By Raymond Siyaya Jnr:
FCB Nyasa Big Bullets and their fervent fans had a rude awakening and a derby to forget when they were thumped by three goals to nil by their archrivals Mighty Wanderers in a high stakes football match at the legendary Kamuzu stadium in Blantyre.
The win means Wanderers are within a single point, but they have a game in hand. If Wanderers win against Songwe Border FC on Wednesday, Bullets could be staring down the barrel of the league slipping through their fingers as Wanderers will leapfrog them and be two points clear.
Wanderers finally have broken a 10 year double jinx over Bullets, having beaten them one nil in the first round. But were bullets on a time ticking bomb or was this disaster just waiting to happen?
How did Wanderers pull off this scoreline, and where did Bullets goof?
FAULTY TACTICAL PHILOSOPHY.
Peter Mponda, coach for Bullets, admitted in post-match interview that his counterpart Bob Mpinganjira had his tactics spot on and that his players executed instructions excellently.
For a start, Mponda was too cautious as he broke the norm when he picked four defenders in a 4-1-2-3 tactical formation while Mpinganjira showed intentions of front foot football with a 3-2-3-2 system.
Clearly, from the outset, Wanderers had an extra player at the midfield as they created an overload around this area with a 5v.3 at the midfield. This allowed Wanderers to dominate,control pace, and momentum, allowing them to make rotations while easily scaling the ball up the pitch.
Bullets defencive frailities have for long been covered if Bullets control possession,but with a team quick on transitions and aggressive like Wanderers,Bullets defence was exposed and could not cope leading to numerous defensive errors that Andrew Jovinala, Aaron Chilipa and goalkeeper Innocent Nyasulu continously made.
In addition, Wanderers were relentless in putting pressure on the ball when they lost possession and quickly tracked back, keeping their shape in an organised manner.
Every Bullets runner was tracked and covered. Hence, Bullets continued to find a Cul-de-sac and repeatedly sent the ball back or played useless square balls.
Furthermore,Bob Mpinganjira innovated a genius tactical masterclass when he allowed Isaac Kaliati to play narrow, time, and again to increase numbers in order to swarm the midfield. Muhamad Sulumba, too, was excellently dropping deep to pick up loose balls,linking up with Rajab Nyirenda or Daniel Kudonto and moving the ball to the final third.
Conversely,Bullets’ wingers of Hassan Kajoke and Salima were too wide, leaving the midfield vulnerable and at a numerical disadvantage. Salima and Kajoke could also not track back effectively to help their fullbacks.
Felix Zulu, too, deserves a special mention as he was box to box interms of protecting his defence and adding numbers upfront whenever Wanderers broke free. No wonder he was named man of the match again.
Peter Mponda saw the vulnerability and pulled out Paul Master and Hassan Kajoke for Mike Mkwate and Wongani Lungu, 35 minutes in the first half to stabilise and add numbers, but Wanderers were already on the pedestal they could not be dislodged from.
Bob Mpinganjira even made the situation more complex for Bullets when he removed Muhamad Sulumba,who could have buried Bullets with the two glaring goal scoring opportunities he missed for Blessings Singini.
This time, Singini paired with Rajab Nyirenda closed down all channels for Bullets to manoeuvre, and Mkwate and Lungu were left chasing their own shadows. Singini brought the drive and the carriage of the ball upfront, which Wanderers craved, and no wonder he scored two goals.
BULLETS DEFENCE EXPOSED.
So much had been said about Bullets’ defence not properly tested by a well structured and organised team that is on the front foot,aggressive, and pressing from the front.
Bullets defence of Blessings Mpokera, Andrew Jovinala, Aaron Chilipa and Khumbo Banda had nothing to cope with the relentless pressure by Sulumba, Mwalilino and Adam Wallace hence the continuous and repeated miscommunication with goalkeeper, innocent Nyasulu and misplacing passes at the back which allowed Sulumba to pick those loose balls only for him to fluff his lines. It could have been 3 nil by half time.
These defensive frailities stem from the chopping and changing of defence personnel by Peter Mponda. Because of this inconsistency, players at the back are yet to build synergy, chemistry, relationships, and even partnerships with their goalkeeper. If defenders play together with goalkeeper over time,they are able to read movements interms of where and when to give back the ball to the keeper or even how to build from the back. It is always well coordinated.
Again, Aaron Chilipa should never have started the game following his previous performance against Mafco, and he showed again that he is unstable, punching above his weight and out of his depth.
The goal that Adam Wallace scored barely after his introduction in the first half could have been prevented if Chilipa was on the pitch to cover that blindside, but he was out of the pitch being attended to by his team doctor after attempting a botched tackle.
Unlike Khumbo Banda, Chilipa, at no time did he overlap or underlap to create an overload with kajoke and overwhelm Timothy Silwimba, the Wanderers defender. Chilipa looked like a full back who was pinned in defence and could not move up the pitch.
This is unlike Wanderers, as Silwimba and Adam Wallace doubled down on Chilipa just as Stanley sanudi and Isaac kaliati doubled down on Khumbo Banda which put Bullets defence under strain. The situation changed when Henry Chiwaya was introduced for Chilipa as he at least tried to move up the flank and send crosses inside.
The last nail that sealed the fate for Bullets was when Mponda took out Khumbo Banda and allowed Frank Willard to play as centre back with Jovinala and Mpokera. Willard gave away cheap balls and invited pressure to the defence line, and it quickly became three nil with bullets defence all over the place.
MPONDA HAS NO PLAN B.
Chikumbutso Salima leads the assists chart and is a second top goal scorer with multiple man of the match awards. And this is not a fluke. Bob Mpinganjira knew about this and allowed Stanley Sanudi to target him and not to allow him to cross and build any momentum.
When Salima is shut in a pocket, Bullets do not spend, and this indeed transpired. Bullets rely heavily on his pace and trickery to combine,make rotations, and make third man run for goals. But the experience of Sanudi prevailed.
When Salima could not give anything,Bullets had no other plan and had none to inspire them to build any momentum or create anything towards goal.
As Bullets registered a fourth loss on the board, the pattern emerging is that they struggle against teams that stand toe to toe against them. Wanderers have beaten them twice this season,Civo and Blue Eagles all won against Bullets and they all did not give Bullets space,closed down all channels and defended from the front with relentless pressure on the ball.
As Bullets face Wanderers again over the weekend in FDH semifinal at akamuzu stadium,Wanderers already have a psychological edge over them and this will turn pivotal again as it is not easy to recover from the psychological trauma of losing to your arch rival.
