Hard running Cranes flattered to deceive

Cranes midfielders Kizito (L) and Wasswa were left pondering the future after the loss to Ghana. PHOTO BY AMINAH BABIRYE

What you need to know:

  • If they want propaganda, I will tell them that the best player was Tonny Mawejje and he run like Stephen Kiprotich.
  • Remember in the first half how Ochaya was overwhelmed by Christian Atsu.

If you looked at our (Uganda) system against Ghana, we had the back four with Joseph Ochaya on the left, Isaac Isinde in the middle alongside Hassan Wasswa, and Denis Iguma on the right.
In the middle of the pack, before coach Micho Sredojevic substituted Mike Azira for Moses Oloya, we had Geoffrey ‘Baba’ Kizito on the right and the Colorado Rapids man (Azira) on the left but they kept swapping.
In front of them we had Tonny Mawejje on the left, Farouk Miya playing through the middle, and on the other side was Kizito Luwagga. Right in front of them we had the captain Geoffrey Massa. Now, that really shows you that there was imbalance.
One, Mawejje is good going forward, hustling and breaking down play but he’s not good with the ball at all.
If you go back to Azira, he is good going forward and attacking because of his diminutive structure. He’s like the Zimbabwean Khama Billiat.

He cannot defend that much as you saw. His passing patterns were also negative. He kept passing the ball backwards, sideways and the strength of the 4-2-3-1 system is playing forward, bouncing off Massa to create space for Luwagga on the other side and maybe Miya.
But he was coming in deep. So the whole structure was imbalanced. You could see it in the first half.
Then they take off Azira and I see Mawejje going back into that double pivot midfield with Baba.
But remember in the first half how Ochaya was overwhelmed by Christian Atsu. Ochaya was left alone and it is the job of one of the two pivot midfielders to help Ochaya but they did not realise and see it throughout the entire game and none of them decided to help him out.

Then at the end, what people are trying to say is that we put in a good effort!?
Because we played three at the back (Ochaya, Isinde and Wasswa), then had Baba and Mawejje in the middle with a straight line of five strikers (3-2-5).
Yes, we were looking for a goal but you can still play within that structure and strategy and get the goals.
But what happened is they packed the ball up, they kicked the ball up, people were fighting, people were screaming ‘wulululu’. That is street football.

Realistic chance
The only chance we got was Miya’s. With his strength, he could have done more with more supply.
You cannot put Mawejje or Miya in the middle of the three and put Luwagga out wide. It does not make sense. It does not give you any hope to go forward. Maybe if Aucho is coming in, he can play a little deeper in a diamond shape with Baba and Mawejje.
Then we will have speed in the side with Miya in front of the aforementioned, then on the other side maybe Ochaya or Shaban through the in the middle. We need someone who can hold the ball, run and play within the system.
Would I go with Massa? He did not give me anything until they put him out on the right-hand side. Then he came out of his shell but the whole game he was standing with the centre backs and waiting for them to give him balls.

You do not have to play like that. You have to run, try to do what Emmanuel Adebayor did for his team. But everyone is talking and they will keep talking ‘blah blah blah blah’ because I can come and say Mulago is the best hospital in Uganda but if you go to the emergency ward, you will see something different.
If they want propaganda, I will tell them that the best player was Tonny Mawejje and he run like Stephen Kiprotich.
He run a marathon but if you saw how many touches he had on the ball, he only had one or two shots, one that was probably a good hit but the rest of the game he was just running up and down. He ran more than 13 kilometres. That was a marathon. That was not football.