Win At Home, Please!

I WATCHED the tape of the Brave Warriors match against Swaziland twice this week and I fully understood why the headlines in the local newspapers screamed of a home side that was not brave enough and which totally failed to win convincingly on home turf.

Also, I was not surprised how my fellow sports scribes tore into the pathetic performance of some senior players, let alone the defensive system that coach Tom Saintfiet applied on the day. That, despite playing at home. Firstly, I should state that I did not attend the match as I was out of town, but after looking at those tapes, I realised that the performance of the side was way below par compared to our game against DRC in June this year. We hammered DRC 4-0 in possibly one of the best displays in 2009 from the boys with most, if not all, delivering almost five-star performances on the day.After watching those tapes I went through several post-match reports and also spoke to some football experts, players and the chief of football himself, Barry Rukoro. They were all not convinced, but felt betrayed and disappointed.Rukoro said he was disturbed by slump of the Warriors especially into the second half, compared to their purposeful run in the first stanza, which he says was tactical.He said it was Namibia’s match to win on the day, adding that the Warriors could have already gone up by at least six goals in the first half. Wastefulness, lack of composure from some senior players in front of goal and no sense of a killer instinct overshadowed the Warriors’ mission to hit the target.For that, I will give the Warriors a 3 out of 10 for their overall performance. The back line, which in my opinion stood tall, will get 7 out of 10, the midfielders a 3 out of 10 and the strikers 2 out of 10. To be honest, one cannot hope for draws and try to avoid losing when playing at home by using a defensive pattern and rely on counter-attacks. It works well sometimes, but not always. The bottom line is, win all your home matches and seek for draws when you play away. Losing should not be an option, especially if one flies in all the foreign-based internationals. It is a waste of time, money and effort from all who are involved in making it happen.As far as I am concerned, I agree with my fellow scribes and Rukoro that the Warriors had a day off, but instead turned up at the office. For what? To come and frustrate the poor fans who forked out N$30? Also, the coach should have realised that the tactical approach he used in the first half against the Swazis was not doing any good for his side in most of the second half and should have changed it accordingly. There is nothing wrong with a little bit of innovation and changing the game plan to your advantage because it will surprise the opposition. By taking a chance, the coach shows character and it also tells that he does not fear any eventualities. Be open to change and embrace the challenges that come with it. That’s the nature of football. Sticking to your guns can get you shot at because you don’t use it when you find yourself in the firing line. The Namibian substitutions did not make any impact because they lacked creativity and that is because of playing according to instructions. Unfortunately, it comes out naturally if players are told to play according to set rules and formations. It showed immensely with the Warriors last Saturday. Last week, I said that we need to see the quality and consistency coming from our players. But those two aspects must be accompanied by innovation. It was totally the opposite on Saturday, from the majority of the players. The countless excuses by Saintfiet of missed chances, a wasted penalty and blaming his charges for poor play are not good enough.The coach has to learn to admit mistakes and rectify them. Fans are not interested in excuses if we don’t win matches at home and like in any other country, the coach has to take the criticism that comes with the job. Learn from the mistakes and devise new ways of doing things. Swaziland is no football powerhouse and Namibia should have smoked them out thoroughly on the Sam Nujoma artificial turf, with all their foreign legion at their disposal. In essence, the draw was a loss. Next time, the Warriors must please play some decent football and WIN AT HOME at all costs. corry@namibian.com.na