Fabrice Ngoma and utility player needs at Simba SC

 has been taking place in city airwaves.

One feature emerging was the key role of ace midfielder Fabrice Ngoma, who starred in the proverbial defensive midfield role, where pundits generally agreed it either makes or unmakes match results.

The trouble is that it is hard to remember who guessed he could do that.

There was, for instance, a contest of playing lists at one or two talk shows the day before the match as to who would make the local side lineup, and to the extent that memory helps, the key midfield role was being given to Mzamiru Yassin, rather than the Congolese all-rounder.

Yet he not only held the position of defensive midfielder but was frequently visible as an overlapping fullback, diminishing chances of a rally from deep midfield to exploit backline openings.

It was also a failure of analysis in the sense that hardly anyone could second-guess the coach.

At the same time, it was an illustration of the difference between the local city giants, where the Jangwani Street-based Yanga has a remarkably narrow choice of key players, despite that the scoring can be done from any forward line position.

There was a time that a limited rotation gesture was conducted and Yanga lost to their low-lying nemesis, Ihefu SC of Mbeya, and the Jangwani Street club’s fans were furious at the rotation as explaining the three points surrender.

Msimbazi Street-based club’s technical bench officials have a lot more to choose from, for instance, between Sadio Kanoute and Louis Miquissone.

That sort of squad depth is helpful for the coach, as even then many were uncomfortable with the lack of fielding Moses Phiri, often sealing encounters.

The game reinforced the confidence that the fan base has in head coach Roberto Oliveira, alias Robertinho, although some critics claimed that their views had been vindicated by the fact that at a late stage, the coach put Shomari Kapombe for Israel Mwenda.

As the coach doesn’t have to explain why a player is benched, diversity of sentiments or hasty conclusions is unavoidable, as a player can be brought in for particular skills at a certain position.

It is this aspect that an avid pundit would say ought to have been expected, though it is in rare cases as recently with veteran captain, John Bocco, that there was a tactical substitution and it appeared to have paid dividends.

For the most part, substitutions are made to inject vigour into the play as no player fails to lose some of the touch or deftness after 70 minutes, the usual ideal time to make changes.

It similarly appears that each encounter has its rules, which arise from the psychological interplay of the two teams, defensive and offensive skills, or player morale, and how that fits into a particular situation.

In that case at a recent league encounter it came out that Bocco was the answer, while this time around, with Al Ahly, it was undeniably Kanoute who made a noticeable difference.

In another context, there is a way lessons repeat themselves when scarcely anyone is paying attention or waiting for such a turn of events.

While for a spate of two or three months of the season, the scoring hopes were being laid upon Jean Baleke, Moses Phiri, and more recently Clatous Chama, when it came to big-time soccer it was last season’s club top goal scorer Saidi Ntibazonkiza who rose to notoriety, in the company of Sadio Kanoute.

It is also a matter of tactical flexibility, of the extent to which a player can adapt to different competition or perhaps ball control skills, etc.

There is still a test in Cairo within hours from the last whistle of the fanfare-laden opener, as only two days of rest were available and travel on the third day, or a day of rest and travel the following day for light exercise and match the following day.

Even then, coach Robertinho has demonstrated the tactical ability to handle high-level pressure, reinforcing an impression that has often radiated from the performance of his side in the past few years.

It plays in line with the challenge it faces, such that one does not have the same Simba SC side in the local league and international encounters, an issue noticeable even at professional premier league sides abroad.

The performance by the local AFL participants left their next street rivals largely speechless as it wasn’t possible to show the sort of faults they could, in turn, have corrected, had they been in the game.

This profound respect for the game put up by the archrivals mirrored their disquiet in the prelude to the game, where their more adoring or stubborn fans were inaudible, silenced, or something.

Pundits took little time to find out why, as the Jangwani Street outfit had landed Al Ahly in their Group Stage setting for the CAF Champions League.

They say that one should, on no account, mock the crocodile before crossing the river; this way the Al Ahly vs Yanga encounters promise to be unreal and quiet, entirely contrary to the habit.