as at now ,we should rather forego some good average performance and nurture young players for the best future performances.
Dewenga added
People, those young lads did very well considering that they played for the first a highly competitive game away in Kenya. Kenya is very good team gents and they do not lose at home. They play long and fast balls which is very difficult for any defender. We all know the ability of Kenyans to run 90 minutes without getting tired. Watch their past games against the west African countries and you will tell me that they really torment apart defenses. Equally Sudan and Uganda play fast long balls kind of football. We lost to Sudan away a few years ago and the big guys were there. The young lads had it difficult at start but eventually they picked up and stabilised.
Have your say: Is Lwandamina rushing the young lads or he should keep them in the squad with Zambia playing Sudan on the 11th of November, 2015 in a World Cup qualifier?
In the photo, Boyd Mkandawire stops Kenya striker Michael Olunga in his tracks (Goal Kenya)
They tried considering their age and playing away.
I doubt their ability even against Gabon tomolo. Let us wait and see. Its better to field a strong side tomolo for the sake of prestige and FiFa ranking.
a coach uses the material he has at his disposal. he is not a magician to create players out of nothing. however i feel for long term we need to start grooming bigger players. let the young ones mature in the junior ranks first.
I can’t say if they should be played or not because i don’t the the competition and their fitness. But yes if you chose you dont risk them, Mbola and Nkausu would do…
HR gave many players a break in a big game, but never more than one in a critical position per big game.
If you think about about the breaks given to new players in crucial under Janza and Lwandamina, how many have been successful?
The answer is not many… We must be careful, give new/young players a chance but dont sacrifice if we can help it.
There is the under 23 and the chan let them prove themselve there.we need kabaso and mbola
I dont why some people are critical of Lwandamina’s fusing of young blood with experienced older players.Let these young chaps have a feel of playing at a high level and shed off some nerves in the process.
These two are cosafa and chan material there are not ready
Not now may be in future games yes after they gain experience st chan and cosafa
but i think they played well there is always the beginning to everything how did john soko start, how did mbola start?
Boyd proved a good choice Chipeshse not so much he was exploited otherwise Mbola and Kabaso are overated so the young lads are what we need ….
What is critical is that Lwandamina is a risk taker. Infact, he is giving everyone a chance. The boys may not have performed to expectation but they have the exposure and iam meant to believe they are bubbling with confidence.
What chicken is doing is exceptional. He has brought in tactics like delaying as well parking the bus. I think it is commendable considering that Zambia always fails to maintain a lead immediately after scoring.
This is not to mean that this will always work but Lwandamina seems to read the game from what we have seen so far.
We hope a decision is made hastily so as to motivate Lwandamina. It will be suicidal to appoint a foreign coach at this point in time.
they should continue using the young stars.2017 they will be ripe and ready at afcon.