"They did not follow instructions" AFC Leopards coach blasts players for poor show against Murang'a Seal

AFC Leopards head coach Fred Ambani says his side did not look like their usual self during their dour, barren draw against Murang’a Seal at Nyayo Stadium on Sunday, 17 November.

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Ambani thought the team’s approach of handing over possession and initiative to their lowly visitors, harmed their chances of squeezing out a desired result.

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Ingwe struggled to create anything meaningful all game, with their only real go at goal being a close-range shot by James Kinyanjui, which was ironically blocked from threatening the visitors by teammate Kelly Madada.

Seal, on the other hand, bossed proceedings, and were unlucky not to come out with a win, having carved out big chances to score.

In the first half, Paul Osama lifted his ball over Humphrey Katasi wide, while Lewis Wanjala and substitute John Kiplangat were denied by the busy Leopards keeper in the second half to see out the stalemate.

“First of all, we gave the opponent so much time to have the ball, and it is not ideal when you are always chasing,” Ambani said, when asked where things went wrong for his tame Leopards.

“We did not play the ball we are accustomed to, and nothing clicked today apart from the defense, which kept a clean sheet.”

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Queried on the reason for his side being non-existent in attack, Ambani pointed towards a late injury to striker Elias Mugane, which disrupted the team’s plans going into the match.

“We really struggled because we got a last-minute injury that cost us,” he said, referring to Mugane’s knee injury during Saturday’s team training, which effectively ruled him out of the game.

“Tactically, we had prepared all week with him [Mugane], but we had to make do with a makeshift, which hurt us a little bit.”

In Mugane’s absence, Ambani went with Ugandan striker Samuel Sseyonjo to lead the attack, but he, like all forwards - including some from the bench - failed to engineer any opportunities.

Almost blaming them for their struggles, Ambani said: “The instructions I gave them, they did not follow. We will need to keep the ball and work on our transitions in the next match because it was our big undoing today.”

Leopards' next play Kariobangi Sharks on Sunday, 23 November.