Marvelous Nakamba Has Been Unfairly Targeted By Some Fans
Some section of Zimbabwe fans have been targeting Marvelous Nakamba unfairly who is going through a hard patch right now.
Nakamba was on blistering form last season but his fine form was cut-shot by a serious knee injury he suffered in Villa’s 0-1 loss to Liverpool on December 11, 2021.
The arrival of French international midfielder Boubacar Kamara did not make things better for Nakamba who still needed time to regain his mental fitness after a horrible knee injury.
Returning to full performance after suffering an injury that has required a long recovery period may not be as easy as we would expect.
A lack of confidence and motivation would take a player away from a good recovery for a time even longer than the one the own injury requires.
Certain psychological responses can complicate the healing process.
Psychological responses following injury may include negative emotions, mood disturbances, fear of re-injury, failure-based depression, devastation, reduced confidence, and restlessness. These psychological responses can impact an athlete’s mental health and recovery.
Nakamba’s injury was severe- his worst so far in his career and psychological responses were expected.
He might have recovered physically but he still needs time to work to get back to his confidence levels he enjoyed during the time he got injured.
This usually comes with a gradual integration back to the first eleven by slowly getting competitive game time, which unfortunately was not happening in Nakamba’s situation.
Hence the French midfielder took advantage of the opportunity to nail a starting berth ahead of the Zimbabwean.
However, football as unpredictable game as it is- you never know what tommorow holds for you. At the moment Kamara who has been reliable and outstanding for Gerrard also recently suffered a knee injury and this could see Steve Gerrard whose style of play is built around the number six, turning back to the Zimbabwean’services, in a much more case scenario of the biblical old adage ‘the stone that the builders rejected becoming a cornerstone’.
His fall from Steve Gerrard’s match-day squad though have had many interpreting the situation in a wrong and vicious manner.
Renowned journalist Stanley Gama in the past weeks claimed Nakamba’s loss of form started when he met ‘a certain’ Munyaradzi Taderera and appointed him manager.
The same source further claimed that Aston Villa coach Steven Gerrard is no longer trusting Nakamba to start ever since he recruited Munya Taderera as his manager.
Well, for the record, Munyaradzi Joseph Taderera did not became Nakamba’s manager as recently as Mr. Gama’s post suggested, the two have been working together since 2019. Actually Taderera is the guy who is believed to have facilitated Nakamba’s move to Aston Villa from Club Brugge.
In 2021, Nakamba was Steven Gerrard’s top performer during the manager’s first five matches at Villa Park before suffering a knee injury and by that time, Taderera was already his manager.
I am not saying Taderera is a good manager, but to put the blame on him for Nakamba’s loss of form is just absurd, pretty naive and far-fetched.
There’s a shona proverb that says: ‘Pafa munhu hapashayikwe muroyi’- directly translated in English to – (when a person dies, there is no lack of a witch.)
It is human nature to find a reason for something which went wrong or not right and Nakamba’s loss of form did not fall short of this either.
Some have laid the blame for the loss of form squarely on his one time visit to the state house few months ago, claiming that his meeting with President Emerson Mnangagwa brought this bad omen for him.
And to validate their assumptions these fans have even taken Tinotenda Kadewere’s matter as a case study who was going through a rough patch before injuring himself in training ahead of his laliga debut with RCD Mallorca- in a series of unfortunate events, after having also visited the ‘ZimOne’ offices.
Okay, before I comment on this one, I feel I must borrow some Peter Tosh line here to clear things up and let you know “I am not a politician – neither am I green nor yellow- but I suffer the consequences, seen.”
I don’t stand for anything that divides people, my allegiance is to unity – that’s why I love football.
Having getting that out of the way, let me begin by saying not all state visits are about politics.
There’s a thin line to be walked between politicians and superstars who wish to do good for their country.
Besides, courtesy calls to the president of the country are a common thing among popular stars and does not necessarily mean it’s about politics.
Nakamba is doing a lot of development in the country. He has launched a foundation to help the need and is also running a juniors tournament every year and has recently announced the introduction of a girls under-16 tournament.
To spite him, only reflects the problems we have inside of ourselves, because we can only see things within others that we see within ourselves.
As an ordinary citizen like you, I understand the frustration that’s brought by politics and economic hardships, i feel the anger, but that does not mean we have to stoop so low and let our emotions dectate who we should interact with. If we do that, I believe we are missing out a great deal of life experiences and ultimately spiritual growth.
Hating somebody because they have a different opinion is just wrong in my understanding.
I know that I don’t divide myself from others based on the color of their skin, religion, or sexual orientation. I have always known that is not a healthy lifestyle.
Modern political parties thrive on dividing people for power and profit. By encouraging us to view our friends and family as enemies based on political views, the parties become stronger.
I do not give them that power.
As a nation, I think we need to get past all the propaganda, the lies and the spin, and focus on what is real.
We must teach ourselves and children to be open minded and ask questions and not accept division and bondage. Embrace the spiritual awakening and everything will fall in place.
We came to this earth to return to the remembrance that we are ONE. Everyone we meet has come into our path to help us to remember this.
We come to understand ourselves best through our relationships with other people. We mirror each other’s lives.
Sometimes seeing what we don’t like in others helps us look deeper inside ourselves for similar traits and challenges that need healing, balancing, or changing in ourselves.
All what Nakamba needs right now is love, support and encouragement to overcome this hurdle he is facing. You will be surprised how much he is still capable of with the little support we give.
So be kind and spread love over hate. Unity is Strength.
RasLex 👊🏾
