Chemistry test for Kimanzi

I wrote this article a while back, I have decided to post it as it was, so don't mind if I have not mentioned the recent results of Harambee Stars, though I am not shocked...

It takes courage for a coach to admit that qualifying for the next World Cup is a long shot. Francis  Kimanzi knows that to take a team to Brazil in 2014 we need to have started at least by 2006. Zambia took six years to form the team that won the African Cup of Nations in Gabon. Unless we have a new untested formula, I will go with Kimanzi’s word.

Time is relative and neutral, what you do within the time is what makes the difference. You can do many things with players in six years but the main team dynamic you will build is chemistry. Zambian palyers know each other’s weakness and strength. They may not have been the best team in Equatorial Guinea and Gabon but their ability to gel, blend and flow made the difference.

This is what Kimanzi will have to make sure Harambee Stars achieve to make an impact in next year’s AFCON. Saying we have talent is an understatement- we are a country endowed with enough gifted football players. Structures or rather lack of the same has failed us in the past and it is time FKF walked their talk.

With all due respect, Denis Oliech and Mariga (Macdonald) will not be of much help in the long term. Kimanzi should start building a team around Victor Mugabe and the likes of Agwanda and Musa Mohammed. It will take courage to leave out the two experienced players in one of the qualifiers but it is tough and radical decisions that will give us results.

I keep referring to FC Barcelona when writing about football- we all agree they are in a class of their own. It is chemistry that makes all the difference at Camp Nou. Italy and Spain have also tried to build this in their national teams. Italy won the 2006 World Cup with a majority of players from the Serie A. Spain won the 2010 edition with all but three players (in English PL) based in Spain. Fabregas, Torres and Reina all started on the bench in the final against Netherlands.

The chemistry between Xavi and Iniesta is out of this world, they look programmed. It is the product of hard work and playing together for almost fifteen years. It takes more than just a good team to beat their combination with Messi in the mix. They have a policy that fifty percent of the first team will be home grown. Thirty five percent will be the best from Europe (mainly Spain) and the rest the cream of the world. This goes to just cement the clubs point of strength- chemistry.

When the national team picks most players from the domestic league,it means that most players have played against each other regularly. Though they will not be in the same team they will know each other’s strengths and weakness easily. This could be Kimanzi’s good starting point; he doesn’t need to call a legion of foreign based players. He can bring a few, only the ones he knows are crucial to his game plan.

Uganda is building their Under 23 side under their Scottish senior team coach. They have stuck with him for a while now and I can put my money on the Cranes making next year’s continental meeting. The youngsters get a chance to play in friendly matches which will make transition rather seamless. Unlike us who assemble the Olympic team for qualifiers or when some agents pay us good appearance fees. We then give a coach one day to prepare a team, and then we still expect good results. When the players perform, like they did in West Africa recently it is to market themselves to scouts.

Football Kenya Federation can set aside resources for Kimanzi to assemble local players for training and friendly matches at least twice a month. This should be organized on the days when most players are not training with their teams. Until we set up an elaborate youth structure, we have to find a way of getting the best players even out of the top flight league.

The Zambian team that won this year’s AFCON was disastrous in 2006 under Kalusha Bwalya as coach. The coach left to join the Federation but the team was left intact to play in Angola two years later. It is good if we identify a good youth team and gave Kimanzi time to build a team, even if he steps aside, the next coach should be briefed on the long term plan.

When average local based players can play as a unit, we are better off than a star studded team that is malfunctioning.  In building chemistry I don’t recommend the out of touch local trainers.  Not the kind of team builders who will take players through drills on a random day in some remote place.

Africans have a way of building social bonds and it is time we exploited these methods. The idea is to create pre-thought forums where these players can interact with each other. A good start is for them to visit and mentor secondary school players or the UNICEF sponsored centres of excellence.

It is time FKF put in the hard work of thought in our national team or else the Tusker sponsorship will leave us with a hangover. Interests abound but the mother of all these interests is our football. If it blossoms, even the woman who sells peanuts in the stadium will blossom as players and everybody else blossoms. It takes work and time, two factors of production that you will never substitute, not with anything I know of.