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Eddie Chikamhi Sports Reporter
DOMESTIC Premiership coaches yesterday pledged to adopt the philosophy of smooth-flowing tiki-taka football at the end of a two-day coaching clinic conducted by tutors from Spanish giants Barcelona. Coaches and captains from the 16 Premiership clubs yesterday received certificates at the end of the course, which began in Harare on Monday.

Generally, the standards of the domestic game have gone down and organisers felt tiki-taka will do much to draw fans back to the stadiums because it is rich in terms of entertainment value.

The course was conducted by Daniel Bigas Alsina and Isaac Guerrero Hernandez from the Barcelona Football School, which is responsible for the foundation of the European giants’ exciting style of play.

Alsina and Hernandez also donated gifts of 10 balls each to the Warriors and the Mighty Warriors.
The two are expected to come back next year as part of the three-year deal between league sponsors Castle Lager and the Spanish giants.

Chicken Inn coach Joey Antipas said they learnt many things about the Barcelona style of football and believes Zimbabwean football will be different if all teams adopted the style.

“This was an eye-opener, especially the Barcelona methodology. As local coaches we need to go out there and implement the philosophy.
“I believe it will definitely improve the teams but it will not be an overnight thing. It will take some time for the local players to adapt to the new style of play.

“What is needed is patience and concentration. At the end of the day it will definitely benefit the national team and our football will be much more entertaining,” said Antipas.

Dynamos coach Callisto Pasuwa said they were looking to start the programme at their junior structures.
“I think we should have time to implement some of the things and we should start with the players at a tender age, maybe six years or so, for someone to get an appreciation of what it means to play tiki-taka.

“We would also have liked the administrators to be present so that when we learn such things, they should also understand that it’s a process.
“It’s not about planning today and then tomorrow you need the results. We will go and implement some of the things at our juniors.

“We have been doing some of the things but we have been lacking the mental aspect. We didn’t have patience when building going forward,” said Pasuwa.
Highlanders coach Kelvin Kaindu said the project needed time to be adopted.

“We have learnt quite a number of things from the few days that we have been here. It will take us a long time and if we can apply it I think the level of football will probably improve in our country.
“But it will always be difficult to apply if we lack the long-term plan.

“As a coach you don’t have a long-term plan of five-to-10 years and if you are not getting results in the first year, no club is likely to keep you. This is where we have missed it,” said Kaindu.

Zifa technical director Maxwell Takaendesa Jongwe, Mighty Warriors coach Rosemary Mugadza, Under-20 women’s football coach Langton Giwa and Zimbabwe Soccer Coaches Association chairman Bekhi Nyoni were also among the participants.
Jongwe said they hope the Barcelona coaches would be given much time when they return next year.

“It was an enlightening dossier, a lot of new and modern trends. I believe the coaches benefitted and in future we hope we can get these Barcelona coaches coming down for a full programme.
“I think this will give our coaches a better platform to train at their clubs.

“Of course, there was the junior development dimension which they talked about and I would like to think they have challenged us.
“The only way to get up is for us to invest heavily in our juniors and I hope that’s the route we should be taking now.
“The whole thing is about training the trainers and sending our coaches for top level courses out there in Europe,” said Jongwe.

Alsina said they were thrilled by the co-operation and enthusiasm shown by the participants.
“We are pleased to have worked with the coaches here in Zimbabwe. It was a pleasure to share the experiences and if they learnt something then it’s for the benefit of the game here.

“To be honest if you believe in something and work hard on it, then it will work for you. If they embrace this philosophy then they will need to believe,” said Alsina.