‘CHICKEN’S’ TACTICAL DEFLECTION
…George Lwandamina’s team defending theory masks deeper FAZ crisis
By DAVID KANDUZA
THE sterile press room at the Levy Mwanawasa Stadium yesterday, September 28, 2026, felt thick with a tension that football tactics alone could not resolve.
On the podium sat interim head coach ‘Chicken’ George Lwandamina, flanked by his newly minted captain, Saudi Arabia-based forward Fashion Sakala.
Fresh off a punishing 3-1 defeat to Algeria in their opening 2027 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifier, the duo attempted to project a unified, defiant front ahead of today’s must-win fixture against Togo.
Instead, the press briefing descended into what many local analysts view as classic damage control, an intricate piece of tactical misdirection designed to insulate the Football Association of Zambia (FAZ) from escalating administrative scrutiny.
When pressed on the defensive frailties that allowed Algeria to comfortably slice through Zambia’s lines, Lwandamina pivoted to a philosophical worldview of the sport.
“The defensive system does not remove everyone on the pitch,” Lwandamina argued, deflecting specific criticism from his backline.
“Everyone becomes a defender when you do not have the ball. I know you are driving into condemning the defensive line. That is not the only defence you have—it is everyone.”
To the casual observer, it sounds like modern total football. To seasoned followers of the Chipolopolo, it sounded like a baffling contradiction.
Football teams are built on highly specialised departments where every individual understands their rigid spatial and structural responsibilities.
To suggest that a collective defensive cohesion can be conjured out of thin air before a crucial match implies that these seasoned professionals do not already know how to transition.
Sitting beside him, Fashion Sakala boomed with a confidence that felt slightly detached from the current reality, reminding the Press of a senior international tenure alongside veterans like Patson Daka.
With seasoned figures like goalkeeper Lawrence Mulenga, Dominic Chanda and Lameck Banda in the fold, this is far from an uneducated roster.
These are players who understand the core tenets of international football.
Lwandamina’s assertion that “defending as a team is not a one-day thing” raises a deeper question: If a core group of these players has been together for years, what exactly have they been practicing?
The uncomfortable truth that Lwandamina cannot publicly voice is that Zambia has been stuck in a perpetual state of ‘rebuilding’ since failing to defend their historic 2012 AFCON crown in 2013.
For over a decade, structural cracks have been papered over by changing coaches and shifting tactical philosophies.
Behind the scenes, FAZ remains plagued by severe administrative struggles, both on and off the pitch.
The systemic lack of planning, unstable technical benches and institutional chaos have deeply tarnished the identity of the Zambian game.
Rather than addressing these deep-seated failures, the public is treated to abstract lectures on “team defending.”
Many sections of the football fraternity believe it is time for legal and administrative heavyweights within the football structures, such as FAZ president Keith Mweemba, to finally step out into the open and comprehensively sweep out the administrative dirt that continues to hold back the beautiful game in Zambia.
Today at 18:00 CAT, the talking stops. The Chipolopolo takes the field at the Levy Mwanawasa Stadium looking for their first points in Group I.
Fashion Sakala has boldly guaranteed a victory, stating there is “no doubt about it.”
But if the Hawks of Togo expose the same structural flaws witnessed in Algiers, Lwandamina’s defensive theories will collapse under the weight of reality and the spotlight will shift exactly where FAZ fears it most: directly onto the administration.