No room for laxity at AFC Leopards
The current AFC Leopards players must know that playing for Ingwe is an honour and a dream that only a few footballers get the chance to fulfil.
Ingwe started off the league strongly, beating hosts Ulinzi Stars 2-0 away with fans hoping coach Patrick Aussems will deliver the league trophy which has eluded us for over 20 years.
The players must know Ingwe fans are disappointed with the current performance, especially in matches against Sofapaka, Bidco United and Wazito FC.
Good team spirit is what gets results, though luck is also required, but, today at the Den it seems a section of the players are out to punish the faithful Ingwe fans.
Indiscipline is high and some players care less about the current poor results. On many occasions this season, the team has started matches on a high note but they switch off along the way and allow opponents to dominate and win!
Our defence has made serious judgement errors at crucial stages during league matches. We have a goalkeeper who misses training sessions, but he's always given a chance to start matches, killing the morale of others.
I know our efforts to play fresh faces from the academy have been thwarted by FKF who have refused to clear players from our junior team, but the current squad is the same team coach Aussems has used previously to win big matches.
It was shocking when the coach revealed that only three players were willing to take penalties during the Jamhuri Day Cup Cup league match against Sofapaka on December 12 last year.
We ended up losing the thriller 4-3 on post-match shoot-outs, after a 1-1 scoreline in regulation time.
In this match, Leopards scored early in the 13th minute, only to allow Sofapaka to equalise with six minutes to stoppage time. Leopards should have won the game in normal time, because when the penalty shoot-out arrived, we could see some players were tensed!
Against Bidco United, Ingwe fans were left dejected after a 4-1 thrashing. The players and technical bench members who were detained in the dressing room at Nyayo Stadium for hours had to seek police protection to leave the stadium at night.
The fans were baying for Ojo Olaniyi's blood after he missed two consecutive penalties in the losses to Tusker and Sofapaka, but the technical bench still trusts him to take spot kicks.
As the defence continues to struggle, the forward line has failed to utilise chances including a late penalty awarded in Muhoroni against Wazito who came from behind to win 2-1.
After being trounced by Bidco in the previous fixture, Ingwe deserved to get a win, even a slim one. For Leopards to make a comeback and finish the season in a respectable position, the team must avoid school boy defensive mistakes.
I attended the Bidco match and I fully blame the defenders and the keeper for the big loss in a match Ingwe dominated the first half which ended in a 1-1 draw.
Our strikers also need to be aggressive for the team to achieve this goal. To coach Aussems, please get the big decisions right, and give this team the unwavering belief that whoever we are playing, Ingwe is going to win! BY DAILY NATION



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