SENIOR national men’s team midfielder Archford Gutu has called for patience as Warriors interim coach Klaus Pagels attempts to rebuild a strong squad over the course of the team’s 2014 World Cup qualification.
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The Swedish-based playmaker said there were a lot of positives that could be picked up from the Warriors’ friendly match against Botswana at home last week.
The new look Warriors came from behind to beat the Zebras 2-1 with Khama Billiat cancelling out Lemponye Tshireletso’s early strike. Denver Mukamba scored the winner.
Gutu is one of the four players that survived the axe when the Warriors were disbanded late last year. The other survivors are Billiat, Knowledge Musona and Mukamba.
“I think we played well considering that we only trained together as a team for two days only. It’s a new team and the coach is introducing new tactics, so it’s not easy to master that within two days.
“But I think we can do better. We did not play to our full potential as we were still learning. The good thing is we all understood the coach’s idea and how he wants us to play. If we can have more time together, I think we can be a very strong side,” Gutu said.
Pagels has introduced a new regime in the squad with a number of players making their debut for the Warriors.
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Dwelling on a fast-paced passing game that has been popularised by Spanish giants Barcelona, the team was at times during the match a joy to watch.
However, some critics were quick to point out that the players were sometimes overdoing the tiki-taka and lacked ideas in the final third.
Others argued that the team was exposed defensively with new twin defensive midfielders Gutu and Peter Moyo, often playing as offensive midfielders at their respective clubs, caught out of position on numerous occasions.
Critics want Pagels to include natural defensive midfield players such as Willard Katsande who had formed a solid partnership as twin anchormen with Gutu in previous Warriors teams.
“There are some good players who were not selected, but that’s the coach’s job to select the players who can fit in his system,” Gutu added.
The former Dynamos midfielder, who is recovering from a groin injury that had grounded him for the past week, is currently in Spain with his Kalmar FF side on pre-season training.
“The injury is mending and I have started training. I’m moving without feeling any pain.”
