The Sunday Mail
Lovemore Moyo
TO improve your scoring numbers with every season is the dream of any forward in any league anywhere in the world, especially when attached to a club that is considered relatively lightweight and modest in the order of both ambitions and achievements.
Zimbabwean international forward Knox Mutizwa has just about done that through his time at Lamontville Golden Arrows after initially arriving on loan at the beginning of 2017 following a difficult six months at BidVest Wits, where he was only deemed good enough to play reserve football.
Five goals in his first four months at the club in the last half of the 2016/17 season, seven in his first full season and then 11 last term makes for encouraging numbers.
Factor in that he already had eight by mid-December it was written in the stars that he would better his total of 1 1 from the previous year.
But Mutizwa has a concoction of goals and misses in him.
“Considering that we have so many good strikers in the PSL it is encouraging to see my name up there.”He has the opportunistic instincts when the situation demands, can poach and be a sniper, and yet he can also be occasionally wasteful.
“It is true that the first point of call for a striker should be on improving your numbers every season.
“That is how I also see it myself because that is what I always remind myself about. I have implanted those numbers in my mind so I must go all the way this season.
“Having been on eight after 13 games I have no excuse why I should not improve on my numbers from last season this year. If I can score another 12 goals, I would have almost doubled my figures. That way I will know that I worked upwards,” notes Mutizwa.
If his wish is granted with another dozen goals, the 26-year-old will be a safe bet for the top goalscorer award come the end of May, though he insists he will gain more satisfaction from the team achieving its targets.
“My wish is to see the club getting to the final of the Nedbank Cup because the team matters more to me than whatever I am wishing for as an individual.
“I obviously want my name up there with the top scorers as well by then but that should come with the team having done well.
“Every time I look at that list of top scorers and I see the name Knox on it, it pushes me to have the urge to try even harder to go all the way. Considering that we have so many good strikers in the PSL it is encouraging to see my name up there in the leading pack, which means I must push even harder.
“As a striker the first target is always to at least reach double figures, which is 10 goals, and then take it from there depending on your determination and mentality,” he says.
Mutizwa has been quick off the blocks and held the torch in front, scoring eight of the 14 goals that Arrows had managed after 14 games.
This has tempted Steve Komphela to give giving him more minutes on the field, which should be normal for any coach with a striker who has more than half the club’s goals to his name.
Naturally, this raises the questions what has pumped up this encouraging start for the bearded forward wearing the number 18 jersey.
“If truth be told this started from the second half of last season” he points out.
He scored nine in the second half of last season.
“So, I have basically continued from the second half of last season pushing the same way that I did then. Since Arrows is viewed as a small team in the PSL we take it upon ourselves to work together as a team and be always giving 100% with every match that we play.
“In our team our motto is giving your all, be it a goalkeeper, defender or striker. That is what is really helping us. Ultimately, I believe it is a team effort because we are all pushing towards the same objectives.
“For me as a striker I score the goals because I play closer to where the opposition goal is, but then at the same time it is all still teamwork. The team is important to me,’’ he says, highlighting the collective cause instead of individual glory.
“Look, as a striker you always want to score so whenever you go into a new match you always have hopes of scoring. So, scoring goals is what defines your happiness as a striker, and I am no different. What gives me joy with scoring is that it is all for the benefit of the team”.
Yet for all the goals that he scores, he also misses an equal number of chances – some of them glaring.
For all the joy that he can bring in crucial moments of the game, he can be frustrating as well when he fails to finish off simpler chances than the ones he converts.
This is probably the reason why Komphela has spoken about the need for him to get more serious about his game and Mutizwa has taken note by reviewing his matches in detail.
“I do agree that I miss chances that I should be putting away. There are many games where I should have scored but I rushed my shot, or I make it easier for the keeper to save.
“So, by doing my own reviews I will be learning. The kind of learning that informs me that next time when I am in this position in the box I must not rush because if a defender tries to tackle me then it is a penalty. I take my lessons from there all the time.
“Being at home watching my games makes me see another way of doing things better in the box by improving my technique or not being in a hurry.”
Mutizwa is profound about the subject of finishing with words such as rushing, consistency and composure constantly flowing out his mouth when conversing in his home tongue, isiNdebele.
“l think we need to fix the issue of rushing when we are in the box. If you look at overseas strikers, they take only three touches to set themselves up nicely then place it into the net. With us, we rush and end up wanting to finish before we have the ball where we want it to be and that way, we end up kicking the ball the wrong way. We make things difficult for ourselves in that way. Our challenge is that we skip some crucial development stages through the years, unlike the guys in Europe.
“We should have been working on finishing from a young age, but we didn’t, which is why at times there are such blatant issues with our finishing,” he explains.
Mutizwa has employed the traditional means of putting in extra work to improve his game. With the availability of just about anything on the internet, he has also made use of technology as part of his bid to make himself a polished finisher.
“At times after training I stay behind with Devine (Lunga), who is a left back, and then he crosses as many balls as possible while I finish against a goalkeeper from the MDC team who we usually ask to assist us.
“At times I even do this before training. Even when I am at home, I make use of the internet to watch strikers finishing in games or at training because there is just about everything available online.
“I have seen Harry Kane also explaining in some videos how to go about finishing from different angles I believe that as a striker you must do all of this because when you have the ball in a situation that you saw online you will always think about that option and use it.
“Your conversion success rate increases when you watch how strikers in the top leagues do it.
Still, though he has been rolling on an impressive average of a goal every second appearance, he knows that his return can be better.
It is a foregone conclusion that if he continues scoring goals, the bright lights in Gauteng will be flashing in his face with the big clubs dangling carrots.
His move to Wits in 2016 came after he banged 14 goals in 17 games for his hometown club Highlanders.
“It is true that goals talk for you but for now I have a contract with Arrows. If my goals keep talking on my behalf it will be nice because numbers count as a striker,” he said.
For now – as he continues to live part of his dream in the ABSA Premiership – Mutizwa is also keen build his international profile.
Mutizwa has been a feature in the Warriors squad but usually must settle with a place on the bench, queuing behind Khama Billiat, Knowledge Musona, Tino Kadewere and Evans Rusike.
“l think I am at a stage that I was dreaming of but then as a football player you keep dreaming more as things happen. For now, I will continue taking my career one step at a time because I believe that if you work hard you get everything that you want. “With the national team I think I have made considerable progress taking into account the kind of big strikers that we have in Zimbabwe. I think I am beginning to be where I want to be and will keep on pushing hard enough to eventually get there,” he says. — Kick-off
