‘Pinches’ addition is spot on

One thing we all must come to terms with - at least if you are an Ingwe fan - is that the signing of Peter Opiyo will come with its own challenges.

For one, “Pinches” is not another Collins Okoth or Teddy Akumu, this is Peter Opiyo, the man who stood his own against one of the world’s best midfielders, the legendary John Obi Mikel in 2009.

This is one player who will walk into any first 11 soccer team in this part of the world. It was not therefore surprising that Pinches made his way into the first team of Ingwe when we hosted league leaders Thika United on Monday. And he did not disappoint, his killer pass to Paul Were in the fourth minute led up to the first goal.

Pinches’ vision and calmness, under pressure from the Kahatas of this world was assuring even to the most pessimistic of Ingwe’s fans. One gets the impression that in the days to come, Opiyo will form a formidable partnership with Patilla Omoto and Edwin Seda in the midfield, something our noisy neighbours in green should have every reason to worry about.

But Opiyo’s quality also comes with its own problems. For one, coach Luc Eymael was forced to push Martin Imbalambala to central defense from his traditional number six position. I’ve always argued and I will continue to insist that Mato and Mathare skipper Dennis Nzomo are, in my opinion, Kenya’s two best defensive midfielders in the country, I don’t really care what Adel Amrouche thinks.

Yet again, Mato is at home at the centre of the defense, any day. The only difference is, anybody with some average football brain should be able to see, is that whereas Pinches is in a class of his own with the ball on his feet, Mato’s biggest strength is his ability to destroy the opponent’s rhythm, a rare quality in Kenya’s football.

There is a difference between being a good playmaker and an assuring last man, Mato is both. Watching the Ingwe-Thika match, Pinches’ class was easily noticeable in midfield with his vision, precision and movement.

But the one aspect which sorely lacked was his ability to spot and arrest Thika’s forward play. Little wonder that Clifford Miheso gave Edwin Wafula a torrid time on their right flank until be was substituted in the dying minutes to our great relief.

One could not fail to discern the embarrassment all over Robert Matano’s face as he watched Pinches, the one player he so frustrated at Tusker, so dominated the game. Mato too excelled at the heart of the defense.

My point remains, with Pinches’ quality, Eymael must return Mato to his number six role and find a way of accommodating the former Tusker man in the midfield, even if it means pushing either Patilla or Seda to number 10, of course at the expense of either Allan Wanga or Noah Wafula.