Taifa Stars leaking Defence and The Erasto Nyoni Conundrum

Taifa Stars have lost three matches in a row, fingers have been pointed at the leaking defence, fans
rightly pointing out the soft goals we have conceded. While we have had to labour for our goals,
opponents have had it easy scoring past Kaseja. Against Morocco our defenders were caught ball
watching as they attempted to play the offside trap, we were duly punished for that comical offside
trap.
As if to emphasize that we learnt nothing about defending and forgot nothing about our mistakes, we
gifted Ivory Coast four easy goals that sealed our fate in the World cup campaign. Perhaps taking our
hospitality too far, we also rewarded our neighbor, Uganda with an easy goal after our defenders
allowed two Ugandan players two comfortably interchange passes in the danger zone before Dennis
Iguma expertly shot past Kaseja.
Erasto Nyoni who manned the right fullback position has been accused of poor performance, fans and
analysts questioning his inclusion. After the Ivory Coast match, Poulsen defended him. Nyoni was
accused of poor positioning. Against Uganda, he was substituted during the half-time break. Is it a case of Nyoni below par performance or a case of a tactical imbalance, a tactical gamble by Poulsen that is not paying off?
Previously, Poulsen used to employ two wide men, Ngassa and Msuva who provided cover for the
fullbacks, Kapombe and Nyoni . With Ngassa suspension against Ivory Coast, Kim Poulsen tactically
gambled by not fielding any wide man. Without the support of wingers, our defence was severely tested and found out. Nyoni and Kapombe had the unenviable task of marauding forward to attack and equally defend against top class opponents. Nyoni, in particular covered the most distance shuttling between attack and defence.

Poulsen expected Nyoni and Kapombe to play like Dani Alves and Marcelo without giving them any
cover, Kapombe ,perhaps being younger and a more natural defender can manage the forward and
backward shuttling. On the other hand, Nyoni is not young , has a tendency to overlap and being caught out of position. He delivers excellent crosses but does not have the energy to run back to his position
Perhaps playing according to the coach’s instruction, Nyoni rarely ventured forward against Uganda.It was a complete disaster, without the cover of a wide man, he was disastrously exposed on the right channel. Uganda made the right flank a free-flowing highway . Brian Majwega had the match of his life as he danced around Nyoni with a sure glee of one who knew he could do whatever he wanted.
Things were different on the left side where Ngassa provided cover for Kapombe. Predictably all Taifa Stars attacks were through the left channel where Ngassa restricted Nico Wadada deep into his zone.Kapombe could afford to overlap and emerged with his reputation intact. After the introduction of David Luhende, Kapombe switched places and appeared vulnerable till the introduction of Haruna Chanongo.With Chanongo introduction, Taifa appeared a different side going forward.

Should Nyoni be blamed for not fitting into a system that is being employed by a coach who ought to know his limitation? Unfortunately, Kapombe will miss the return leg so Nyoni is a sure candidate for the right fullback position. Kim Poulsen ought to employ his troop fully knowing well their technical and tactical limitation to avoid conceding soft goals.