Malawi coach under fire: FAM to review Belgian’s performance
Malawi coach Ronny van Geneugden’s (RVG) is coming under fierce pressure after poor results and following the Cosafa Cup exit.
Football commentator and Malawi News columnist, Pilirani Kachinjiri on Saturday described RVG as the the “talentless” expatriate coach who has brought shame to the nation after failing to beat lowly-ranked sides like Mauritius and Botswana.
In his ‘Sports Persective’ column, Kachinziri argue that RVG should simply accept that he has no football brains to transform Malawi soccer and the best he can do is to step down.
“In fact, it was unheard of for Malawi to employ such an inexperienced coach. Some of us who have been in this game for some time appreciate the demands that go with coaching a national team.
“It was a gamble to trust such a raw coach with the complicated task of coaching the national team. It is even suicidal to invest our trust as a nation in such a novice hoping that he can improve Malawi football,” reads Kachinziri’s column.
“We should not be blinded by the spirit of patriotism and ignore the reality on the ground that our national soccer team has completely nose-dived since the coming in of RVG and his so-called football philosophy,” he added.
Meanwhile, Football Association of Malawi (FAM) president Walter Nyamilandu has said the association’s executive committee will soon meet to review Geneugden’s performance.
Nyamilandu said it is “ disappointing “ that Malawi had to be booted out in Cosafa Cup.
He said there “ need to find a solution” to the Flames unending problems.
RVG , however feels he has made tremendous progress and is on he right track in rebuilding the team and results will come later.
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RVG is not the problem. Our problem is funding. Why?
1) No good incentives to our prayers. Poorly salaried in their clubs.
2) Camping before games: our players do not camp enough in preparation for the game. This cause them sleep around with girls, women, their wives hence loosing a great deal of energy that make them get tired quickly.
3) Players loiter around pubs drinking free beers offered by most of us. Beer is poisonous anyway. It takes away a lot of energy from the body. Most of us are to blame. We like pampering our players with beers.
4) Our players take in a lot of starch and carbohydrate foods that quickly convert into sugar nance making them get fatigue quickly. In our poverty, let these players eat good and balanced diets.
NB: All these boil down to one thing, lack of proper and good funding. Do not hate the coach. I stand to be rebuked for my stand.
One thing I don’t like about this coach is his faith in his so-called passing game. Where in this world do you keep on passing the ball around while time is running out? Football is about quick passing, attacking or surging forward, then scoring,but defending jealously is the core.
RVG’s philosophy invites opponents to score and at the same time creates less chances for the team to score.This explains why his strikers run around aimlessly because there is not sufficient supply of balls upfront as there is too much passing activity in Malawi’s own half.
RVG must understand the urgency of sending the ball forward because that disrupts the opponent’s game plan. By now, he should have identified fast wingers to be used for counter attacking football. No team can win a game without creative wingers aside from a solid and creative midfield.
Selection of players is another problem for the Belgian coach. I am of the opinion of selecting very young players who have never been recycled but are ready to learn and develop. Malawi needs to emphasize on building a team around young players of average age of 21, expose them to many international games, and export them abroad especially Europe.
There is no need to maintain a senior national team at the moment. There is need to develop the under 17 and under 20,and eventually merge them as a future Flames team. What FAM should have done,instead of hiring a novice and tactless plus directionless Belgian, was to hire experienced youth coaches from either South America or Europe for both the youth teams and expose them to quality friendly games and intensive training with an eye for 2022 world cup. This RVG will take Malawi nowhere – the Flames are the least improving team at the moment and the nosediving is inevitable.
RVG should just pack his bags and go back to his nice European country. He is of no benefit to the Flames but instead, he is bringing football shame to the country at a faster rate than a whirlwind. We can do better than having him calling the shots in the team.
The best thing to do is to concentrate on the under 20 and 17 at the moment and then build academies for future development. We have a sad combo in RVG and Malawi senior national team players.
The coach is not the problems. our players dont have the spirit to win. how can they be missing from close range shamefully like that?? omwewa mu Super league amazipereka kumachinya, why not ku National team?? JUST DISOLVE THE SO CALLED FLAMES TEAM AND GIVE THE FUNDING TO THE STREET CHILDERN.. EESSHHH
The problem is not the coach or players but the Presidentof FAM. So long as Nyamilandu or Mwenda are at the helm of the FA my country men and women do not expect miracles. Nyamilandu and Peter Muntarika share the same genes. Clueless readers Malawi has ever had