What is happening at KCCA?

Under Sergio Tranguil, the former league champions have developed a very simplistic template on how to try and break down teams.

KCCA play with a double pivot at the base of the midfield with Moses Waiswa and Angolan Cungulo Gui as the two deep lying playmakers.

As the team plays out from the back, the defenders are tasked to play the ball into the pair.

Waiswa and Gui then take a few touches in attempting to evade their nearest marker.

The next phase is the most obvious. Whoever of the pair has the ball then looks out to the right wing and looks to play a high diagonal pass.

The winger or overlapping fullback is expected to beat his opponent and then deliver an effective ball into the box for the strikers.

This pass does not even get the left-sided wing involved. If the left winger left the game, Tranguil wouldn’t notice.

Out of possession, neither Gui nor Waiswa is tracking back to cover the area outside the box as seen in the goals they have conceded.  

In the two games KCCA have lost in the StarTimes Uganda Premier League thus far to Bul and Maroons, the opposition has easily figured this out.

First, Bul got physical in the middle of the park at Njeru. Maroons hurried KCCA and had numbers behind the ball while only committing only three players in attack.

Against Bul, there was no joy from that diagonal pass as KCCA Tranguil’s team succumbed to a 1-0 defeat. Against Maroons, there was no threat as the numbers snuffed out everything.

The visitors at the MTN Omondi Stadium, Lugogo, looked extremely threatening on the break and could have won by a bigger margin than the 2-1.

This one-dimensional pass has been practiced from pre-season when KCCA hosted Kenya’s Homeboyz and in the Fufa Super 8 ties against Wakiso Giants and URA.  

While KCCA overcame Wakiso, the game came down to the latter running out of steam having only resumed training for two days prior.  

In the Caf Confederation Cup clash with Libyan side Abu Salem, the visitors created an overload on the right expecting the ball to drop there. It did and KCCA exited.  

By Ismail Dhakaba Kigongo 

Foreign contingent makes slow start

Like most domestic clubs, KCCA used the off-season to freshen up their squad following the arrival of Portuguese coach Sergio Traguil as head coach.

Having opted against extending contracts of several senior players, KCCA went for foreign imports after the recommendation of Traguil.

In came the Angolan quartet of defenders Adilson Bruno, Emilson Gonzaga, midfielder Cungulo Da Silva Gui and forward Etienne Katenga

Traguil also recommended the services of Brazilian duo of Joao Gabriel and Vinicius Michael all of whom were expected to improve the squad.

Expectations were further raised when the new recruits starred in the pre-season 2-0 win over Kakamega after they were introduced to the club’s fans at the KCCA fans day.

Katenga and Gabriel further impressed with their fancy feet as KCCA claimed a 2-0 win over Wakiso Giants in the quarterfinal of the Super Eight tournament.

It however became quickly evident that opposition teams had taken notice with the first sign being in URA playing on the break en route to securing a 2-1 win.

A 3-2 win over SC Villa followed in the Super Eight classification game with more cracks being exposed particularly defensively.

Matters have not been helped by Traguil chopping and changing his squad with his proclamation of all three of his goalkeepers raising eyebrows.

Consequently Antony Emojong, Derrick Ochan and lately Juma Mutebi have all featured without any convincing performances.

In the meantime the influence of the foreign players has significantly reduced with Katenga being a peripheral figure as Libya’s Abu Salim eliminated them from the Caf Confederation Cup.

 The KCCA technical team has also seemed unaware of what to expect from their opponents with Abu Salim, Bul and Maroons picking them off when playing on the counter.

 To compound matters, the Brazilian forward Vinicius appears to have made a quiet exit having not appeared on match-day squads in any of the four competitive games the team has played so far.

By Elvis Senono 

Traguil huge gamble hurls KCCA into boiling point

History may be just about to repeat itself for embattled KCCA Portuguese coach Sergio Traguil.

Look, Traguil has not found it plain sailing at most of the African clubs he has coached before he joined the Kasasiro Boys amidst high expectations  in June this year. 

For his less glamorous and brief stints at Hearts of Oak (Ghana), Singida (Tanzania), CD Lunda Sul (Angola), Vilankulos (Mozambique), Mirbat SC (Oman), Kabuscorp SC (Angola), Santa Rita CFC (Angola) and recently Township Rollers FC (Botswana), the 42-year-old tactician has earned the moniker of a job hopper.

The jury is still out whether KCCA did their due diligence and mandatory background research before making a date with Traguil.

Departed club chairman Martin Sekajja revealed at Traguil's unveiling that they had chased for his signature for over a year and that 'he had all the tactical and disciplinary traits of former KCCA Mike Mutebi'.

He might have been pushing too hard or was misled. Three-time league winner and Cecafa winning coach Mutebi and Traguil can't be under one roof.

Yet a quick delve into the Portuguese African adventure shows a demotion from senior team to academy side at Hearts of Oak coach after a spate of awful results.

Traguil couldn't stand the fans' 'unfair criticism' in Ghana and he call it quits. 

He is facing a similar revolt and sentiments  at Lugogo at the moment  and shouldn't he beat Express tomorrow, hell could break loose.

The Uefa A licensed gaffer's five-month stay Botswana Premier League record-holders Township Rollers saw him win only seven games in 20 matches.

Rollers had seen enough of his ineptness but politely veiled his acrimonious sacking as a 'contract issue'.

Traguil had overstayed his welcome at Tanzanian Singida when they released him before a year elapsed.

Like he is struggling to grasp the simple basics of the Ugandan game, the media in Tanzanian also bashed him for being 'out of touch with the reality' with their domestic football culture.

Unlike SC Villa that can pride in the feats of Geoff Hudson and Micho Sredojevic -  and may be Vipers with Brazilian Roberto Oliveira, KCCA's attempts with expatriates are still futile.

In fact, all the 13 StarTimes Uganda Premier League League titles at KCCA have been won by coaches that previously played for the club.

Traguil seems to be treading the bleak path trodden by Kenyan Hussein Kheri (2005), Tanzanian Hussein Gwaje (2000), Danish Flemming Jacobsen(1998) and Liberian Koroma (1999) before him.

Express can also pride in Serbian Dragan Popadic who won the 1996 league title and 1997 Uganda Cup on top of building a formidable 'invincible' team.

“You can expect from Sergio hard work, commitment, passion for beautiful football, and the most important thing - finding ways to achieve what everybody wants here,” Traguil pledged after he penned a reported two-year contract.

Unfortunately, as positives results continue to elude him, even the idea of playing beautifully and develop budding talent could be headed for a stillbirth.

It's baffling that even when KCCA went out of their comfort and offered Traguil a chance to bring in countryman Manuel Correira Guerreiro as deputy to work with Jackson Magera - a sharp dressing room disharmony has been reported.

The goalkeeping fracas - that has rookies Juma Mutebi and Anthony Emojong each taking turns on out-of-favour first-choice Derrick Ochan - highlights Traguil's most pressing headache at Lugogo.

The foreign legion he recommended KCCA hasn't hit the ground running.

Angolans Emilson Gonzaga,Etienne Katenga and Silva Gui have surprisingly  been played out of position by their backer.

Interestingly, Traguil  also warned that he would walk away if there was any interference in technical matters, yet as it stands, he may jump before being pushed.

Sekajja might have given him his word but he is long gone and new chairman Andrew Sserunjogi may not entertain such mediocrity.

The precedent was already set in 1999 when KCCA sacked Jacobsen after three months after early exit from the Africa Club Championships (just like Traguil flopped in the Caf Confederation Cup).

Sierra Leonean Koroma was shown the exit within weeks while Danish Fray couldn't handle the heat in his first season and he crossed over to express.

The stage is set, it is now or never for Traguil.

By Denis Bbosa