Kalisto Pasuwa faced the media on Tuesday ahead of our TNM Super League fixture against Creck Sporting Club at Kamuzu Stadium on Wednesday afternoon.
The People’s Team will welcome the fourth-placed rookies fresh from our 4-2 league victory over Chitipa United on Sunday.
Among the key issues, Pasuwa discussed how Bullets plan to build the winning momentum from the previous result, how he continues helping the defending champions regain confidence, how to bring back the fear factor at Kamuzu Stadium where we hold massive records, his latest recruits and the lack of creativity in our midfield of late as well as supporters shunning our recent matches.
Here is everything our head coach told the media.
On building a winning momentum from the last result
Tomorrow, we are playing Creck Sporting Club in the league. One thing that we have been lacking in our camp is consistency and yes, we have been trying to work in that area as I have been talking about this aspect of our team. We need to start believing in ourselves. In the last game that we played against Chitipa United, we were flying high in the first half, however, in the second half, we dropped off and that is what I have been saying that we still need to find out what it is that is making us start well and within some minutes, we are down. I hope what we have been doing at the training ground will be transformed into action when we meet Creck.
On what’s causing the team to drop off, especially in the second half
Whatever it is, remember we have been losing points but we quickly need to go back to our normal sense as you know we are a winning team with a winning mentality in us and I have been talking about having a spine in the team where, if we are having problems, the players can talk on their own at times in the field of play. Remember, the coach can only come in at halftime and talk to the players but we need a spine that maybe if we are having a problem in the field of play, we need them to step up to encourage each other so that we can start collecting points.
On how to bring back our home fear factor
That’s one season where we are coming from winning everything on the table and next thing, we go with the worst performance ever, something very worrisome and we have been talking to the boys to encourage them that the season is still on. We need to raise our heads to correct whatever we are doing wrong so that we go back to our winning ways.
On chances of Bullets defending the title looking at the gap against the top team
We play 30 games until the last game of the season. In our camp, we can only talk when we play the last game of the season, and that’s where we can say the league is over. We take it one game at a time.
On our latest signings Lameck Gamphani and Wongani not having a lot of minutes
It’s not the case of two players whom we bought. When buying players, it doesn’t mean they are coming straight to come and play. We have some players who are also in the team as you know we registered more than 30 players. They also need a chance to play, but remember, we have been a team that has been rotating players but because results are not coming, we are having problems trying to find our best XI so that we start winning points again, so it’s rare for one to say I can be changing the team. Of course, if there is one [player] better than the already established players, then a chance will come.
On what is needed to get a result midweek
One thing for us to win is to be in the right sense of mind. We don’t need to underestimate any team. We go into the field of play; we play our football to win. We need to respect the badge and you are aware that supporters are no longer coming to the stadium. When we are playing football, we also play for the fans, but if the fans are not coming it means something is wrong, so we need to fix this.
On the lack of creativity since the departure of Patrick Mwaungulu
We need to quickly get into our senses in that particular aspect. We had Ernest Petro who was our playmaker in the team, but he got injured and Patrick Mwaungulu came in, took everything in his hand and again, left. We are now trying to find a new replacement in the team to be responsible for that area where if things are down, he can take responsibilities into his own hands. Ernest is back and I hope we can start moving.
Watch Pasuwa’s pre-match press conference below.
