At the beginning of every season all ZSL coaches go onto the Media and proudly declare that their team is ready to challenge for the league. I tend to laugh at some of the statements. There are several factors a team needs to have to win the league. I will make a study of the EPL since its the most commonly watched league and compare it with the ZSL. When the EPL season begins this is what the top teams do. PLAYER RETENTION Player retention among the likes of Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool is high. Over 80 percent of the squad is retained. This is an important aspect as understanding between players takes time to develop. In Zambia player retention has increased over the last 3 years. Nkana tops in player retention with every single key member of 2013 being in the squad this year. Zanaco, Zesco United and Napsa are the other teams who have had a high player retention. The log does not lie, All these sides are in the Top 5. The rest of the league struggle with player retention. PLAYER REPLACEMENT Another critical area in football. You lose one player and have to find a player of equal or better value. In the EPL Arsenal and Liverpool are masters in this area. Arsenal sold Thierry Henry and replaced him with Robin Van Persie, Arsenal sold Ashley Cole and him with Gael Clichy, Liverpool have also excelled in this area. When Fernando Torres left Luis Suarez was identified as an even better replacement. In Zambia few clubs excels at Player replacement. But a few which do are Nkana and Zanaco. When Nkanas veteran players of Douglas Chiwaya and William Chinse left Nkana replaced them with Evans Kangwa and Ronald Kampamba, when Evans Kangwa left Nkana replaced him with Festus Mbewe who proved a hit, when Evans Kangwa again left he has been replaced with Tony Odour. Zanaco are also competent in this area, when Davies Mwape left youngster Davy Daka has been succesfully included with an even higher goals per game ratio than Davies Mwape had, Zanaco have also found effective replacements in every position in the team. Including the goalkeeping department. Other teams in the ZSL fair very poorly in player replacement. Top of the list is Power Dynamos who 2 years down the line have failed to find proper replacements for Joseph Sitali and Mukuka Mulenga, Nchanga Rangers is another team that rates very lowly in player replacements. And lastly... PLAYER IDENTIFICATION Only few clubs in Zambia identify problem areas on time, while in the EPL areas are identified months before. Manchester United identified that they needed a more effective striker and brought in Robin Van Persie. On the other hand, Red Arrows have been one of the most creative teams in over the last 5 years but have failed to identify a good striker to help the team score goals. Only Nkana, Zesco United, Zanaco and Napsa Stars again rate highly in identifying key areas in the team. The rest of the teams are below average in this area.
Posted on: Fri, 01 Aug 2014 18:26:46 +0000
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