VIDEO: McKinstry promises attacking football

Newly appointed Amavubi head coach Johnny McKinstry has promised to turn the national side into an ‘attacking’ side that dominates possession for most parts of the game.

Tuesday, March 24, 2015
New Amavubi coach Johnny McKinstry looks on as Ferwafa boss Degaule Nzamwita addresses journalists yesterday. (Faustin Niyigena)

Newly appointed Amavubi head coach Johnny McKinstry has promised to turn the national side into an ‘attacking’ side that dominates possession for most parts of the game.

VIDEO: New Amavubi Coach Plans, Expectations, Experience and Motivation to come to Rwanda. Source; The New Times/YouTube

Speaking at his unveiling news conference, yesterday, at the Ferwafa headquarters in Remera, McKinstry said, "Football is an entertainment sport. People who go to watch football are no different from people who go to the cinema to watch a movie or to the theatre to watch a play, it is about enjoyment.”

"I grew up watching great attacking football and goals being scored. For me I want to play football that the players enjoy to play but also make the supporters get up on their feet because they are excited. That’s where we want to take the team,” he said.

The 29-year-old Irishman is quick to admit that this will not be a walk in the park. He continues to explain that, "Now that is not easy. Some people will come here and say that we want to play direct football and we want to grind out 1-0s and sometimes that is needed. Sometimes you need to play a certain way to get the result you need but in the long run, we want to create an attacking style of football where the Amavubi are the team with the possession of the ball for most of the game. Does that happen overnight? No it does not.”

McKinstry has less than a week to demonstrate his philosophy ahead of the international friendly game against Zambia on March 29 in Lusaka.

It is the enthusiasm with which he presided over his first training session with the Amavubi players yesterday morning, less than 24 hours after his arrival in Rwanda that has already thrown light on what could be lying ahead. Time will tell but, first things first, all eyes are on the weekend result.

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