Murape eyes DeMbare rebound in Chibuku Super Cup

By Eddie Chikamhi

Dynamos assistant coach Murape Murape says the Glamour Boys are looking for a response when they open their account in the first round of the Chibuku Super Cup against How Mine at Rufaro this Sunday.

DeMbare, who were silver medallists in last year’s edition of the $500 000 tournament, are coming from a disappointing run in the Premiership in which their chances of winning the title are as good as over. Worse for them, they lost to traditional rivals Highlanders 1-2 in their last match to concede back-to-back defeats to Bosso for the first time in 10 years.

They have now fallen 12 points behind log leaders FC Platinum in the Castle Lager Premiership race.

“We want to atone for the loss that we had at Barbourfields and also for the bad run that we have had in the league this year,” said Murape.

“The Chibuku Super Cup has given us another chance, there is still something to play for and we really want to win it.

“So we are pushing the players to forget what happened on Sunday and concentrate on what’s ahead because it doesn’t make sense to dwell on the past game.

“The most important game is always the next game so that’s how we are preparing it.”

DeMbare were one of the seeded teams when the draw was conducted this month.

Last year they went all the way to the final and lost 2-1 to Harare City.

The former midfielder also hinted there could be changes to the team that started the last game in their efforts to rediscover the winning formula.

Dynamos and How Mine were involved in goalless affairs this year when they met in the league.

Morale in their camp this week was rock bottom because of the defeat at Highlanders.

Murape believes they still have to work on some basics to improve their game.

“It really hurt a lot. It was like a stab in the heart, the way we lost it. You could see that we had the game under control and with about 15 minutes to go we made some silly mistakes.

“Maybe those are some of the things that have cost us this year, the level of discipline within the players. It’s tactical discipline that we are talking about, how we should apply ourselves as a team.

“If we don’t have that discipline of knowing safe areas when you are at the back, maybe you are supposed to play it safe so that the team can regroup.

“Even in our forward lines we got some chances that we could have buried if some of the players were not selfish. Also that is tactical discipline because that is how we train.

“We encourage our players even during our team talks to play as a team and not to go for individual glory, but for team glory because the team comes first. That’s an area that we have been trying to work on ever since we took over the reins.

“All over the world, for example in Europe, you would see the likes of Guardiola or Mourinho axing big name players not because they are not good, but because of the tactical discipline of how they want to see the team play.

“I think that’s the most important thing in any football team for you to be champions. For you to reach high heights you need to have a team that has players that listen to the call and work together as a team,” said Murape. The Herald