Uganda Cranes play Sao Tome and Principe this evening at the Mandela National Stadium, Namboole, in a game new Cranes coach Sebastien Desabre continues to make his methods and philosophy known to the players, he told JOHN VIANNEY NSIMBE in an interview.
Desabre feels that he dived into the deep-end, once he accepted to be Cranes coach on December 28. He only had five days with the players, before the team flew to Morocco for the 2018 African Nations Championships (Chan) tournament.
As a consequence, the team’s results were disappointing, 1-3 loss to Zambia in the group opener, 0-1 loss to Namibia, before the campaign was wrapped up with a goalless draw with the Ivory Coast in a dead rubber.
However, to Desabre that is water under the bridge. It is time to move on, and starting this weekend, when his charges, who include several foreign-based players, such as captain Denis Onyango from South African club, Mamelodi Sundowns, Bevis Mugabi, plying his trade at Yeovil Town in England and Portugal-based left-back, Alex Kakuba, he has a lot to look forward to.
Desabre will be looking to impart his principles in the team as quick as possible, an opportunity he did not have, when he led the team to the Chan in January.
“When I arrived, I had to study and learn the players in a very short time, at a critical time. The Chan was starting in a few days. So, there was not enough time,” Desabre lamented.
Yet, he was still able to see something good in the local-based players he was only privy to coach at the time.
“I think they are technically good players. I am glad that at the Chan, they showed some of my principles in the way they expressed themselves, building from the back and constructing attacks the way I like it,” Desabre mused.
The former Asec Mimosas coach noted how he was delighted to see his team play some good football then. He was left feeling that the prospects are indeed good for the Uganda Cranes for the time he will be in charge. Turning around Cranes’ low scoring situation predominates Desabre’s mind.
“This is a big issue, that I need to discuss with all the Ligue 1 (Uganda Premier League) coaches. We must coordinate together to improve our strikers,” Desabre said.
In fact, Desabre said that in April, he will have a candid discussion in form of a symposium with all the local coaches, to find solutions to the aforementioned technical problem.
He added: “We need to develop strikers from the ages of 8 or 10, so that by the time they are 17, they are used to scoring goals.”
But a lot more factors determine how well a player applies himself. Desabre is concerned about the bad state of fields and pitches, where domestic football is played. He feels, that when the playing surfaces are bad, the forwards will be hampered, and it will be difficult for them to easily score goals.
For example, because in Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia, they have very good playing grounds, it gives players the confidence to express themselves and execute their roles well. In addition, Desabre also spelled out how the players’ mentality has to become totally professional, if they are to scale great heights.
The Frenchman said that a top footballer lives and breathes football. All their thoughts are focused on the game. Their feeding and whatever drink they take must be important to helping them reach their full potential.
It is a pertinent point that Desabre highlights. Yet, embracing professionalism is still a huge weakness for several footballers here. They will do anything detrimental to their progress, including not resting enough, feeding badly and also dodging training or question the amount of time their coaches demand for them to put in as a shift.
This Desabre finds laughable. In fact, he emphasizes that a player, who never wants to train hard, has no future with The Cranes. Against that, Desabre observed, that he saw in a number of his Cranes players during the Chan, lacking in physical fitness. And that it was one of the reasons they were not playing effectively and efficiently.
Desabre’s predecessor, Milutin ‘Micho’ Sredojevic also highlighted the poor physical condition of players whenever they assembled, as a big problem. As such, Micho had to subject the players to long and intense training sessions, to get them up to speed.
Cranes’ top physical condition during the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations in Gabon, earned Micho a lot of praise at the time. Ordinarily, a national team should mainly be working on match tactics, whenever the players assemble, but not much so where Cranes is concerned. Without leaving anything to chance, Desabre has brought in a fitness coach from Europe to add to his backroom.
He is Cranes’ first foreign coach to be allowed such liberty. Desabre said that when he meets the local coaches, he will also share his experience with them on players’ fitness.
Last December, when The Observer interviewed Hamid Juma, Fufa’s head of technical, he said in no uncertain terms, that football philosophies are an exaggerated matter. And that qualifying for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon, was all they looked for in their new coach.
But Desabre differs. He believes that building a football culture (philosophy) is important. Desabre said, “While I respect every coach’s football principles, just like I appreciate the qualities of the players I have found here, it is important we prepare them to fit into a certain style.”
The question that is abound, however, regarding Desabre’s football school of thought, is whether he leans more towards the kind of football coached by fellow Frenchman Arsene Wenger or Manchester City’s Pep Guardiola?
Desabre does not like the idea of being compared to any other coach: “I am my own man. I believe in being offensive, building from the back, pressing the ball and quickness in transition. But I also bear in mind the level of my players, when designing the team’s tactics.”
In essence, Desabre is a pragmatic coach, and for a reason. He said that while club coaches have the liberty to buy whichever player they want, he has to work with the Ugandan players available to him. Many will be keen to see how The Cranes play against Sao Tome and Principe, before they face Malawi on Tuesday March 27 in the second international friendly.
Above all, whatever Desabre is working to build, is targeting qualifying for the next Afcon. It is paramount. But that is not all for him. He believes that once the preparations are right and ample, this team has the potential to do great things. Even winning the Cup in Cameroon?
“Why not? It is all about ensuring that our clubs are well organized and our players are in good condition,” he responded.
Meanwhile, in the current Cranes squad summoned for the March international football break, goalkeeper Benjamin Ochan was conspicuously absent. That is despite the fact that since the team’s return from the Chan, he signed for Kabwe Warriors in the Zambia top flight league.
Probably after his howler at the Chan, Desabre has since showed how high-handed and ruthless he is, making Ochan’s future with Cranes, bleak.
Desabre said, “As a coach, I had to make a decision, that was good for the team, which was changing the goalkeeper at the Chan. I am sure, at your workplace, when you write a bad story, you have to be punished for it, so that you become better again.”
Nevertheless, Desabre went on to say that he will continue to consider Ochan a Cranes player, although he will have to compete with the many fine goalkeepers Uganda has like Dennis (Onyango), Ismael Watenga, Salim Jamal and Robert Odongkara.
After Micho guided Cranes to the 2017 Afcon, following 39 years of agonizing wait by a nation, Desabre will be looking to set a new legacy for himself. Doubling as the under-23 coach, Desabre will give qualifying for the 2020 Olympics in Japan a big shot, at least by the end of his current three-year deal.