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Alot of the blame for the Harambee Stars loss to South Africa has been shifted to the defense.
Fingers especially, have been pointed at Christopher Wekesa the Gor Mahia defender.
They say Wekesa was at fault for the first goal, as he 'played the South Africans onside' and they went through and scored.
For the second goal, well too bad for him, as he was in the wrong place at the wrong time, resulting in an own goal.
You can look at it two ways.. He was very poor or it was a really unlucky day for the big man.
Gives his all
Having watched him at Gor Mahia for a couple of seasons now, all I can say about him is that he is not the best defender on earth. At Gor, I have seen better defenders.
You can't say that he is talented too.
His pluses are that he is big and has good pace for a man his size. He can also defend well, especially in one on one situations. He rarely gets beaten by tricky wingers.
Also, as far as long and high balls are concerned, he is comfortable, also thanks to his size and weight.
But it ends there.
Central?
As far as I am concerned, Wekesa is cut out for the centre of defense. There, with his size, pace and weight, he can be a useful player. On the other hand, he is not a good full-back at all.
He has no pace to maraud up and down the pitch and is not mobile enough. He is also clumsy at times, which for a wide position is dangerous.
Added to that, his deliveries on crosses are not the best and if compared to real full-backs, for example Solomon Nasio or David Owino at Gor Mahia, he falls down the order.
One thing you can ask is why he plays at Gor.. Why so if he is not that good?
I'd pin it down to one reason... Tactics.
Placed him there
At Gor Mahia, he is not allowed to do some things.. He rarely gets in the middle of defense because there are equally big men in Ivan Anguyo and Donald Mosoti.
Zdravko Logarusic has kept him wide because he understands that Gor have players upfront who can't defend too well like Rama Salim and Dan Sserunkuma, so with Wekesa in the side, it gives the team a certain balance.
At the national team, it is different as he is expected to give them an attacking edge. They want him to supplement our attacking play all the time, they want a second winger.
Which is never going to happen with Wekesa.
Unless they are contemplating suicide, there is no way Wekesa can play full-back in such circumstances.
Use a different player
To use him well, they should give Wekesa a similar role to the one that he has at Gor Mahia, if they want to make the best out of him.
Against big opponents, he could come in handy..
Otherwise, if they want an attacking full-back, they are better off using someone else, and there are plenty out there.
