FUFA President Moses Magogo has said that Uganda Cranes Coach Milutin Micho Sredojevic cannot be solely held accountable for the team’s current struggles despite his shortcomings.
Magogo was responding to the recent wave of criticism aimed at Micho who returned to the helm of Uganda Cranes in 2021 for a three-year deal.
The criticism stems from the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations qualifying campaign where Uganda Cranes’ hopes of qualifying for the continental showpiece took a severe blow following a defeat against Algeria last week.
This marked the team’s third loss in five games, with only three goals, scored and six conceded.
Consequently, the Cranes sit third in Group F with four points, behind Tanzania with seven points and group leaders Algeria, who have already secured qualification with 15 points.
But several fans together with former Cranes players have attributed the team’s under-performance to Micho, primarily criticizing his defensive-oriented style of play, which they perceive as outdated and inconsistent.
Speaking through a Twitter space engagement, Magogo said that while he acknowledges that Micho has his shortcomings, he is not solely responsible for the under-performance of the team considering that he operates within a system where he does not have control over the players’ development from school to club levels.
He added that other significant challenges have been overlooked, like hosting home games away from home, which to him is a technical disadvantage that makes Uganda Cranes vulnerable to its opponents.
He explains that even a change in coach would not guarantee an improvement in the team’s chances of qualifying, especially with only one game remaining.
Magogo also refuted allegations of interference in the selection of national team players saying that the coach has full autonomy in choosing the players he wishes to summon to the cranes camp and the Federation only comes to facilitate the transportation of selected players.
In comparison to former Cranes Coach Sebastien Desabre, who won over Ugandan football fans with his attacking style of play during his tenure from 2017 to 2019, Magogo said that while he agrees that Desabre was a good coach, people should consider that Desabre inherited an already established team, which greatly contributed to his success.
Micho, who previously led Uganda Cranes to the 2017 AFCON after a nearly four-decade absence from the continental championship, was brought back in 2021 to rectify the team’s previous shortcomings.
This decision was made by the Ugandan Football Association after parting ways with Jonathan McKinstry.
Unfortunately, his return is yet to yield the desired results and Uganda Cranes have struggled to make a significant impact in the ongoing AFCON qualification tournament.
With only one game left in the ongoing AFCON qualification campaign, Uganda will have to defeat Niger with a slightly more substantial goal margin as they also hope that Algeria defeats Tanzania by an even larger goal margin.
Group F Standings
Algeria – 15 points (Qualified)
Tanzania – 7 points
Uganda – 4 points
Niger – 2 points (eliminated)