Malawi National Team Assistant Coach, Peter Mponda, has bemoaned the “lack of presence in the box”, in the wake of Flames’ loss against Lesotho, as Malawi players “simply did not have enough bodies in the box”, despite commanding possession.
Does this development press for a paradigm shift this afternoon against Namibia?
The Flames’ typical play style is possession-based football. However, quite strangely enough, as was clearly observed against Lesotho, the possession is overdosed and restricted to areas and the Flames cannot inflict harm to the opponent. Mostly, the Flames just pass around in their own half creating no danger.
This is because the possession build up play by the Flames, is constantly bang slow and predictable with short passes, to which the opposition easily recovers.
To be brutally honest, technical ability or skill to produce fast and intricate passes is our Achilles heel. Our football just does not have inventive and ingenious players who can see a pass to hurt opponents, albeit this seems to be typical of many teams currently at this tournament, except for South Africa if you consider the manner goals have come, with most teams scoring from set-pieces.
What the Flames need against Namibia is a direct play that involves long balls and quick passes whether in transition or build-up play to exploit the gaps when the opponent will have lost shape and structure.
Our direct play should relegate useless back passing and exploit the pace of Wisdom Mpinganjira, to carry the ball forward quickly, breaking the lines and deliver pinpointing crosses.
Our full-backs will also have to be adaptable enough to pick up wing back positions during transitions and create overloads or numbers for Malawi to create dangerous moments that spawn goals.
Pressing high, direct play characterised by quick passing and long balls with the full-backs picking up wing-back positions, and creating overloads, the Flames can surely boost their chances that are currently just smouldering.
