Sports Analyst Parry Chinyama says FAM should fire Flames technical panel

Sports analyst Parry Chinyama has called on the Football Association of Malawi (FAM) to dismiss the Malawi National Football Team’s technical panel, led by head coach Kalisto Pasuwa, citing their perceived inadequacy for the national team level.

Pasuwa was appointed to succeed Patrick Mabedi, who was relieved of his duties following the Flames’ “shambolic performance” in World Cup Qualifiers and Africa Cup of Nations campaigns.

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The former FCB Nyasa Big Bullets and Dynamos Head Coach signed a two-year contract with FAM, tasked with guiding the team to the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations. However, the Flames have since lost three of their last four matches, failing to score in any of those games.

Speaking on the “Sports Axis” program on Zodiak TV, Chinyama asserted that Pasuwa and his team are simply “not good enough” for the national team.

“If I were the one who employed them, I would have fired them right away when they arrived from COSAFA. They have failed,” Chinyama stated emphatically. “I was expecting Flames to win the COSAFA Cup; we should not have gone for experimentation. Had it been that we were after experimenting players, then we could have taken U-17 players to represent us at the tournament.”

Chinyama questioned the selection of experienced players for the COSAFA Cup, suggesting it contradicted a notion of experimentation. “Tell me [from the squad that he took] who doesn’t play regularly? Wisdom [Mpinganjira] plays every game, why did we take him? George Chikooka should not have made the trip; they are just trying to give us an excuse.”

While Kalisto Pasuwa’s recent tenure began with a draw against Burundi, followed by a 3-0 hammering of Burkina Faso at home, and a 4-0 aggregate win against Comoros in the Africa Nations Championship Playoffs, Chinyama remains unconvinced. The Flames also secured a home victory against South Africa but were ultimately knocked out of the tournament with a 2-0 away loss.

“You can’t say that this is a good coach after beating Mauritius,” Chinyama continued. “They deceived us with that fluke win against Burkina Faso; it is a game that cheated us to say, ‘I think these are the coaches.’ For me, at National Team level, Kalisto Pasuwa is not a good coach. At club level, yes, they are good. Coaches have their standards.”

Pasuwa defends strategy, emphasizes long-Term vision

In response to the criticism, Kalisto Pasuwa has maintained that he is building a team with the 2027 AFCON qualification as the primary target and expressed satisfaction with the team’s performance at the recent tournament.

“As coaches, we are very professional enough; we were trying to build a team as you know that we are building a team that will qualify for AFCON 2027,” Pasuwa explained when addressing the media. He acknowledged the necessity of patience in team building, highlighting a focus on youth development. “When building a team there is a time where you go maybe through this where you want to see each and every player playing in the National Team.”

Pasuwa further elaborated on the age factor in team selection: “One area which we should have to know at a time when you are building a team, you also look at age. Yes, we know that outside there you need instant results, and think that if we take experienced players we can get results. But we should take into our minds that we need youngsters who can be the next future players of our national team.”

He reflected on the positive aspects of the CHAN squad and areas needing improvement. “I think that most of them, we had in the CHAN squad, they played well, very positive in terms of how they were playing, out of possession and on possession, playing structured football where mostly, if you saw in our last games which we have been playing, we end up conceding.

“Unfortunately, I wasn’t around, we are now that we could meet and explain the squad. Yes, we took these players like Emmanuel who replaced Alick and we had other guys like Blessings Mpokera.

“We decided to leave some of the guys whom we think could be part of the squad playing in AFCON because we know that they could be one of those players who we are supposed to be using.”

Looking ahead, Pasuwa stressed the ongoing preparations for the 2027 AFCON qualifiers, including integrating Malawian players based in Europe.

“I think, that’s the time to prepare for 2027 AFCON Qualifiers. We are still in the process of preparing for us to be ready. We are also planning to have these players who are playing in Europe for us to be ready.

“The professionals who are playing outside, they can bring another flair that can make the players that I have to have confidence to see how football is being played outside,” he concluded.

Pasuwa’s previous National Team successes

Contrary to Chinyama’s claims that Pasuwa is only adept at club level, his coaching career with national teams, both the Under-23 and senior sides, has a history of impressive results.

Despite challenging circumstances, including poor training facilities and planning from ZIFA (Zimbabwe Football Association), Pasuwa achieved significant successes.

In an AFCON 2017 qualifier against the Flames of Malawi, his team, having traveled by bus and trained for only a day, famously upset Malawi 2-1 on their home turf. He followed this triumph with another victory against the Comoros Islands at Rufaro Stadium in a CHAN qualifier.

Pasuwa’s appointment as senior national team coach came after he had successfully guided the Zimbabwe Under-23 side to qualify for the All Africa Games, notably dispatching continental powerhouses like Cameroon along the way.