By Gacharira Samuel Muthui ,
The dream of every young Kenyan football player is to play professional football at the highest level and ply his trade with top clubs in the world’s best leagues namely Serie A, Liga BBVA, EPL, Ligue 1, and Bundesliga.The level of expectation has risen recently with the likes of Victor Wanyama,Macdonald Mariga and Dennis Oliech featuring prominently for their clubs in EPL,Serie A and Ligue 1 respectively.In a nutshell,it is safe to say there is some light at the end of the tunnel for these youngsters who hope that their opportunity will come sooner rather than later.
A bulk of such prodigies are currently playing for local clubs in Kenya’s top flight league. Their path has been quite smooth as compared to their predecessors who had to work hard for a place in the national team, Harambee Stars, since that was the only platform for them to show their skills to the world out there and market themselves. Luckily for this generation pay TV channel Supersport beams KPL league matches live all over the world. This has made it easier for the players to market themselves to scouts and coaches out there. Their efforts on the pitch have not gone unnoticed because a good number of them have landed trials at various clubs while others have been lucky enough and have landed lucrative deals abroad though in Scandinavian countries and in the Far East.
There is a certain threshold that coaches and scouts expect a player to meet at least for a start. Tales of local players having unsuccessful trials have become something common of late. Crispin Olando, Collins Okoth, Francis Ouma, Paul Were, Bob Mugalia, Kevin Kimani and George Odhiambo are good examples of such. Therefore, the big question is, what is the missing link in our players that makes them fail to shine abroad?
Below is a guide to answering the big question above. This is how George Anker’s(a top Goal.com writer) describes new Liverpool FC signing Emre Can(a 20 year old German midfielder) “strong and athletic, the Germany Under-21s international is good at winning the ball back and driving forward before releasing a searching, direct pass. His comfort on both feet is a useful bonus in building a quick move – allied to an agile change of direction, it helps to make up for a relative lack of pace.A burly defensive midfielder in his most natural role, Can has also filled in across the back line at times and can push forward as well.He is not yet the finished product, though, with work still to do on his positioning .There is room to improve in the air and when shooting from distance, as well.”
Going by George’s description, what comes to your mind is that the aforementioned player has a strong foundation of good basics. Primary skills such as pass accuracy, ball control and dribbling are things coaches out there look out for. The ability to use both feet with ease is another thing coaches expect a player to have perfected, in fact, it is upon the player himself to ensure he can comfortably do that. The reasoning here from the coaches’ side is that this player would either fail to convert an open chance at goal since the ball fell on his weak foot thus deny his team a vital goal/points or he would fail to clear the ball from their defensive third because the ball fell on his weak foot thus his team conceding a goal that would cost them crucial points.
Attributes such as winning the ball back and driving forward show commitment and hard work from a player on the pitch. Most of our local players struggle to post good performances consistently in a single season. This causes scouts as well as coaches to query the commitment of such a player in training and also his attitude towards matches against lowly ranked teams. Normally, coaches out there expect a professional to give 100% both in training and during the game irrespective of the ranking of the opponent in the league. Last but not least, the tactical awareness and the technical ability of the player is also a key determinant. A coach will be keen to know whether he can use you effectively in different formations, different positions and also in different game plans. It is important for a player to be able to comfortably fit in whichever formation a coach opts to adapt.
My opinion is that our coaches at club level have their work cut out to build the tactical awareness of our players. On the other hand, FKF has a bigger role of setting up proper and efficient structures that will ensure our players have the basics to feature in the top flight leagues. The players on their part have to work hard to improve their game through personal skill and fitness programs. Very few players remain behind after training to practice on set pieces on their own. Corporates have to chip in to fund clubs to set up academies and junior feeder teams, employ quality coaches and check on the welfare of players. This will ensure that talent is well nurtured from a young age.
In conclusion, we still have a long way to go but molding a player is a long process that requires a lot of input from all stakeholders. The fact that we have young players such as Misiko at OGC Nice, Paul Thiongo at Empoli and Ayub Timbe at KRC Genk shows that Kenya has got good footballing talent that requires proper nurturing to turn them into stars in future. Blessed is the one who dreams and is ready to pay the price to make his dreams come true. Then and only then is when our dreams will be valid.
N/B:When not thinking about football, Samuel is a BBS Actuarial Science student at Strathmore University
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