Football
Exclusive: Tomas Trucha Not Getting Carried Away with Title Talks Despite Positive Start
AFC Leopards head coach Tomas Trucha remains cautious about title aspirations despite a strong start in the FKF Premier League. He believes more games are needed to gauge the team's potential
Image Credits: Pulse Sports Kenya
AFC Leopards head coach Tomas Trucha is not getting carried away with prospects of winning the elusive FKF Premier League title despite the team’s positive start to the current 2024/25 campaign.
Unlike the previous season when they went for seven matches without a win, Ingwe have so far played four matches in the top-flight, winning three and losing one to stay third on the 18-team league table with nine points, one less table leaders KCB and second-placed Kariobangi Sharks.
AFC Leopards started off the season with a 4-0 thrashing of promoted outfit Mathare United. During the fixture, Ingwe looked hungry for a good start, and they took the lead with only five minutes played courtesy of Rwandan import Arthur Gitego.
Ingwe doubled their lead in the 11th minute when Brian Munyendo finished off a cross from Gitego for a 2-0 lead at the half-time break. On resumption, goals from Victor Omune and Sydney Lokale in the 72nd and 79th minutes respectively sealed the emphatic opening win.
Their second match saw them suffer a 1-0 defeat against Posta Rangers despite dominating most parts of the game, but they recovered to Bidco United 1-0 on matchday three. On matchday four they continued with their fine start with a 2-1 win against Nairobi City Stars at Dandora Stadium.
Goals from Victor Otieno and Gitego enabled them to carry the day against the Simba wa Nairobi.
Not the Right Time to Discuss About the Title
According to the Czech tactician, Ingwe’s fine start does not mean they start thinking of winning the title.
“Give us another two games to see what happens first, if the team continues to perform then let us talk about our title chase after the six games, we have just started, it is a positive start, a start I would have liked but we cannot talk now about the title, maybe after six games then we will see,” Trucha told SportsBoom.com.
“We will next face Murang’a SEAL and to be honest after the first six games of the season, it will tell you something about the team, let us see where we will be by then, there is another FIFA international beak in November, let us wait and see where we will be in another FIFA window break.”
Trucha further promised to keep improving the team saying in their last fixture against City Stars, they committed a lot of mistakes that must be rectified for subsquent assignments
We want to keep improving, so we are not there yet. We must work on our mistakes and make them minimal. All the mistakes from the City Stars game will be worked on, we will strive to improve and keep taking it a game at a time.
Tomas Trucha
In August, Ingwe chairman Dan Shikanda said the time for the club to end their almost decade wait to win the FKF Premier League title is now, and it will happen in the current season.
“The new season will belong to AFC Leopards, we will win the league, we want to make it clear, and this message must reach out to our rivals including Gor Mahia, mark this day in your calendar, and it is good to say it so that teams in the league be aware of our intentions,” Shikanda told SportsBoom.com.
We have waited a long time for the title but our time is now, we will end the drought in the new season. "Of course, it will not be easy, I can predict at least six teams fighting for the title but at the end of the day, AFC Leopards will come up tops, we will be crowned champions. We will be the last team standing, it will be our season.”
Shikanda added: “You can go ask my coach Tomas (Trucha), he is here and will tell you the same thing, it is not going to be business as usual, we will fight for the title, we will do everything to win it for the fans, we all know it has been a long wait and time to deliver the success is now, I don’t see anything that will stand on our way.”
Ingwe’s last league success came in 1998 while their last trophy triumph – the domestic Cup – was realised in 2017 after securing a 2-0 victory against Kariobangi Sharks in the final.
Last season, they concluded the campaign trophyless with rivals Gor Mahia bagging a record 21st league title while Kenya Police won the domestic Mozzart Bet FKF Cup. AFC finished the season in position fifth of the 18 team table, with 51 points, a whooping 22 points behind K’Ogalo.
After playing Murang’a Seal, Ingwe will take on promoted Mara Sugar, Ulinzi Stars and then face off with rivals Gor Mahia in the Mashemeji derby on November 24.
Dennis is a seasoned journalist in Kenya with over 18 years of experience. Having started his career at Kenya Times Newspaper, Dennis worked for Standard Newspaper for nearly six years as a Sports Writer. At Standard, he was privileged to cover Kenya's national team Harambee Stars outside the country, the biggest of all being the Four Nations tournament in Cairo, Egypt. He also covered the U17 team in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.