Football “espionage” yields results: How Willard Katsande outscouted Masvingo United

In the modern game, matches are not just won on the pitch. They are won in the stands, on laptops, and in the hours spent studying every corner, every set piece, every habit.

Grand Legacy FC gaffer Willard Katsande proved that on Saturday, after his side edged Masvingo United 1-0 in a Pacific Storm Eastern Region Soccer League Week 19 clash in Murehwa at St Paul’s Musami Stadium.

The winner came late, a thumping header from a set piece. And it was no accident.

“I am a guy who’s very analytic in everything I do. I pay attention to every detail when it comes to football because that is where the passion is,” Katsande told Fanzone in his post-match assessment.

“Masvingo is a very strong team, I watched their game at Mucheke a few weeks ago and I knew what kind of a team they were. Modern day coaching requires a coach to have an analytical mind.”

The former Kaizer Chiefs captain went to work like a scout. He watched Masvingo against Yadah. He watched them against Green Fuel.

“The minute I went there and watched them… you could see that they struggled against set pieces. I also noticed that they conceded a lot of set pieces inside their half, the goal they conceded against Yadah was a set piece.”

That intelligence became Grand Legacy’s blueprint.
“So this information was valuable for us and it was not by accident that we got our goal via a set piece, as you know set pieces are deciding matches in the modern game because when the game becomes too close it can be unlocked by a set piece.”

When Makatuka nodded in that corner late in the second half, Katsande smiled. The trap had worked.

“We knew as the technical team that we were going to get the goal because we had been studying the game and working towards getting the goals.”

This was not the first time Katsande had lived by data. Before he became a coach, he was the steel of the Kaizer Chiefs midfield.

At South African giants Amakhosi, he earned the nickname “Salt and Vinegar” for his hardman presence.

His Soweto Derby battles with Oupa Manyisa and Happy Jele became legendary. Tackles, physical contests, mind games. He even captained the Zimbabwe Warriors during that ill-fated 2017 AFCON campaign.

But even then, the midfield general was already a student of the game.

“During my playing days at Kaizer Chiefs and at the national team, profiling was very common, I used it a lot,” he revealed.

“You needed to know the behaviour of a certain player. What he does when he has the ball, what he does when he did not have the ball, all of that information, what are his strengths, his weaknesses.”

He gives an example from the derby: “Pirates had Oupa Manyisa, Happy Jele and Mpho Makola. When Makola is around the box he pretends like he is shooting, you come and commit early, you give him your back, that gives him a free pass. So what did this information tell you? It tells you that when you approach him, no matter how much he pretended to feign that shot, you just stand still and pick up the ball and start the play from there.”

At AFCON, it was the same against Senegal and Algeria. “We saw what they could do, we studied where we could hurt them and so on.”

Katsande admits it’s easier now than in his playing days. “Unlike today where it is much easier because you just look for the footage and stats on the Internet, back then I travelled a lot going over to the stadiums to study opponents.”

And that brings us to 2026.where we are in the modern era of Artificial Intelligence.

It is a blessing for the modern player and coach because data in football is a very important aspect, be it for the player or for the player agent.

Profiling that once required bus trips to Mucheke and grainy VHS tapes can now be done with a click. But the mindset remains the same.

“So as I said before, it has to do with data, because knowledge is power,” Katsande concludes.

It’s a philosophy that he shares with his manager, Football and Cricket Player Manager and Agent Kuda Garufu, who appeared on Fanzone’s Larry’s Look at the League. Make sure to catch that engaging episode.