We Need A Proper Diagnosis at ZIFA

By Perkins-Tino Bare
Over the past week the talk around the football world was just about one man, the incumbent, Cuthbert Dube who was supposedly suspended this past weekend before the meeting was declared null and void and then our beloved Warriors kick started their shortest stint as the Cosafa Cup that I`ve ever witnessed. 
The Warriors started their campaign well with a 2-0 win over the Mauritius but they were wasteful with their chances as they a bit impatient in their build up especially in the final third whereby they had to resort to long range shots and were not effective enough to penetrate through the Mauritian defense. Generally it was a good game for the Warriors not because they won for they could have won by a greater margin but they showed stability at the back and were able to filter through the wings, they showed some form in their attacking plays.
The next game for the Warriors was on Tuesday and this time they played another lowly ranked side in the Seychelles and the Seychelles came maintained their defensive approach which had gained them a point against a threatening side in Namibia. This time it was more evident as the Warriors were rather disappointing in the first half as they wasted many chances. With the match poised for a draw they came back a rejuvenated side in the second half and were able to finally the Seychelles defence gaining a solitary goal which would place the Warriors in strong contention for a quarter final berth against Zambia. 
Then things fell apart for the Warriors when they faced Namibia in their final group game as the four time holders went down ironically with four goals but they were able to pull one back from the spot kick. The Namibian coach had promised to bring the game to the warriors and they did exactly that from the whistle as they utilised their pace and Hardlife Zvirekwi had a lesson on the significance of names as he was having a hard time on the right wing containing the Namibians. The right wing literally became route 1 for each and every attack that was launched by Namibia and he looked beyond vulnerable as each attack meant further embarrassment for the poor lad. After Namibia had taken the lead in the first half Zimbabwe came back with all guns blazing in the second half especially with the wonderful exploits of Talent Chawapiwa who at one time left three defenders close to dead. However they did not have a plan B and they pushed forward in their numbers without covering their tracks which then saw them being caught on the counter which then put the game to rest.  
Well some time this week The Herald published extracts of some questions which were meant for the Zifa councillors who are going to eventually end Cuthbert Dube`s unpopular tenure at the helm of Zifa. One of the questions was on the policies that the councillors wished to implement which was the same question I had asked myself as they news came through Saturday Afternoon. One thing that clear is that the only way forward for our game is the removal of Cuthbert Dube but will his ouster solely solve the problems that we have with our football and whoever it is that is going to be introduced what is he going to do that will be different and ensure that we creep out of this messy ditch we find ourselves in?  
The Warriors crushing out the first round of the Cosafa tournament is just a reflection of how low our game finds itself and this is rather sad for it is a tournament that most Zimbabwean supporters seek solace in especially after the past disastrous Afcon campaign with the notable one being our last campaign when we went down rather embarrassingly to a lowly ranked Tanzania (we are better than that though). 
The question now is can we tie down all of this to one man and hold him as the scapegoat laying all the blame on his unsuccessful tenure? Yes Cuthbert Dube should go if we are in any way to move our game forward but we also have to be cognizant of the fact that this is only the first step and if we do not take the following steps carefully we will surely achieve nought. Just like changing the captain when the Titanic had hit an iceberg wasn`t surely going to save it from drowning, at this point in time merely changing whoever is at the helm will not make all our problems go away. Tuku sang ongorora chikonzero chaita musoro uteme. In other words we need a proper dignosis of our football not a simple pain killer lest the problem creeps up again in the future. 
The Warriors crushing out of the Cosafa Cup prematurely at the preliminary stages when some of us were expecting a far much better outing truly hurt. Now this past game is more or less a reflection of the development of the game in Namibia in contrast to the demise of ours. Even if we were to go through we were not going to go far as the team was not effective enough as an attacking unit.
If there is one thing that many a football fan does not want to hear especially at this moment is that the ouster of Cuthbert Dube will not solve our problems. However keeping him in office will only make things worse as he is the one that led to were we are now and we have to re-track our steps to rediscover our game. Where is that junior policy that we used to have especially at clubs like Highlanders were at one point their scouts who had an eye for talent. This is an important aspect for talent has got to be identified first before being effectively nurtured and though we may know that, then why are we constantly trying to take the shortcut to success without setting up the proper structures. Lets build the game from the grassroots level going up and I personally do not care who is going to replace Dube as that`s another bag of promises but as we start developing with the available structures that is primary schools and sports clubs then we can say we are onto something as of now we may make all the noise that we want about Dube going but you can never cheat your way to success and the only way is to set the conditions which would be conducive for the birth of a successful team.