“Quick-feet attackers, a burst of pace”, what uniformity do BT Derby teams possess?

The second-best league fixture on the land, 24 titles shared among the two story-telling Clubs, FCB Nyasa Big Bullets and Mighty Mukuru Wanderers, only the Bullets-Silver Strikers fixture has more titles, 25.

Before 2014, the grike between Bullets and Wanderers on league titles was just 4 and the gulf between Bullets and Silver Strikers was 2. The sense of unity, excitement, and optimism fuelled Bullets and their crack with their rivals has been catapulted to 10, and 9 to “dreaming” Bankers.

MORE NEWS FROM WAMPIRA

The 38th season of the Super League kicked off with sparks when Bullets and Wanderers stumbled. Bullets picked two consecutive draws (against Dedza Dynamos Football Club and Mighty Waka Waka Tigers) while the Nomads played a barren stalemate against Kamuzu Barracks. Silver Strikers were special, they recorded two back-to-back wins before dropping points at fortress Dedza Stadium.

The last six years have provided a fair idea of where the two teams, Bullets, and Wanderers are. The Red camp has collected about 11 major trophies (5 leagues, 2 Airtel Top 8 Cups, 2 FDH Bank Cups, Castel Challenge Cup, 1 Carlsberg Cup) while the other side won two (1 league, 1 Airtel Top 8 Cup.)

Bullets have been dominating for the last five years and they are chasing for their sixth straight league championship. The number of trophies won by a club in a space of five years shows exactly how much ground there is to make up.

Thomson Mpinganjira who took the Club as the President insisted that he wanted to take the team to further steps but couldn’t hide the setbacks that they could face due to inconsistent officiation.

Mark Harrison who was at the helm at Wanderers last season said in an interview with Timven last month that they were closing the gap with Bullets and they could have won three trophies in 2023.

“My advice to them will be, let the Coach and his staff, the players do their job, you know without any interference. Let the Coach work and produce a winning team,” he tells Timven Sports. They [Wanderers] have got a lot of class players, a lot of quality players. I enjoyed working with them [Players].

“There were a lot of problems behind the scenes, I felt like there were too many politics. They made life very difficult on a day-to-day basis. I just felt like taking me down and then just decided to leave. I gave everything to the Club. A little bit unlucky [because] I feel like we could win trophies last season.

“We could have won the league last year, we could have won [Airtel] Top 8 Cup, we could have won the FDH Bank Cup but it wouldn’t make the difference, I would still leave the Club. There were things behind the scenes that made life difficult and if those politics are taken out, they have every chance to be a successful team,” he added.

Bullets embarked on commercialization, Wanderers preparations this season also showed that they had embarked on commercialization, dissolving the Board, and hiring Chief Executive Officer, Panganen Ndobvi, they want to make “Mighty Mighty again.”

Similar quality of players but depth differs

The rivalry between the two heavyweights can be traced back to 1966 when a group of players who split from Mighty Wanderers formed Nyasaland Bullets, a club that rose dramatically after managing to source good sponsorship from Bata Shoe Company.

Both Bullets and Wanderers share Kamuzu Stadium as their home ground. As of today, the two teams have the same quality of players but the squad depth is different.

Heading in the old-age Derby, Kalisto Pasuwa has only featured Zimbabwean defender, Collin Mujuru in all games with 14 changes made to his starting teams. On the other hand, Ramadan seems to have quickly found his starting team with only five changes made to the first Xs with Wisdom Mpinganjira, Stanley Sanudi, Timothy Silwimba, Christopher Kumwembe, Felix Zulu, and Gaddie Chirwa starting in all the games.

The stats above summarize the squad depth that the two top coaches have. Both teams have players who love to stay on the ball, dribble, and create problems for the opposition team, players who can break lines with the ball at the highest level.

“I’m satisfied with the quality of the players that I have found here,” said Ramadan after training with the team for two weeks.

Patrick Mwaungulu’s passing ability, vision, control of the tempo, understanding of the game, and positioning in and out of possession were the features that Bullets’ midfield missed in the draw against Mighty Waka Waka Tigers.

Mighty Mukuru Wanderers relied on Mpinganjira’s quick feet, and pace in their two wins against Rookies, FOMO FC, and CRECK Sporting Club, he was also the best player for Wanderers in their draw against Kamuzu Barracks.

It’s not a hidden thing that Wanderers have struggled to replace Joseph Kamwendo and Alfred Manyozo Jr, the midfielders who retired five and one year(s) ago respectively.

To get the qualities of Manyozo who has been the Club’s main man in midfield since the 2006-7 season, the Nomads have been trying to use Balikinho Mwakanyongo and Felix Zulu, but nothing to no avail.

Whether they use a double or single pivot, Nomads’ subsequent players in that No 6 role have each produced different performances, but none comprehensive enough to be an all-rounder who can help Wanderers’ build-up phase, dictate the tempo of the match, and progress the ball up the pitch in possession, while offering the team a strong presence out of possession in terms of positioning and defensive impact. Last season, Stanley Sanudi was used as the No 6 in midfield but he couldn’t deliver Manyozo’s impact.

The arrival of Blessings Singini who scored 20 league goals for Ekwendeni Hammers, was meant to elevate Wanderers’ midfield, with the midfielder starting to gel in Ramadan’s double pivot in a 4-4-2 shape but an injury kept him away from Bangwe All Stars’ game.

In contrast, FCB Nyasa Big Bullets have options available in midfield. Their season in 2023 would have been affected by Frank Willard, and Ernest Petro’s injuries. however, the silver lining to those injuries was the playing time to Yankho Singo was shifted from a deep-lying role to a defensive midfielder with Patrick Mwaungulu shifted inside from right/left flank to Number 10 while Chawangwa Gumbo played as a box-to-box player to compensate injuries, it worked, they had a successful season sweeping all the trophies. Yankho Singo was a mobile player, skilled in tackling and passing who was sitting at the base of the midfield.

With his ability to receive the ball under pressure, carry it forward, and break the lines, Singo showed that he could fit well in that role.

However, there was room for improvement out of possession, and pigeonholing Single in that single-pivot No 6 role could expose some of his weaknesses defensively — especially if he is complemented by two midfielders who are primarily focused on progressing the ball and creating chances in the final third. The team went on to sign one of the hot midfielders in 2023, Aaron Banega Lloyd from Civil Service United knowing that Willard would need about six weeks from season kick-off for him to return.

Singini’s impressive press-resistance and ability to play in tight areas will be essential to this Wanderers side. However, it needs to be complemented with a player who can be physically imposing, defensively aware in terms of his positioning, and who offers the required intensity and impact without the ball.

The battle of the Derby could be won in midfield.

Out to change the narrative- Mwase

FCB Nyasa Big Bullets held their pre-match press briefing a day before Wanderers did but they later released it earlier than Bullets. Both Ramadan and his assistant coach, Meke Mwase have some roots in their Saturday counterpart. Ramadan had two tenures with the people’s team as a coach though his recent one ended in chaos, Mwase was a defender for the team.

The Nomads are hanging above Bullets in goal difference, they have conceded just a goal in four games, keeping three consecutive cleansheets since Richard Chipuwa returned to the sticks.

In the last seven derbies in all competitions, only the Charity Shield Cup game produced the winner in regulation time (in 2023) but six of them ended in stalemate – two cup games needed a penalty shootout to get the winner and Wanderers won in Airtel Top 8 Cup, Bullets knocked the Nomads out of Castel Cup.

Out of the last 22 league matches, Big Bullets have won seven and Wanderers have won two. The last time the derby produced the winner was in 2022 when Bullets beat Wanderers 2-1 in the opening match.

Speaking to reporters on Friday, Mwase who holds the role of speaking to the press in place of Ramadan said they are determined to change the narrative on Saturday.

Wanderers completed the Cameroonian striker, signing, Sama Thierry Tanjong as a boost ahead of the derby but Mwase says the availability of the striker on Saturday will depend on whether the Head Coach has plans to use him or not.

Lawrence Chaziya and Blessings Singini returned to the squad after recovery from injury.

We need a positive mindset for us to win- Pasuwa

Big Bullets started slowly this season but reasonably. They played a 1-all stalemate against Dedza at a venue where they are winless in seven matches, they played a barren draw against Tigers with a depleted squad as at least eight players were ruled out due to infection.

However, they recovered themselves with a convincing 3-0 win away to Chitipa United before laboring for a 2-1 win over Baka City.

Kalisto Pasuwa has one win, and one defeat in nine Blantyre Derby league matches since joining Bullets in 2018 as the Head Coach but has gotten better of the Nomads in other competitions, a notable 4-1 massacre in the Airtel Top 8 Cup, 4-0 humiliation in FDH Bank Cup.

Speaking on what the team needs to do get a positive result on Saturday, the Zimbabwean who is chasing his sixth title said he needs the players to have a positive mindset and called in supporters to come in numbers to support the players.

“Derbies are tricky as everyone wants to win. We only need to be positive. So, [it’s] the mindset that will make one win, when getting there into the pitch, to some of our boys, don’t put themselves under too much pressure because at the moment you give yourself pressure, you will end up making mistakes.

‘”I do not talk much of history and I have been changing players every year, so we can’t talk about what we did in 2022 when we don’t players that played in that season.

“We go there play, motivate our boys, and we can’t put too much pressure on them. Remember, these are league matches and we have so many matches coming,” he said.