Never in my wildest dreams could I
have imagined that Augusto “Njenje” Palacios will be a newsmaker of the week
since he left coaching a professional soccer team donkey years ago but Dr Irvin
Khoza gave him a second chance to restored his coaching skills and now all the
bus stops, taxi ranks, corridors, pathways and beer hall talks are about Augusto Palacios. This Augusto palacious talks have eclipsed his 2011/2012 Premier Soccer League
Championship accolade achievement with Orlando
Pirates.
Let me give you a
brief history about Professor Augusto Palacios - he is one of the coaches who
played fundamental role in developing South African football in post-apartheid
South Africa after SAFA was re-admitted to FIFA family in 1992 which was a
major milestone to the South African football.
Augusto Palacios
coached Bafana Bafana from December of 1992 until he was replaced by Clive
Barker in January of 1994. Just to refresh your memory, Palacios coached 8
Bafana games. He won 3 games lost 3 games and drew 2 games. Bafana managed to
score 6 goals and concede 9 goals. His best game for Bafana was on 16th January
1993 when Bafana Bafana played 0-0 draw against African giant Nigeria. However,
the legitimate goal scored by George Dearnaley was ruled offside and robbed
Njenje a massive two points by then which is now 3 points for a win
Njenje as Augusto Palacios is famously known is an
expert who has passion to unearth young talent. His achievement with Pirates Under15 includes the
success of reaching the Finals of the Manchester United Premier Cup Finals
played in England in 2011. Personally, Njenje is a good coach but his tactical
soccer acumen is obsolete to contest with emerging generation of local coaches
with tactical acumen like Steve Kompela, Gavin Hunt and many other emerging coaches.
Njenje represents the
older generation of coaches like Screamer Tshabalala, Jeff Butler, Clive
Barker, Shakes Mashaba, Trot Moloto, Kenneth Kubheka, Ted
Dumitru, Jomo Sono whom I
will never appoint as the PSL Coach because their coaching philosophy is
irrelevant to the modern game but they can be a valuable asset to head any
Youth Development Structure of the PSL teams.
Let
me not digress from the subject matter of the day, When Palacios was appointed Orlando Pirates Head Coach on a permanent basis, he
confessed that he is happy that the chairman trusts his knowledge in football
and capacity to lead a big club like Pirates. He further said that he
would not have done justice to himself if he had failed to thank the players
for the great spirit displayed and ability of working as a family last season.
In his own words, “I want to promise the club fans
that I will continue to work hard next season. His declarations after accepting
the most difficult job in the African Continent inspired confidence to many Pirates supporters as in their eyes he was seen as the messiah who won
the league under difficult circumstances last year.
The question many soccer fans are asking is ’’what
went wrong for the Orlando Pirates ‘’hero coach” to become an Orlando Pirates
‘’zero coach” overnight?
Let the truth be told,
the tactics and techniques of Palacios are incongruously for a team of Pirates calibre. His average and predictable tactical methodology of
enjoying playing from within of the pitch accompanied by an ineffective wing
play is turning Pirates into a mediocre team. Pirates always dominated ball
possession in almost all the games they played but they failed to translate
balls position supremacy into goals.
After 4 games, Pirates hasn’t scored a single goal. They already played 374 Minutes including
referees optional time without scoring. Only goalkeeper can achieve 374 minutes
milestone without conceding a goal but if a team achieved such milestone, it
means the team is a candidate for relegation.
Palacios
system has already failed Pirates this season but to every fan’s amazement,
Njenje is continuously using his system as he lacks Plan B to change the game
around. Under Palacious, the reigning PSL champions have been far from
impressive, in 6 matches, Pirates won 2 (one of the win include that squeaky
win against Celtic in the MTN 8), lost 2 and draw 2 but all the lost was within
a space of 7 days in their own backyard slaughter house (Orlando Stadium) which
is a rare moment as Pirates hardly lost at home. Pirates are not
looking like a team that will defend their title. It’s not raining but pouring
at Orlando Pirates. There is a visible tactical crisis and the ship is slow but
surely sinking.
Augusto Palacios Tactical Challenges
1.
Palacios
lacks plan B to change the game around when the team is under siege. His delay
of substitution tendency is working against the team as he is forever giving
ineffective players sufficient time in the field of play instead of replacing
them with effective players.
2.
Njenje favouritism is
tearing apart team spirit. Some players are treated unfairly despite their
enormous talent. Some players are always finding themselves in the
starting line-up despite out of form performance. Daine Klaite is a great
player but he is now out of form and deserves to be rested. Tlou Segolela is an
appropriate player to replace an ineffective Klaite.
3.
The rotational system
in the goalkeeping department won’t work at all. The team should have a steady
goalkeeper. Goalkeepers gain confidence by playing but rotational system breaks
the confidence of the goalkeepers as they easily lost momentum by sitting on
the bench than playing. Even today, I don’t even know who is the reserve
goalkeeper of Iker Casillas at Real Madrid? Best team in the world doesn’t
believe in a rotational system of goalkeepers. Njenje should stick with a
reliable first team keeper than rotating Moneeb Josephs and Senzo Meyiwa which
is not yielding any positive results.
4.
Thabo Matlaba is an
effective left winger with an impressive offensive techniques but playing him
out of position has resulted in many goals conceded in the right back position.
He is always caught off-guard as he is not comfortable at the right back. Palacios
should introduce Happy Jele as he is ready to play. Jele will revitalise his
form by playing than sitting on the stand.
5.
The defence of Pirates is uneven as the coach is always playing different 4 at the back
especial at the left back. To have a common understanding at the back, Njenje
should have 4 reliable defenders that he will use at all the time. The defence
should remain the same as chopping and changing which make the team vulnerable
from ruthless attacks of the opposition team.
6.
The current wing play
is non-existed as Klaite is failing to deliver the anticipated crosses
whilst Sifiso Myeni enjoys cutting the field than delivering crosses which is
now limiting goal-scoring abilities. The team made a biggest blunder by releasing
Dikgang ’’Terminator” Mabalane who is an exprience master of wing play with
blistering pace and infinite crosses to strikers. Whoever, took a decision to
release Terminator Mabalane despite his talent require the mental observation
at Weskoppies psychiatric hospital in Pretoria West. It was poor
decision at the highest degree.
7.
Andile Jali is a great
player but he is currently tactical ill-discipline by over doing things. He is
now a “’Neymar”’ of Pirates as he is forever holding onto ball too much
through his unnecessary dribbling at his own half which is too dangerous and
costly if they seize balls from him at danger-zone. AJ15 is South Africa best
anchor-man who must play according to coach instructions than playing
tsiki-tsiki kind of football. Don’t get it twisted, Andile is Orlando Pirates
outstanding player this season but needs to get rid of his unnecessary
dribbling by KISS (keep it straight and simple).
8.
The striking force is
toothless as they are unable to convert changes into goals. Pirates
strikers should be calm, collected and persistent in-front of goals. The
composure is lacking as they are forever missing goals that are easy to score
than to miss but praise should be given to strikers for good positioning as
they always find themselves which is a good signals for goals to come in the
forthcoming games.
9.
The ill-discipline of
players is affecting team spirits to fight in collective manner. Rooi Mahamutsa
and Benni McCarthy “childish act” and ‘’Prima Donna antics” are costing the
team. The two players are part of the spine of the team and should focus on
playing than misbehaving in the field of play which resulted in dismissal to
all of them. The duos are role models to many youngsters and I wonder what kind
of messages they are conveying to the emerging talents.
10.
Pirates are lacking creative
players to unlock the opposite team’s defence. They have Mark Mayambela who has
been crucified for making some silly mistakes. However, mistakes are part of
the game and just like any other player in the team, Mayambela deserves
fair chance.
11.
The future looks bleak
with Palacios in charge. I don’t foresee any further miracles under
Njenje who is lacking modern football tactical acumen. My conscious and
objective analyses are hereby declaring the state of tactical calamity at
Orlando Pirates FC.
In conclusion, Palacios can’t shoulder the blame alone; players are also responsible for poor
performance especial missing of clear cut goal opportunities but losing games
are part of the football but it is not the signal of the end of the road. Palacios (if he remains the coach at Pirates) needs to go back to
drawing board to revisit, re-evaluate and review his tactical philosophy which
is not working at the moment. His tactical philosophy should be embedded on the
principle of fairness and transparency by selecting his starting eleven based
on merits than reputation.
Management of Pirates
are to be blamed for signing many players without any needs assessment prior to
the signatures. Many new players were recruited whilst they are current players
doing well at the same position. It’s high time that Orlando Pirates should
consider the inputs from supporters as they can add positive value going
forward.
I’m closing my
argument with Julio Leal famous catchphrase which has been slightly modified to
befit the situation.
“My article couldn’t
not see any way forward and am offering the Chairman of Orlando Pirates Dr.
Irvin Khoza to do what is right for the club’’ by either replacing Augusto
“Njenje” Palacios with another coach possessing tactical soccer acumen or keep
the coach for another few games with an expectation of performance to improve
for better but personally, I prefer the ‘’former’’ over the ‘’latter’’ option.
By Owen Mundalamo
Tweet: @shudulizah
Founder: Football Food for Thought (FFT)
