By Admin,

A Football coaching job is one of the most thankless careers across the World and in Africa however its prudent to realize that any serious federation must have long term plans to ensure productivity and efficiency in any National team.

Ethiopia’s football to be precise is in a transitional period after Portuguese Mariano Barreto took over from the Sewnet Bishaw in February after the latter helped Walia to a great year in 2013 in both Afcon and World cup 2014 qualifers.

Immediately upon taking the helm at Walia Ibex,Barreto unveiled his great vision and that vision needed a man with guts or else he would be sacrificed by the pundits and a section of journalists who immediately embarked on critising the tactician.

Mariano dared to make a bold decision by bringing in youthful players something that was previously unheard of in the team and that definitely took effect on the status quo in the team which had an average age of 26 years.

The move did not go down well with some pundits after the Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers started and Ethiopia lost three matches in a row to Algeria,Malawi and Mali the same people called for his sacking some describing him as incompetent while others questioned his rationale of bringing in youthful players as he dropped regular senior players.

The truth of the matter is that Mariano Barreto took head on responsibility for the development of young players the likes of Natnael Zeleke who were previously unheard of and it was a gamble that seems to be paying off handsomely with the virtuoso performance against a star studded Mali away in Bamako .

Football is a booming business , where the rewards can be reaped if a good strategy is drawn and the same happened to now World champions Germany who almost gave up after their dismal performances at Euro 2000, when they finished bottom of their group. Forced into an overhaul of youth football, the DFB, the Bundesliga and the clubs decided that the development of more technically proficient homegrown players would be in everyone’s best interests. This led to the creation of academies right across the top two divisions.

The fruits are there for all to see. Joachim Löw, Germany’s coach, is blessed with a generation of gifted young players – Julian Draxler (19), Andre Schürrle (22), just to mention afew .

Mariano Barreto is keen on implementing the same philosophy like the Germans but this definitely needs time and patience from all the stakeholders in Ethiopian football from the federation (EFF),the journalists and the fans to be able to achieve success in the future.

Success may not come immediately as most pundits wanted and Ethiopia may not qualify for Afcon 2015 as everybody wishes but that is not the end its important to give the coach total support in his endevour to build a formidable side that will be visible for the next 10 years rather than build a team that will only last for one season or completion.

We at Soka25east.com know the importance of football to the fantastic Ethiopian fans but it will also be prudent to take note that the senior players gave their best years for Walia Ibex but there comes a time that change has to be accepted without much fuss and fighting.

EFF under their able president Junedin Basha must reassure Mariano Barreto of his tenure and support him by implementing his vision and giving him the tools to to make it succesfull and in coming years the fruits of the hard labour will be seen as Rome was not build in one day.

On the other hand the journalists should be more positive in their critism and realize that even if Jose Morinho is appointed as Ethiopia coach he cannot manage to give immediate success if he has not support or long time plan as the future of football belongs to the youth who must be nartured and given ample time to grow in the game.

Ethiopia football has a great great future only and only if everyone gives the coach support and work together in making the success bigger for a longer time rather than just having short time plans.YES WALIA CAN BE ONE OF THE BIGGEST TEAMS IN AFRICA.

Collins Okinyo

Ex- CAF Media Expert. An expert on African football with over 15 years experience ,always with an ear to the ground with indepth knowledge of the game. I have worked for top publications including 7 years at www.supersport.com until i founded www.soka25east.com to quench the thirst of football lovers across the continent. I have trained young upcoming journalists who are now a voice in African football.I have covered World Cup,AFCON,CHAN,Champions League,Confederations Cup,Cecafa,Cosafa,Wafu and many other football tournaments across the World. Founder Football Africa Arena(FAA),Founder www.afrisportdigital.com