In 2021, the Zimbabwean football family lost faith in coach Zdvarko Logarusic. After just one win in 14 games, the team's poor performance made it clear that the Croatian was not the right person to lead the Warriors to the African Cup of Nations (Afcon) finals.
Four years later, Zimbabwe is in a similar crisis with German coach Michael Nees. With only two wins in 12 matches, calls for Nees' removal are echoing across the country, especially after the recent back-to-back 1-0 losses to Benin and Rwanda.
What has truly angered fans is not just the defeats, but the disorganised, "secondary school" level of play from the Warriors.
We have consistently argued that Nees was not the right man for this job and that Baltermar Brito was the superior choice. It was a mistake to let Brito go and then appoint Nees. Therefore, the blame should not be on Nees himself, but on those who hired him despite his questionable track record.
How could the Lincoln Mutasa-led normalisation committee hand the Warriors over to a coach, who had only handled the Israel and Kosovo Under-21 sides, not their senior teams?
How could they trust a man who had failed in Seychelles and Rwanda and whose experience was primarily in schools and junior football development in South Africa and Japan?
What on earth did Mutasa and Rosemary Mugadza see in this arrogant figure, who seems to have no clue how to manage a senior national team?
The normalisation committee sadly left office without explaining why they chose such a low-profile coach when more qualified candidates had applied, especially given that Fifa was covering his salary.
- In Full: Nineteenth post-cabinet press briefing: July 05, 2022
- Muzarabani eager for Chevrons to qualify for Australia 2022
- R. Kelly sentenced to 30 years in sex trafficking case
- Cops Arrested For USD 10 Fraud
Keep Reading
While millions of fans demand Nees' immediate departure, we feel a change should only happen if Baltermar Brito is the replacement. If we are to bring in another expatriate coach, Brito is the ideal candidate because he already knows the players and is familiar with the Zimbabwean football environment.
If Brito is not an option, there isn't enough time to bring in and integrate a new foreign coach before Afcon. Entrusting the team to a local coach would also be disastrous, given their past limitations.
In that case, the best option would be to let Nees stay on and see what he can achieve in the remaining two months, which include crucial World Cup qualifying matches against South Africa and Lesotho.
Alternatively, if Zifa can secure the funds, they could bring in Brito as Nees's technical advisor for the remaining World Cup qualifiers and the Afcon finals. A new chapter could then be started after the tournament.
Zimbabwe has plenty of player talent, but when it comes to coaching, there is nothing to be confident about. The central question remains: How do we resolve this Warriors coaching dilemma?
For your comments, views, and suggestions, email [email protected] or WhatsApp 0773 266 779.
