The match ended with Zambia having six defenders and two holding midfielders on the field plus two strikers.
The friendly match in Dhabi against the Pharaohs of Egypt brought memories of the home game against Guinea Bissau were again interim Chipolopolo Boys coach George ‘Chicken’ Lwandamina is still showed he has a long way when it comes to tactics.
A few weeks ago at Nkoloma Stadium during the Barclays Cup quarter final between Lwandamina’s Zesco United and Kabwe Warriors, a few VIP fans suggested its time ‘Zega Mambo’ became the new ‘Zambia B,’ going by the way they dominated and teared Warriors the opening minutes.
The fans argued that let Lwandamina start picking Zescolo players so that they can form the main spine of the Chipolopolo.
That idea was quashed by a simple answer.
If Lwandamina and Zesco United dominate on the Continent next year in the CAF Champions League then they will rightly have earned the title of ‘Zambia B’ like Zanaco way back.
For now Lwandamina has been exposed and he has to up his tactics. It is common knowledge that North Africans are good at counter attacks.
Why pack the bus when your team is 2-0 down and bring in defenders for attacking players when it was Zambia chasing the game?
Yes, leading up to the game, Lwandamina talked about ended the misery of losing to Egypt but the game changed once Egpyt scored.
In the first half, Zambia had all the possession but didn’t create any chances but only with Green Buffaloes’ Jack Chirwa deflected effort on target while Nathan Sinkala had two going wide.
On the other side Egypt kept on threatening on the break and everytime they had the ball, they moved it quickly while there’s no urgency from Zambia. It was simply a pedestrian pace!
There’s a basic rule, ‘get the ball to your dangerous players as soon quickly as possible’ but Zambia didn’t apply.
The Chipolopolo Boys were trying to build up from the back and by the time the ball was getting to Collins Mbesuma, Chisamba Lungu and Lubambo Musonda, the Egyptians had already recovered and had the shape to defend.
At some point, one felt that the plan should have been going route one/direct football especially in the second half.
Instead of removing Chisamba, either Chirwa or one of the fullbacks could have been sacrificed and the towering Festus Mbewe could have been brought on to partner Mbesuma while Winstone Kalengo could have gone wide with Chisamba in central midfield.
‘The intent there could have been lets pull one goal back and maybe we can sneak in an equaliser.’
Its about the mentality and identity a coach gives to his players but alas Lwandamina sent a wrong message to the team.
Chisamba and Lubambo out and came Daudi Musekwa and Donashamo Malama!!! Dear me, Damage Limitation with half an hour to play.
“Is the coach scared of conceding more goals or is he thinking we can win with 8 defensive players on the field?”
Or is it against Guinea Bissau at Levy Mwanawasa Stadium when Zambia ended with no striker on the pitch and two defensive midfielders when the team was supposed to be pushing for a win.
At the time, Mbesuma was being replaced for Mbewe, there was only Sinkala and Stopilla Sunzu plus goalkeeper Kennedy Mweene as foreign based players and maybe Lwandamina had one eye on the game against Mozambique in the CHAN qualifier.
Was he trying to expose more local players for the Mozambique or he just didn’t have more attacking substitutes?
Another thing was the nature of the goals Zambia conceded. The three goals where all identity as Egypt attacked from the flanks and exposed not only the full backs but also the central midfielders and centre backs.
The first two goals came from counter attacks while the final one came from possession football. Despite having 8 defensive minded players on the pitch, the Egyptians played about 30-35 passes and scored. One would think Musekwa and Donashamo were brought on to defend and add steel to the team.
Lesson learnt is that Lwandamina should start having a plan B. He was stuck in Abu Dhabi and can only win games but taking a risk. [Remove a defender for a striker and not what he did.]
Up next is Mozambique and then in November back to back games against Sudan for Russia 2018 World Cup qualifier.
The Sudan games are crucial as Zambia cant’t afford to miss out.
Faz shud axe lwandamina before things get worse
I think there is no other comment apart from axing the Lwandamina, let him just continue with zesco
Off topic
MAMELODI Sundowns head of communications Thulani Thuswa says the club is still looking for a suitable loan deal for Mukuka Mulenga. Thuswa explained that Sundowns had exhausted its foreign quarter threshold, hence would look for a club where the Zambian international would be placed this season. He explained that the Pretoria-based team still had plans for the former Power Dynamos player. “Mukuka’s talent is unbelievable, his touch on the ball is marvelous, so a player like that should not be without a club. He has been training with us and has been doing very well. If nothing is happening for him in the near future, we will loan him out, he is a great player. We will look for a suitable loan arrangement for Mukuka,” said Thuswa. Last season, Sundowns loaned Mulenga to Bloemfontein Celtic but they have opted not to renew his contract. Club sources said Celtic had signed too many players who would fulfill a similar role as Mulenga and that meant that he had to return to Sundowns. The former Power Dynamos playmaker made 19 appearances but only scored four goals. Mulenga joined Sundowns as a high-profile signing at the start of 2013/14 seasons, with coach Pitso Mosimane singing his praises and calling him “a general” and an exceptional player. However, the Zambian player has never kicked the ball at Chloorkop. –
@ Sir blessings No..no.. FAZ must axe themselves
we r stil behind against arabs, look at our clubs wen we play arabs. So ba george shud prepare his team wel, b4 going 2 sudan else we r in meaning trouble.
@LBSS there z jst too much corruption in zambianfootball. I tell u its nt easy to get rid of kalu, andrew kamanga has failed. That’s kalu 4 u. Lwandamina is using two youngsters chepeshi and mukandawire, leavin out experienced players like kabaso and mbola. This is totally unacceptable
patience is needed.th problm wit us zambians is dat we easily judge,nd having such a mentality,even morinho wud b a fake coach fo us.frndly games ar playd to expose such mistakes,fo a suitabl solutn to b found.th coa
We have played such friendlies many times. We are not improving. If Zambian football is on the downward spiral after that 2012 afcon victory. That should tell something. That there is a big problem with the football system.
Let mozambique nd sudan come,u ll believ it dat realy “misfortune sharpens character”.As i knw zambian footbal,it is better we lose a frndly,as we prepare fo a high profile game.wait fo hm,trust “george chicken”.i knw u wil say rankings matters in frndlies,bt,its a clear fact dat its nt an important thng to cry fo.gve hm a chanc.
lets get to hav a chan team doing preparations against their agements and u23 alone too. such prestigous friendlies no experiments. otherwise we are loosing to sudan home and away
#hh2016
My frnd with chiken in charge, zambia wil nt go anywhere. There are better coaches who can do a good job if given chance. Chicken fails to read games
Lwandamina himself was a victim of the Arabs when he made a blunder against Morroco back in 1989 if Im not mistaken.The Arabs counter attacked and he (chicken)blundered leading to the only goal.I believe chicken has experience with the Arabs both as player and coach,
Lwandamina won’t take us any where! Here the coach for Kenya!
Hire the coach for Kenya if Zambia is to go to the world cup
Lwandimina is a big f00l u mean he substituted lubambo and chisamba. He is a big dander head.
MWEMBWAMWE MWATUSEBANYA WHAT A DAFT COACH AND ITS FOOLISH EMPLOYER.
Its good that we have lost this game. Let us call mbola,kabaso, and nkausu back. Let chipeshi and mukundawire remain at under 23.
No tempo! Zambia either has tempo or Zambia is finished!
If Zambia has tempo then Zambia should have stratergy!
Zambia can’t beat even a 160th ranked team if they don’t have either!
In defence even sunzu is a suspect.we need a strong number 4 to partner sunzu.its apit that nyambe’s recovery has taken ages.upfront we need Jacob, mayuka and KANGWA.
Katebe or Munthali do partner with Sunzu very well. Why FAZ and Chicken left these two, no one knows.
I am sure Mozambique n Sudan are salivating at the prospect of meeting our inconsistent team.
That is very true.
y do you talk like this wen we just lose a friendly game.wen u win u start praising chiken.lets be honest as far as things ar geoge is the only better coach we hav in zambia right who can pull a miracle for our mother land. we nid to support him no matter what.besides u heard money for the new coach is nt available.so be patient and lets see what geoge can do for us.remmember is the only coach in zambia who has atlist managed to qualify the under 20 to the world cup.atlist his felt the atmosphere of the world cup tho at under 20.
I watched the game agaisnt underdogs Guinea Bissau. In second half we played without a striker. I dont know what the coach was trying to achieve, whether he wanted a draw or what. That said, despite the fact that we won against Kenya, we struggled a lot. We were forced to pack the bus in second half; we were totally under pressure. With such performances, and Luandamina at the helm, we are going nowhere
Last time I defended a coach it was Janza and the way that turned out I will stay quiet mwe.
lwandamina is yet to reach international tactics so should be terminated before things goes worse.
The game was ok, we only need strong wing backs like Fackson Kapumbu on the left side and any other one on the right.Dinoshano Malame is needed in middle of the pack.
All I can say is that we do not have people with football brains in Zambia. Starting with FAZ down to the coach. Team selection is a nightmare with the current coach.
I agree team selection is a nightmare at the moment under Chicken George. It amazing that this is the same coach who took us to a world cup and roped in so much talent into the national team fold by introducing them in at U17 level. I wonder what has happened to him.
Janza is much better than this f00l
Team selection in our local coach is poor,how can a local coach have a better selection while his mind is to groom his players of his choice? you don’t aim at grooming but players for a national team are identified by their performance not grooming.honestly,speaking with local coaches Zambia has never performed better. because local coaches are too corrupt.
I agree. Instead of sticking to the already established tea, they bring in their own amapulangas. Stick to the team that is place and move on from there. Why did he leave out Katebe, Kabaso, Mbola, Kangwa, Singuluma, Munthali, Sate Sate, etc?
Th coach shuld gv lawrence chungu n fuckson kapumbu a chance in th chipolopolo squad. This thing of using young players fo th sake of advertising so that thy sell them must stop coz ts killing our football. National team team is not for blunder prone kids.
I wonder what the coach is trying to prove by his insistence on using the young lads in high profile games. Maybe he thinks there was nothing special about HR’s identification of Mbola and he thinks he can do the same. Not every coach is gifted with talent identification that’s why some coaches build a whole team of scouts around them. The reason we lost so terribly was solely down to poor team selection and tactics. These are things that are primarily the coaches responsibility.
Our local coaches will never lose the mindset of selecting their personal favourites instead of selecting players on merit. FAZ and the lousy current national leadership have failed to get us a proper coach.
Well said. Thats true.
The only problem we have in zambia is FAZ not the Lwandamina.looking at Zambian football,you can tell that we lacking in defence,we only have a central defender(sunzu)the rest are still in the making and once we work on that we will be force in world football.Lwandamina is good for the job,look at his Zesco team,they play good football how I wish they will play like that in the champions league next season…..Viva Lwandamina
When you are a group of average teams playing against each other and you win in that group, you are still average.
The fact that Zesco is “playing well” could simply be that all the other local coaches just like Chicken George are also inept. So him winning in the ZPL doesn’t really say much about his capability. If he goes o to win things in the CAF games then maybe words can be said but time in memorial ZPL teams are ever consistent flops in the CAF games.
I believe we have the talent to be a force in world football. We have been a force for many years so the problem cant be talent. It is obvious the problem is the level of coaching.
Absolutely spot on
@ big steve, I think a normal coach cnt b risking his job n use inexperienced shaky players who could nt even contain th kenyan wingers. I believ thr are some people at faz who picks th squad for him nowander hz not even th 1 who announces th squad.
If the coach cant stand his ground on player selection then he is not a coach but a puppet. HR once did not board a plane to South Africa because of interference with player selection, that is a true professional standing his ground and standing by his beliefs. You cant call yourself a coach if players are picked for you because then it simply means even tactics are picked for you. We can blame the dictatorial approach of Kalusha and his cronies at FAZ but if the coach cant stand his ground simply because of a pay cheque then he should not call himself a professional, he should call himself a puppet.
we need an expatret coach, too much corraption in our local coaches, they hav failed.
I agree, our local coaches just do not make the cut. Imagine us at the world cup in 2018 with one of the local coaches, we would make history as the team which conceded the most goals in the history of the world cup.
Lol
if we want to qualify to the fifa world cup 2018 faz shud fire lwandamina before the game against sudan in khartoum.
You’ve said well. But to add on what you’ve said, the current FAZ execute should be fired next year by putting in a new and understanding executive. An executive that do not have their own interests only, but the interest of the nation at heart. I like Kalusha as a person and as a great for footballer and legend for that matter. But I don’t like Kalusha the FAZ “president”.
lwandamina can not win the game in khartoum, we want a coach who can knocked out the sudanese. We are tired of supporting forien teams when it comes to world cup games, we want to watch our national team playing with big teams like germany, spain, etc, in 2018 w/cup.
it pains me to see minows like guinea bissau, gambia, mauritius, djibout, kenya, uganda, and small clubs in tanzania they hav an expatriet coaches!! why zambia is fairing to get an expatret coach?
Chicken was only trying to outdo Egypt on his first assignment against them. Yes Zambia lost but guess what?…….. It does not mean that Chicken did not have plan B.Chicken did not start the game the way he ended it. Those who watched the game can testify to this.Zambia must just learn to arrange a series of friendlies many enough to allow the coaches to test their tactics well. S.A played 2, Nigeria played the same number and Egypt had planned for the same before playing the impending qualifiers. One wonders why Zambia only arranged for one friendly. Are you guys better than the countries I have mentioned in soccer? Maybe ……. If the coaches for those countries need more games to sharpen their tactics and George is given only one game does one expect the gaiter to compete well internationally? Wakeup Zambia.
He had another game vs Gabon, the man is just useless and so are FAZ
Qualifying for the world cup is not an accident but something that requires the following;
1. Professional Administration of football
2. A qualified coaching staff
3. A combination of high profile and talented players
4. Good preparations
Do we as Zambia meet the above? The answer is no we do not, so why do we continue talking about the World cup. As things look now, we do not meet any of my four points above and if we are not careful Sudan will teach as a lesson, especially away. We have had issues with Sudan, even with all our so-called best players present
Zambian football is in trouble and the earlier we admit this fact the better. It is really a shame the way football is being administered in our country, this sucks
We have reached the bottom and this is the fact. No matter what we say nothing will change
Let us just tighten our belts and await the worst