Defending is football too.

In this information age, a football player who wants to improve gets on YouTube and watches clips showing what she/he can practice. It’s usually fancy tricks with the ball.

The podcast about Defending is football too.

Sometimes, the players will capture a video of themselves practicing to show off what they can do with the ball but that’s not competitive football, perhaps freestyle football.

Football has two main principles; defending and attacking.

These principles show that; if a player/team has possession of the ball then they are attacking, if the player/team doesn’t have the ball then they are defending.

That statement shows that if you don’t have the ball then you defend to avoid conceding a goal.

It also shows that if you defend well then you can get the ball and attack.

People will tell you how they played or watched a football match but apparently, the team that had the most possession is the one that played but defending is football too. The team without or less possession is playing too.

The recently concluded 2018-19 English Premier League (EPL) season showed that defenders or defending can be recognized.

A good defending performance can be as good as an attacking performance.

Virgil Van Dijk was named Player’s Player of the season after fellow players voted him.

He’s not the first defender to win that award but it’s good to see a shift in mindset to show that defending is football too.

Manchester City won the league title with a consistent 9/10 performance from Benardo Silva.

The attacking midfielder from Portugal is known for dribbling but had one of the most successful tackles and ball recoveries throughout the season.

He also recorded the longest distance covered, a staggering 13.9 km in a match against Liverpool.

A clear indication that his defensive abilities are very good something that helped him compete for a position ahead of more established players in the Man City squad.

BACK TO UGANDA
It’s good to see that in the recently concluded 2018-19 Uganda Premier League (UPL), goalkeepers and defenders were able to take home the man of the match award even better, Mike Mutebi the head coach of UPL champions KCCA FC says that Timothy Awany was the club’s best player during the 2018-19 season.

Football coaches in Uganda have a habit of separating football. They restrict defensive players to practice only defensive work, attacking players to practice only attacking work. This habit has reached, underage football, players as young as 10 years old have already been classified as either defenders or attackers.

Coaches have made players believe that as a defender you shouldn’t have any business using the ball, attacking players have been made to believe they have no business working to defend.

With this upbringing, Uganda is now filled with the majority of players not having the ability to function on the field when the demand is to defend and attack. Most of the players can only do one football function.

Perhaps it also explains why most goalkeepers are still struggling with being comfortable with the ball at their feet.

Worryingly though it explains why in Ugandan football when a team is defending, the pitch will be usually split into one part of the team defending while the other part of the team waits for the ball (seems like we are stuck in the past).

Players who are very good at attacking the aerial ball with the head will rarely fall back to defend set-pieces.

Defenders who are good at defending aerial balls with the head will rarely be a threat when attacking set-pieces.

MODERN FOOTBALL TRENDS
The current trend in football is that every player on the pitch should be useful when their team is either attacking or defending.

Wide defenders have many assists after arriving in the attacking third of the pitch while many wide attackers will be in the defensive third when out of possession.

Lionel Messi is a wonderful tackler, Christiano Ronaldo has many defensive headed clearances from set-pieces and of course, Vincent Kompany came up with a wonderful goal, shooting from a distance to keep Man City in control of the EPL title hunt.

The best two goals at the 2018 FIFA World Cup came from two central defenders (Pavard and Nacho) playing as wide defenders.

This ability in those players shows they were taught all football skills at a young age something that needs to be done by football coaches in Uganda or else the margin to professional football will keep getting bigger.

For all young players who intend to impress as footballers, defending is football too.

Learning how to do both defending and attacking is one of the things football scouts observe in a player.

Disclaimer: The writer has nothing against freestyle football.

Institutional football clubs need sight of professional football

In February 2019, an image of the 1995 Uganda league table was shared on social media. In this image, the league had 15 teams, 11 of the 15 clubs were institutional teams.

The Podcast

An image of the 1995 top flight league table in Uganda showing the number of institutional owned clubs.

Back then, institutions injected funds into football because they had the capacity to pay salaries and handle other costs that come with playing the league.

These institutions must have relied on tax payer’s money, something you can’t rely on upon forever to fund football.

Fast forward to 2019, only KCCA FC among the 11 institutional clubs that played in the 1995 league is still active.

Considering that Uganda’s budget was generally funded by donors and some taxes (I stand to be corrected) they were sane enough to ensure that money allocated from the budget doesn’t end up as recurring expenses in football.

The other 10 clubs have since closed shop because they didn’t have funds to operate a football club in the league.

The 2018-19 UPL season had seven institutional clubs. Uganda Revenue Authority (URA), Police, Maroons, Ndejje University, Kirinya Jinja SS, Bidco (BUL) and Kampala City Council Authority (KCCA) in addition to those clubs in the top flight, Plascon, Army (UPDF) and Water FC are other institution teams in the second-tier league.

It’s shocking that 10 institutions exited football years ago but a separate group of institutional clubs are still active in football. Have they researched why the other institutions exited?

Institutions had the funds to operate football clubs because government expenditure wasn’t monitored and football was amateur. Let me stick to the amateur football explanation for the rest of the article.

Amateur football doesn’t care how much revenue you make, all you need is to show up and play. The organization is basic too, all you need is a committee of volunteers earning allowances to do whatever has to be done.

WHAT HAS CHANGED?

Football is now professional, not fully in Uganda but at least it’s starting to paint the picture of being professional.

Professionalism comes with its demands. You have to EMPLOY the RIGHT people; you need a corporate governance module to ensure self-sustainability and the other basics that come with being professional.

In football, the challenges of being professional are much more demanding because a club is expected to spend according to how much money it makes from football-related activities.

KCCA FC has done very well to start its journey to self-sustainability, they have employed the right people and managed to attract sponsorship that funds almost 60% of the club’s budget.

WHAT ABOUT THE OTHER INSTITUTIONAL CLUBS?

As football in Uganda continues on the journey to professionalism, the other institutional clubs will drop out of football because they have struggled to do the basics of football management.

Starting with employing the right people that work full time to make the club professional.

On matchday 30 of the 2018-19 Uganda Premier League (UPL) season, KCCA FC hosted Maroons FC on coronation day (trophy ceremony), KCCA FC had to give Maroons FC playing shorts to use (let that sink in).

Maroons will give you reasons for borrowing a playing kit from KCCA FC but no sane mind would entertain that excuse.

There are plenty of examples in which institution clubs have struggled to show the kind of organization expected out of them. When Police FC hosted Paidha Black Angels (PBA) at Lugogo, the match was stopped at a certain point after a PBA fan threw objects at the assistant referee, officially the stop was recorded as a water break while the offender was dealt with swiftly. Is that security lacking at a Police match or a case of the offender being daring?

URA FC is working on employees wearing jerseys as a sign to support the club but by the time a person joins URA as an employee at an average age of 25, good luck turning them into supporters.

Police FC had merchandise to sell for the 2018-19 UPL season, on inquiry, a customer needed to move to Naguru to buy a Police FC branded cup/flask.

Was it possible to have those cups available in every police post to make it easier for buyers? I am not a marketing expert but neither am I moving to Naguru for a flask I can easily get next door.

In the 2017-18 UPL season, Stanbic Bank donated (lack of a better word) money to support Maroons then for the 2018-19 season, Centenary bank donated money to support Police FC.

Those two banks don’t appear on playing kits. Have those two clubs attempted to find out why a corporate company is willing to give them money but not appear on their jerseys?

SOLUTIONS FOR INSTITUTIONAL CLUBS

KCCA FC is able to attract sponsorship revenue because they have a combination of pedigree, fan base and organized at the moment. Apart from the name, they have tried to be independent of their mother body.

URA, Police, Ndejje University, Kirinya Jinja SS and the rest can attract sponsorship revenue by changing football team names.

Let’s use an example of URA FC since they already have land in Naggalama (I had better be right on that).

If URA FC renamed to Mapenzi FC, URA would be the owners of Mapenzi FC operating as an independent company, the club would initially benefit from being funded by owners to set up a stadium in Naggalama.

The residents would identify with the club and start supporting it, more supporters would increase revenue from matchday, commercial activities like selling club merchandise and TV rights which would attract sponsors.

How long would it take for Mapenzi FC to break even?

Why shouldn’t URA FC use Naggalama FC as a name? Using Naggalama FC would have restricted URA to one area yet URA has a nationwide presence.

When URA stops funding Mapenzi FC, the funds can be used to set up grassroots structures across the country.

Imagine having a Mapenzi FC grassroots structure in every region of Uganda. Mapenzi would have achieved in having first sight on talent that can go on to play for the club and generate money when transferred secondly, Mapenzi FC would have extended its footprint across the country to attract supporters (more revenue) when they are still young (then it will be possible to make an employee proudly wear a Mapenzi FC jersey).

DO INSTITUTIONAL CLUBS HAVE ROLE MODELS?

My example of what URA FC and other institutional clubs need to do by changing names might be coming from an amateur that lacks an informed opinion.

I suggest they benchmark CSKA Moscow in Russia because it’s owned by the army.

I am sure Police, UPDF, URA, Maroons and the rest can easily afford a trip to Moscow.

Disclaimer: The writer doesn’t have anything against institutional football clubs, all examples were used in good faith.

Laws of the game: Worry for Ugandan football.

Football has 17 laws of the game but referees are allowed to add an unwritten 18th law that requires them to use common sense especially in grassroots football.

Law 1 covers the field of play
Law 2 covers the ball
Law 3 covers the players
Law 4 covers the players’ equipment
Law 5 covers the referee
Law 6 covers the other match officials
Law 7 covers the duration of the match
Law 8 covers the start and restart of play
Law 9 covers the ball in and out of play
Law 10 covers determining the outcome of the match
Law 11 covers offside
Law 12 covers fouls and misconduct
Law 13 covers free kicks
Law 14 covers the penalty kick
Law 15 covers the throw-in
Law 16 covers the goal kick
Law 17 covers the corner kick

The Laws of the game: Worry for Ugandan Football Podcast.

These laws are formulated and amended by the International Football Association Board (IFAB).

They usually do this after research from major tournaments.

If you look at the history of law changes, they originate from something observed at a major FIFA tournament.

One of the biggest law changes came in 1992 when goalkeepers were no longer allowed to handle a ball passed intentionally by a teammate using the foot. They can handle the ball if it’s passed by a teammate using any body part from the knee and above.

WHAT HAPPENED NEXT?

The football clubs that plan player development (not in Uganda) worked out how a goalkeeper would be more involved in the game.

They started training young goalkeepers how to be comfortable with the ball at their feet because, before that, goalkeepers mainly used their hands and only used their feet to kick.

They embraced the new change and greatly worked on goalkeepers being able to use their feet to receive the ball, pass the ball short, medium or long and to dribble.

Ball-playing goalkeepers are now common but not all of them, some of the goalkeepers in clubs that weren’t playing the ball out from the back didn’t work on goalkeepers having neat footwork to move the ball.

Those goal keepers are in their 30’s and about to retire.

Football coaches researched that a team stands a greater chance of keeping and recycling possession if the goalkeeper can be involved in play or play out from the back as it’s known these days.

Of course, it has risks (Ugandans hate risks) because sometimes a back pass is under-hit or the goalkeeper messes up while passing the ball which usually results in an attempt on goal.

Playing out from the back was popularized by Pep Guardiola at FC Barcelona between 2008-2012.

That tactic has since spread out to the rest of the world but not in Uganda because we can’t apply it properly.

Every time there’s a major FIFA tournament, a technical study group (TSG) is formulated by FIFA to analyze new trends in football.

Since the 2010 FIFA World cup, the number of passes made by a goalkeeper in open play have increased greatly to a point that right from the U17 FIFA world cup (both men and women), goalkeepers are almost averaging 30 passes made per game.

WHAT’S THE WORRY FOR FOOTBALL IN UGANDA?

When football scouts are sent to watch potential signings, they have a profile for each position.

Goalkeepers in the modern era MUST be comfortable with the ball at their feet especially in open play.

Worry for goalkeepers in Uganda hoping to be scouted.

Watch a game in Uganda at any level, you’ll struggle to find a team that is comfortable building up the ball from the back.

Most goalkeepers aren’t comfortable with the ball at their feet in open play. Ugandans hate risks (especially in football) it’s understandable with competitive football that relies on results but development tournaments are filled with coaches and players scared of building up from the back just in case they make a mistake.

At the 2019 AFCON U-17 tournament, Uganda Cubs (men’s U-17 national team) struggled to build up from the back which resulted in possession being sacrificed easily on many occasions.

An underage team not having players comfortable with building up from the back is a sign that work has to be done in the junior league because that’s where the majority of coaching happens.

The other worry is that because most goalkeepers struggle with the ball at their feet in open play, it affects the coach’s ability to use certain tactics.

As Uganda cubs desperately needed one extra goal to beat Nigeria and qualify for the 2019 FIFA U-17 world cup.

Uganda cubs had to rely on taking long goal kicks that resulted in a frequent loss of possession.

More worries for Ugandan football is that IFAB has amended football laws again.

Starting with the 2019-20 season, goal keepers will be allowed to pass the ball to a player inside the penalty area when restarting play for a goal kick.

As Ugandan football struggles to deal with a law amended 27 years ago, here comes a sliding tackle.

For us to overcome the worry that is caused by amending the football laws of the game;

We need to redefine the meaning of success in under age football.

Is it winning matches and tournaments at all costs or players improving to become better than they were yesterday?

We need to learn how to teach football in the proper way by accepting that mistakes are part of learning.

It’s through this that we shall adopt a no fear of failure approach in football.

This will enable us to develop players that are capable of handling the demands of modern football that include the ability to easily adapt to amendments in the laws of the game.

Disclaimer: The writer doesn’t have anything against taking long kicks or goal kicks in football.

Standards for developing Ugandan football.

In March 2019 Bank of Africa (BOA) published a job advert for sales positions.

One of the MUST have requirements for applicants, was having scored a minimum of a credit 3 in English and Mathematics in Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE).

On 30th April 2019, Bank of Uganda (BOU) published a job advert, MUST have for the BOU job advert was a first-class degree or second upper degree.

In those two examples, the two banks SET A MINIMUM STANDARD for applicants, whether someone with lower grades can do a better job or not, that’s an entirely different debate.

When Bolton Wanderers gained promotion to the English Premier League (EPL) for the 2001-02 season, they were outright relegation candidates.

By the end of the season, Bolton had survived relegation. Sam Allardyce who coached Bolton at that time had researched about opposition teams in EPL.

In his assessment, playing against opponents like Manchester United and Arsenal (the title contenders in that era) takes them less than 11 seconds to get in front of your goalkeeper when they (Man Utd and Arsenal) are defending a corner kick.

He made sure that during the preseason, players were fit enough to handle the demands of being able to sprint the entire length of a pitch in less than 11 seconds.

The demands to play in EPL are much more than just sprinting but in that case, a STANDARD had been set to compete in EPL.

Tottenham Hotspurs has recently built a new stadium to replace White Hart Lane.

One of the reasons for moving was to meet UEFA and EPL standards for having a pitch (playing surface) that measures the 105m length and 68m in width, of course, they had more reasons higher in priority for redeveloping the stadium but whichever reason, it still comes down to the need to meet set STANDARDS.

FC Barcelona has plans to redevelop Camp Nuo because, in its current state, Camp Nuo can’t match the STANDARDS set by Barcelona’s rivals in terms of matchday revenue and experience.

In the football-related examples from Bolton Wanders, Tottenham and Barcelona, the clear observation is the need to meet set standards led to development.

WHAT ARE THE STANDARDS IN UGANDAN FOOTBALL?

At the start of the 2018-19 Uganda Premier League (UPL) season, clubs were required to have green pitches, it’s common sense to have a green pitch (standard) for a football match because it helps to have good football, reduces injuries and makes it easier to officiate among many other reasons.

Paidha Black Angels (PBA) a club based in Zombo, West Nile couldn’t have their pitch ready. They decided to play home matches 90 kilo meters away in Arua.

The cost of transporting, feeding and accommodating players and club officials from Zombo to Arua can match the cost of making a football pitch green (at least for Ugandan football standards).

PBA was allowed to play in the league sharing a stadium with Onduparaka, by the time they returned to play (not yet a green pitch) in Zombo for the start of UPL second round, PBA was facing relegation and the pitch in Arua wasn’t green anymore.

In this scenario, a standard was set but wasn’t enforced which led to reduced standards.

PBA was allowed to play without a pitch then Onduparaka used a bad pitch for the entire second round of the 2018-19 UPL season.

How will pitches develop yet no team is pushed to meet set standards?

Worse case is that accommodating PBA in the league, led to reduced standards.

What was supposed (imagining that other teams had green pitches) to be one bad pitch, created two bad pitches.

Hitting two birds (knocking out standards) with one stone.

Developing has take it or leave it conditions. If you don’t have the requirements for applying at BOU and BOA, don’t bother applying.

If Tottenham and FC Barcelona don’t redevelop their respective stadiums, then match day revenue will not increase (develop).

Ugandan Football’s challenge is that standards have been set but can’t be enforced because of the leniency to accommodate everyone. In the PBA case, a team that couldn’t meet UPL standards got welcomed with a hug.

WHAT’S THE EFFECT?

What message do BOU and BOA send out to the general public when they stick to their recruitment standards? A U.C.E candidate in 2019 will know what’s at stake should they ever wish to work at BOA and BOU in the future.

A team intending to compete in EPL will know what it takes to survive in EPL. Tottenham and FC Barcelona were able to accept their current situation then do something about it, this has led to more teams having new stadiums in Europe.

The need to meet standards helps to push development. If PBA had been kicked out of UPL for not having a green pitch, what message would be sent out to teams gaining promotion?

If PBA had worked on making the pitch green ahead of the second round. How many green pitches would be in the second tier league next season?

How easy would it be to enforce the use of green pitches in the second tier league when three relegated teams are dropping to that league with green pitches?

I don’t know about FUFA and UPL having the guts to stick to set standards but I am sure that as long as FUFA and UPL keep being lenient on who meets set standards, developing football in Uganda will continue being a myth.

In this article, I only used an example of failing to be strict with STANDARDS set for a playing pitch in UPL. That is about 1% of Ugandan football.

Disclaimer: The writer doesn’t have anything against PBA. The example was used in good faith.

Bio banding would help Ugandan footballers.

Bio banding is grouping young players of the same maturation and growth attributes rather than grouping them according to chronological age like using U15, U17.

On average, children start puberty aged 12. During puberty, they go through a growth spurt stage but all this happens at different times for each individual depending on factors that range from quality of nutrition, gender, genes, physical activities e.t.c it’s possible to find two 14-year-olds with very contrasting maturation and growth attributes like height.

POPULARISING BIO BANDING IN FOOTBALL
Bio banding is thought to have been popularized by the Southampton FC academy in England.

Oxlade-Chamberlain was part of Southampton’s U14’s and was struggling to keep up with his peers on the field because his slow growth rate made it easy for him to easily get knocked off the ball.

The club thought of releasing him but James Bunce the head of athletic performance decided to keep him at the club.

James Bunce’s observation was that Oxlade-Chamberlain was very good at using the ball but playing with peers that were bigger, stronger and faster became harder for him which resulted in lower confidence and poor performance.

The Ox as he is known was kept in the U-14’s instead of promoting him to the U16’s to continue his football development in an environment that was suitable for him growth-wise.

By the age of 16, he had gone through his own growth spurt and developed into perhaps the best player of his age category in the whole of England.

The Ox made his senior debut for Southampton at the aged 16 and 199 days. Arsenal paid Southampton 15 million pounds for the then 17-year-old Oxlade-Chamberlain in 2011 then later got paid more when he joined Liverpool for 35 million pounds.

Bar injury, he is one of England’s most influential players at the moment.

BACK TO UGANDA

When the Federation of Uganda Football Associations (FUFA) introduced the FUFA Juniors’ League (FJL) in the 2015-16 season.

It meant that young players were going to get competitive football to help them develop.

In the 2017-18 FJL (U18) season, I was coaching Maroons Junior Team when we decided to register Tony Opio.

He was making 16 years of age in October 2017 but was very small for his age with very good football potential.

During the season, we restricted him to playing 45 minutes per match so that he could enjoy the experience of playing in the league.

I was able to explain to him why I needed to protect him from playing a full match against opponents that were bigger than him because the frustration of not playing well would affect him negatively.

2018-19 FJL season was upgraded to U-19 although I wasn’t his coach anymore I kept following Tony.

He was still the same size and played some matches.

Tony will be making 18 years of age in October 2019 but FJL will return to U-17 for the 2019-20 season which means that Tony will be ineligible to play.

“For a player of his size, FUFA’s competitions committee should consider him playing with the U-17’s because he would fit in. It would help him to have more time on the pitch to develop his talent.”

I know FJL has age cheating challenges but in this case, Tony is already registered and known, Maroons JT also has a very good record of not having age cheats (at least when I coached them).

For a player that was almost considered for selection when the U-17 national team was assembling to start preparations for AFCON U-17 qualifiers, he deserves a bio banding experience to help him develop his talent.

Tony is one in a million of Ugandan players that are struggling with the slow growth rate.

If he’s already been registered in a previous season and there’s a reason to believe he can improve by playing with players of his current physical attributes, then perhaps bio banding would save some of the lost talents in Ugandan football.

Disclaimer: The writer has no disclaimers at the moment.

Ben Mwesigwa

Developing Football in Uganda

Category Archives: My Thoughts