FCB Nyasa Big Bullets head coach Gilbert Chirwa faced the media on Friday afternoon ahead of Saturday’s FDH Bank Premiership encounter against Blue Eagles at Civo Stadium in Lilongwe.
The People’s Team return to the Capital City looking to bounce back following last weekend’s goalless draw against Red Lions in Mwanza.
During the press conference, Chirwa reflected on the draw against Red Lions, preparations for Saturday’s fixture, squad selection decisions, Sean McBrams’ absence and the importance of securing maximum points away from home.
Below is the full press conference ahead of the clash in Lilongwe.
This game has come at a time when we dropped two vital points against Red Lions last Sunday, and we are facing a side in which we have only managed to beat once in seven away games, and in the current season, it is amongst the top three teams with three wins from four games, how do we go into this match?
Thanks very much. We are aware of the opponents we are facing. They are a good side, but we are ready for them. We have been working on some weaknesses that we saw in the last game because we only played well in defence and the goalkeeping department, but going forward, we did not tick. As such, we have been working with the boys, polishing up for this game.
You have talked about playing well defensively, and from the look of things, in that match, we had more defensive midfielders in Paul Master and Yankho Singo, with Peter Banda as the only attacking player. Was it tactical to have more defending players and fewer attackers?
In fact, all I can say on that one is that sometimes when you see how the players are performing in training, they force us to field the way we saw them training. I believe it will be very different this time around because we are concentrating on the performance of the whole team. We have good players, and I believe we are meeting an opponent that is doing well. We are quite aware of that and I believe how the boys have responded in training, it will be different this time around.
Talking about Dastan Banda, he did well against Civil Service United in the first game, and also fared well against MAFCO, but of late, he has mostly been used as a second-half substitute. Is it a matter of change in tactics because he is still adapting to the team, or does it have something to do with the tactical approach depending on the opponent we are facing?
In fact, different players adapt differently to a new environment, and our responsibility is to check on how they are doing in training. I think what I can say is that we come up with a decision based on how a particular player is doing in training.
You mentioned some of the weaknesses you spotted during our recent game against Red Lions in which we only had one shot in the entire 90 minutes through Madalitso Safuli. Going into Saturday’s match, should we say the technical panel has addressed all the problems ahead of the game?
As I said, it’s a different game with a different opponent. We believe that, with how the boys have trained, it will be a totally different game altogether.
Madalitso Safuli came in as a second-half substitute and he did very well. This is a player who, in the last three games, was nowhere near the team. What prompted you to give him a slot in the team?
He is one of our players, and we cannot feature all the players at once. We knew for sure that he would be given time for him to come and play, and yes, he did very well. I think that’s the way to go, and I believe we have more competition in the team, something that will be very beneficial to us, so yes, I was happy with how he performed.
Five goals in four games, definitely we are not doing well enough in terms of scoring goals. As a coach, you are concerned, but what do you think is the problem? Are we not creating chances or maybe because the majority of these players are new and are yet to fully adapt to the Bullets system?
Not necessarily that. I think in the past games, we have been creating chances. Maybe that was the only game that we did not create good chances. We could see that from the midfield moving forward, we were not ourselves, but this time around, looking at the way the boys have been training, they are looking sharp. I think we will do better than last time.
Kindly explain the absence behind Sean McBrams?
To begin with, Sean is being given a bit of time to catch up with his fellow teammates. He missed the entire pre-season because he was in South Africa, and his levels of fitness are below par, hence his absence from the main team.
Is playing at Civo Stadium, and not Nankhaka Stadium, giving Bullets a slight edge over Blue Eagles?
It is 50-50. There is nothing like an advantage to either team. Blue Eagles are a good team and we all know this for sure. We should not go there with fear. We should go there to fight for maximum points. It’s very possible and we have told the boys. We are ready, we are fully prepared, and we have to go there to fight for points and nothing else.
Will the result decide your fate here?
Maybe yes, but I think what we all need here is to go there and fight for three points. Points are important because we have already drawn two games and we would like to have a better result. That better result cannot come on a silver platter. We need to put up a fight and come back with a better result.
