The Serbian has stated he needs time to make Timu ya Wananchi better for the season
Young Africans (Yanga) SC head coach Zlatko Krmpotic has explained why his players will take time to achieve top fitness.
Carlinhos, Tuisila Kisinda, Yacouba Songne, Michael Sarpong and Mukoko Tonombe are the new players Wananchi brought on board for the new campaign.
“Carlinhos is a good player and I know that; however he has been out for three, four months,” Krmpotic told reporters.
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“I have to prepare him well to ensure he gives the club the best. It will not be good to rush him. Same with [Yacouba] Songne who, [prior to signing for Yanga], had not played football for about five months or more.
“We also have Sarpong who joined the team a week to the new season; these players will need time but once they get their fitness, Yanga will be on another level.”
The 27-time champions collected their first win in the new season on Sunday with a 1-0 win against Mbeya City after substitute Carlinho’s picked out Lamine Moro with his corner kick in the 86th minute.
“It was a good fight and I congratulate the team for pushing to the last minute,” the Serbian continued.
“We needed patience to score a goal like that especially in the closing stages of the game.
“Playing against [Mbeya City] was not easy because they were tactically good. However, the most important thing is that we won and got the three points that we needed.
“We are still in transition; about 17 players are new. It is a process and we are building a strong team.”
The Jangwani Street-based side have now managed to get four points from their initial two league matches. They started their campaign with a 1-1 draw against Tanzania Prisons.
It was the administrative side who started the game well, and they were rewarded in the seventh minute.
Yanga failed to clear their lines and the ball fell kindly to Lambert Sabiyanka, who had enough space to set himself up before unleashing a good shot that beat Farouk Shikhalo in the Yanga goal.
In the 20th minute, Prisons defenders failed to clear a cross from the left, and the loose ball fell to new signing Michael Sarpong, whose first-time shot was too much for the custodian to deal with.
Yanga will play Kagera Sugar this weekend at Kaitaba Stadium before tackling Mtibwa Sugar at Jamhuri Stadium in Morogoro.
