Saleh seeks time to build a winning Luanda Villa squad

Luanda Villa coach, Leonard Saleh, has called for patience from fans to build a team that will compete with ease in the National Super League (NSL).

Speaking after Sunday’s humiliation at Mumboha Grounds when they went down 2-1 to visitors Nairobi United, Saleh said it is time to panel-beat the squad so that it can live up to the expectations.

“Everybody has seen that there is work to do for all of us. We need to do this quickly so that Luanda Villa’s quality can match the difficult task ahead,” Saleh stated, after his side lost to NSL leaders, Nairobi United at Mumboha.

Saleh, who took over Luanda Villa last Monday, believes he still needs to build a squad promising a change in their next fixture this Saturday.

“I want to use this time to correct some mistakes we committed so that we are in good shape when we face Naivas FC on Saturday,” he said.

Despite owning up to the fact that his visitors overpowered his charges, Saleh opines that the outcome of the game would be different if officiating was to the required standard.

“I usually don’t like critiquing referees but I am forced to. We were denied a penalty. The second goal was as a result of the referees’ mistake,” the former KCB tactician lamented.

Frank Ouya’s early goal in the third minute of play caught the hosts flatfooted. Luanda Villa fought back successfully with George Odiwuor levelling the scores in the 16th minute before an 84th goal from Gideon Otieno sealed the victory.

After Sunday’s match, Nairobi United went on top of the NSL log with 28 points. On the other hand, Luanda Villa maintained their seventh position with 22 points. So far, the two teams have played 15 matches.