ZESCO United Football Club Team Ya Ziko
When the 2019/2020 Super League season started, ZESCO United coach George Lwandamina had only one thing on his mind; leading the club to its ninth FAZ/MTN Super League title.
Having led ZESCO United to its eighth League and sixth Absa Cup title a year earlier, the gaffer had every reason to be optimistic about what was to come.
The 2019/2020 League season started at a lightning speed for TeamYaziko. ZESCO recorded a 10 match unbeaten run before recording its first defeat at the hands of their Copperbelt rivals, Nkana football club.
What followed was a phase of mixed results in both the domestic league and CAF Champions league.
The demands of domestic and international football proved too much for ZESCO United who were later eliminated from the CAF Champions League at group stage having failed to register a single victory.
By midseason, ZESCO United had lost the swag that saw them dispatch their opponents with surgical beauty. With 10 games remaining, the club was staring at a possible do-or-die situation.
When coach Lwandamina was setting his sights on a ninth league title, COVID-19 wasn’t part of the script.
The outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic, the deadliest disease mankind has faced in recent years led to a temporal suspension of the Zambian league with only nine games to play.
Before the League curtains where temporally closed, Forest Rangers led the table with 46 points from their 24 games, followed by Napsa Stars (45 from 25), Green Eagles (44 from 24), Nkana (43 from 24), and ZESCO United (42 from 24).
This week the Zambian Super League resumes having been temporarily suspended for almost four months.
“This is a new phenomenon for everyone. It is also a big challenge for any team because we have only two weeks to prepare our players for league action after being out of business for over four months. I know players where training independently but that’s not enough. A player can only do better with a coach behind him.
These players need support and monitoring to push them to get to the pain barrier. One’s body mechanism is in such a way that not until you go over the pain barrier can one compensate their energy. That is fitness required in our football unfortunately that’s not the case,” Lwandamina said.
Lwandamina is particularly concerned with the player’s ability to attain maximum fitness levels in a short space of time.
“It is good that we have had a break to recover. However, the battle we face today is getting these players to maximum fitness for games, which I doubt will happen. At the moment we are rushing our programs in readiness for weekend fixtures.
I know my players have played a lot of games from the last campaign without resting which automatically leads to one’s body burning down. However, it’s not everyone who will be able to adjust and that applies to other teams too.”
The ZESCO United gaffer is also aware of the fact that the team that adjust quicker will have the edge over others.
“I know some teams have camped for some time. However, it is important to recognise that we are all in the same situation. The beginning will be very crucial for everyone,” Lwandamina concluded.
ZESCO United will this Sunday host Kansanshi Dynamos at the Levy Mwanawasa stadium in a week 25 rescheduled fixture to be played behind closed doors.
Author: Desmond Katongo
Mr. Lwandamina is always talking about players being unfit to play.. remember, at the start of the season, he said the players where unfit, that they did not have enough time to rest from the transitional league.
Later in December, just before TP Mazembe showed us how far away we are from lifting a continental trophy, he said that the ‘players where fatigued’.
With the long Covid19 break, now he says players gotta train more, especially with the aid of a coach!
Awe, ba George, awe! Nga fitness trainer ali kwi?
Yesterday’s game not very impressive, we could have won kansanshi dynamos than a draw. Hoping for the best