0-0, 1-1, 5-0, 0-1, 1-1 and then finally 2-1. Those were the results posted by the Harambee Stars in their just concluded but failed FIFA 2022 Qatar World Cup qualifying quest. While the last two performances followed an all too familiar script that, time and again, keeps being witnessed when there is nothing to play for, the end result was unsurprisingly quite the same – Kenya were already out of contention by the time they recorded their two most impressive performances. Despite ending a 15 year continental absence upon making a comeback at the 2019 African Cup of Nations (AFCON) and sparking the faintest hopes of a corner taken in the right direction, the national team drove itself right back to the underachieving, hopeless days by once again failing to impress both in the 2022 AFCON qualifiers and the 2022 World Cup qualifiers.F.T🇰🇪 2-1🇷🇼#Tunaweza pic.twitter.com/IDPrBlFDNY— Harambee Stars (@Harambee__Stars) November 15, 2021 But what did we learn about the Harambee Stars failed quests? And is there anything that can be done about it? This edition of The Breakdown tries to seek some answers.Management ChangesInitially, it was Francis Kimanzi. Then halfway through came the returning Jacob ‘Ghost’ Mulee who only lasted for less than a year before the now out of contract Engin Firat was roped in for a two month contract.In the 2019 AFCON qualifers, Kimanzi took charge of two AFCON qualifying games with Mulee replacing him and overseeing four. The immediate former coach, who also doubles up as a radio presenter, then went ahead to take charge of two 2022 World Cup qualifying games before Firat came on board and oversaw the remaining four qualifying games.In 12 crucial games played between two years, Kenya had already made three managerial changes at Harambee Stars. The changes detrimentally coming in between the crucial games as pointed out above. Games that were supposed to be treated with caution and utmost care, but were not, as firing and hiring became the order of the day.Football Kenya Federation has unveiled Engin Firat as the new coach for the national football team, The Harambee Stars🔗 https://t.co/00YqH7wzde pic.twitter.com/HnS8TiTtzF— Football Kenya Federation (@Football_Kenya) September 19, 2021 None of the three managers oversaw an entire qualifying campaign and were only patching up what they had inherited from the previous coach. In fact, Mulee and Firat were handed their head coaching job with less than two weeks before the team was supposed to play their next matches. How were they supposed to prepare the team when Mulee had been out of top-tier coaching for nearly ten years and Firat was only taking his first job in African football?Home Advantage CrisisIn the combined six AFCON and World Cup qualifiers that the Harambee Stars played on home soil, the national side only managed to get one win that came against Rwanda in the very last of the twelve games with four ending in draws and the remaining one resulting in defeat.Normally, home advantage is considered a cheap way to the points because everything is in your favor. The weather, the food, the convenience, the stadiums and no cunning opponent has the chance to control anything you do.F.TMali 🇲🇱 5-0 🇰🇪 KenyaThree more matches with all to play for.We go again on Sunday, at home pic.twitter.com/eRr1coVwzW— Harambee Stars (@Harambee__Stars) October 7, 2021 For Kenya, that has never been the case as Harambee Stars have been too good in dishing out cheap points to travelling teams who always just come in search of a point knowing they will not offer the same service on their own territory.If better is to come, and better must come, the Harambee Stars must find a way of just winning their home games and dealing with the away matches. If you win 3/3 home games, that means you already have nine points, enough to ensure you stay in contention.Squad selection inconsistencyToday they will have Daniel Sakari, tomorrow they will have David ‘Calabar’ Owino. The day after tomorrow they will have Amos Nondi – a midfielder – and even Joash Onyango slot at the right back position.The next day they will call Anthony Wambani, Ismael Dunga, Wilkins Ochieng, Philemon Otieno and drop the ones that had been called the first time within a space of a month. What that means then is that, as a coach, you have to start the process of explaining your ideas to new players who were not there in the first squad.The Breakdown: Where is the consistency in Harambee Stars selection?Chances could be that the first bunch failed to impress but if that is the case with every squad being named then the problem might as well just be within. Worst case is these players travel from miles away only to come and warm the benches which begs the question why they were even called in the first place.Save for a few places, nobody ever knows who is going to play where or who is going to be joining the squad for a first time or rejoining the team. Over-reliance on Michael OlungaIn the six World Cup qualifying games, Kenya managed to score only four goals. Three were from Michael Olunga with the other being a penalty scored by Richard Odada.In scoring against Rwanda today, @OgadaOlunga became the joint second highest scorer for Kenya in FIFA World Cup Qualifiers with 5 goals. He is tied with Michael Okoth in that spot with Dennis ‘The Menace’ Oliech leading the way with 15 goals. Stepping.#HarambeeStars pic.twitter.com/zrdhUm5GMQ— OptaKe (@ke_opta) November 15, 2021 In a game that the Al Duhail striker has failed to score, Kenya ended up losing twice and drawing once, underlining his importance to the team. But Olunga can only do so much. He is bound to have his off days. What then if that happens?The team needs to find a way to score without needing to over rely on the former Gor Mahia man to come up with the goods. Shouldering all the goal scoring responsibilities ultimately makes him feel the burden which could adversely affect his performances. But a clear head is mostly likely to get the best out of him.In order to make our presence felt in these qualifiers, a lot still has to be done to get there. For now, all we can do is review what went went wrong and hope that just this time, we will not repeat the same mistakes. Until then, that has been The Breakdown!
