Harambee Stars' back-to-back Afcon dream is achievable – AFC Leopards’ Juma

AFC Leopards Football Operations Manager Tom Juma is confident Kenya can qualify for the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) 2022 edition.

Juma, who featured in the 2004 tournament, believes Jacob ‘Ghost’ Mulee has got a strong squad that is capable of earning back-to-back qualifications.

“Mulee has got a strong squad that is going to perform, I have no doubt about that at all,” Juma told Goal.

“We have foreign-based stars and the local ones too and some are very young; a team that has not been built yesterday but one that has undergone a restructuring process for quite some time.

“The majority were in Afcon, some are good leaders, many have the right character of players and those are the most important things.

“The main objective is to qualify for Afcon again and if we manage that the team is going to get better and better.”

The retired midfielder also spoke about the approach the coach should take as he interacts with the players chasing their Afcon dreams.

“One must be a disciplinarian and an interactive character at the same time because this is work and it must be done in a way you deem fit,” he added.

“You cannot freely interact with the players and forget to enforce boundaries. Once respect is established, everything falls into its place but free interaction with the players cannot be underrated again.”

Juma stated it would be difficult to know what kind of playing style Mulee would implement after he was re-appointed, having spent more than a decade away from the touchline.

“For now, it would be difficult to point out what kind of plan and playstyle he is going to adopt,” he explained.

“One, he has been out for a very long time. Two, I do not know whether he is going to use the same formula he used before. But again one cannot totally change from what he used to be. What I know is that he is a good coach.

“In football, one cannot stick and say for example that my style is solely attacking football or defensive football. Both phases are integral and implemented interchangeably.

“There is no way one is going to play attacking football alone because such style begins with a good defensive style.

“You have to defend with all you have got and attack with all you have got. That is what I know about football. If you defend well you are not going to lose.”

Kenya will face Comoros twice in November as they look for a maiden win in Group H.