Malawi football needs more Charles Mandas
Truth is like toothpaste; no matter how long it takes, it will always be squeezed out.
The toothpaste tube might look irresistibly colourful, but the quality shall always be inside.
Talking world football, the July 2014 Fifa rankings have squeezed out the Barclays English Premier League’s (EPL) false claim as the Hollywood of football.
The rankings dumped England, home to the EPL, out of the top-10 band to unfashionable position 20.
Yes, some 101 places ahead of the Flames and I am still counting!
Do I feel vindicated? Not really; just relieved and mad at the same time that many followers are hoodwinked by the Three Lions’ false ratings.
If anyone needed fresh evidence that the EPL is not the number one football league as the media portrays, not only did the Three Lions exit the 2014 Fifa World Cup prematurely but none of their players got any nearer to claiming the World Cup’s individual accolades which Paul Pogba (Serie A), Lionel Messi (La Liga), Manuel Neuer (Bundesliga) and James Rodrigues (then in French Ligi 1) shared.
It is clear that the EPL’s strength lies in its foreign import; otherwise, the locals are barely average.
And as long as English players and coaches cannot leave home comfort, prove themselves in other leagues and bring back diversity of skill, the Three Lions will always remain toothless.
English coaches’ reluctance to work in tougher leagues elsewhere reminds me of the many highly qualified, but unemployed Malawian coaches.
FAM has over the years trained in Europe some 30 coaches, but none of them are courageous enough to coach across the borders. Not even in Milanje or Tete.
Kinnah Phiri, Jack Chamangwana and Kannock Munde are an exception and little wonder, their marketability is not restricted to the Super League.
I am, therefore, happy for Charles Manda who is now coaching Manzini Wanderers in Swaziland.
That is the way to go for Malawi football if coaching standards are to improve.
No domestic league can improve if it cannot balance its import and export of players and coaches. Look no further than the EPL for evidence.
