Former Flames interim assistant coach Patrick Mabedi has said the biggest challenge with local coaches was on tactics, but insisted they are still better than expatriates.
The Nation had asked Mabedi and his former interim boss Eddingtone Ng’onamo on whether they were happy with their performance and if they fancied a second chance with the Flames.
“We were assigned four games against Kenya, Namibia and Nigeria. I think we did well considering the short period of time. Our only loss [in four World Cup qualifiers] was in Nigeria, so we are proud of ourselves,” Mabedi said from South Africa.
But he fell short of mentioning Cosafa Castle Cup losses to Zimbabwe and Angola.
With Ng’onamo, Mabedi and before Ernest Mtawali was removed from the panel for Belgian Tom Saintfiet, the Flames also lost by 1-0 margins to Mozambique and Botswana in friendly matches. Malawi then beat Rwanda 1-0 in another warm-up encounter. This translated to a record of five defeats, two draws and a win.
When hiring Saintfiet on July 9 2013, FAM general secretary Suzgo Nyirenda said: “A FAM technical analysis on the performance of the coaches for the home games proved that the team lacked tactical approach to game. Eddie [Ng’onamo] also accepted that his team lacked tactical efficiency.”
Ironically, during the only 1-0 win in Namibia in the World Cup qualifiers, Ng’onamo missed the game as he returned home after the death of his son. Mabedi and Mtawali handled the match in Windhoek where Gabadinho Mhango was on target.
“On expatriate coaches, I am speaking from experience. We have had so many of them and they failed. Of course, local coaches are better, but they can learn from the foreign coaches. We just need to improve tactical awareness,” Mabedi, who works as Moroka Swallows youth team coach, observed.
Mabedi and Ng’onamo were on the panel when Saintfiet presided over a 2-0 loss in Nigeria in what was the Flames first loss during the World Cup campaign. Before his removal, Kinnah started the qualifiers in 2012 with a 3-2 loss in Chad, a 2-0 win in the reverse game followed by 0-0 and 1-1 draws with Kenya and Nigeria respectively.
