Coach pleads for patience
Embattled Fames coach Mario Marinica has asked for patience and more time to implement his ‘fast football’ philosophy.
The Romanian tactician, who is on a year-long contract, said his philosophy cannot be grasped overnight.
He said: “I started as technical director to change the philosophy of Malawi football. That philosophy has shown that we are on the right track.
“The way we played at Afcon [Africa Cup of Nations] finals and here [at Cosafa Cup] is completely different from the way Malawi ever played before.”
The coach was summarising the Flames’ performance at the 2022 Hollywoodbets Cosafa Cup in Durban, South Africa.
The Flames lost 2-1 to Lesotho in their first match and drew their next game 1-1 against e-Swatini to bow out of the competition.
Malawi then went on to beat Mauritius 2-0 in the last match in Group B which was a dead rubber.
The coach said there is nothing like quick solution to Malawi football.
Said Marinica: “Sometimes people think coaches have a magic wand and you just touch it and everything changes. It takes time. Change takes courage, you know, because people are resilient to change.
“So obviously in the country there will be different kinds of people criticising everything because they think suddenly we are going to have a fantastic team.”
He said teams doing well in Africa had patience.
Said Marinica: “If you are to look at three top countries in terms of performance in Africa, Comoros had a coach since 2007, then Zambia had a coach since 2015 and obviously Senegal’s coach since 2012.
“So, you need time, you need patience. You need good game plan with a good philosophy. It takes time and it takes the whole country to develop and embrace the new philosophy.”
During the interview, Marinica also touched on players’ commitment and support from their clubs.
He said: “Players also need to be ready when they come to the national team. For example, you have players coming to the national team two days before a game. How do you work with that?
“Coaches need time to be with players because it’s like education. It’s not fair because the players don’t play for Barcelona like other teams.
“For example, I gave a debut to a young boy, 19-year-old Alick Lungu against Guinea [in Afcon]. At the same time, Guinea brought a player that had 10 years at Barcelona, 19 years as well, and plays for Valencia. Obviously, it’s not the same. Yet people want the same results. It takes time, we are going to get there.”
Football Association of Malawi (FAM) gave Marinica three targets notably to win the Cosafa Cup, qualify for 2023 Africa Nations Championship (Chan) and 2023 Afcon.
Commenting on the targets, he said: “For me, it’s a one-year contract down from three years as technical director. I decided not to take this challenge. Obviously, I want to achieve everything. But at the end of the day, I will see what will happen.”
FAM president Walter Nyamilandu said despite failing to win the Cosafa Cup, so far Marinica was on the right path.
He said: “You can see that he is making progress. Tactically, Malawi has improved.
“I think what is remaining for him is to get it right in terms of team selection.
“What he needs are the right players for his tactics.”
The Flames next assignment is in Chan where they face Zimbabwe in first round in two weeks time.
If they win, they will take on the winner between Zambia and Mozambique.
