Zimbabwean coach Lazarus Magaya, who manages the Zambian Women’s Super League side ZISD FC, has described the league as highly unpredictable after eight games in charge of the Lusaka-based club.
In an exclusive interview with BolaNews, following his side’s fourth defeat under his leadership, Magaya acknowledged that coaching in Zambia has proven to be a tough challenge.
“I’m finding the journey a bit tough. The league is very competitive; you can’t predict the outcome of the game,” he said.
Magaya highlighted the league’s competitive nature, noting that playing at home does not always guarantee a win.
“While you can say the team is playing home, the team is playing away, you may find the team that is playing away is winning. For example, last week we were in Nkana and we won. So I can describe the journey so far as so good. I have played 8, won four, lost four,” he added.
ZISD FC remains 11 points clear of the relegation zone, despite suffering a 3-0 defeat to Green Eagles Women on Sunday at the NASDEC Sports Complex. While Magaya refrained from attributing the result solely to the playing surface, he acknowledged that the poor condition of the pitch hindered his team’s ability to execute their usual passing game, describing it as resembling a “potato field.”
“It’s not good to condemn facilities as a professional coach, but to start with, the pitch was bumpy. We couldn’t play our normal game. If you look at Independence, where we train and play our home games, we are able to do one-touch, two-touch passing. That’s how we play. But here, we failed to play because the pitch is very bumpy; it’s like a potato field,” he explained.
The poor playing conditions disrupted ZISD FC’s rhythm, making it difficult for them to impose their usual style of play. Magaya stressed that a well-maintained pitch is essential for teams that rely on quick passing and fluid movement.
Looking ahead, Magaya is confident his team will work hard to bounce back in their next fixture against Police Doves.
“We need to go back to the drawing board so that we win the remaining games. Especially next week, we are going to play at home; we are going to master our tactics to ensure we collect maximum points against Police Doves,” he concluded.
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