The coach of Valiant FC of Lagos, Coach Owolabi Mustapha has declared that the team’s focus is more on youth development than winning competitions.
He made this clarification after his side lost 3-2 to Crime Fighters FC in their first match of the new season of the third-tier Nationwide League One (NLO).
The result meant Valiant FC were among the handful of sides that left Maracana Stadium, Ajegunle empty-handed on Saturday, but Coach Mustapha stressed that he was not overly bothered with the result.
He, however, admitted that what is worth doing at all is worth doing well, and agreed that his players need to step up their efforts in their next match against First Bank FC on Wednesday.
Mustapha argued: “As far as I am concerned, as a coach, one of the things we should consider is youth development. That’s why there were lots of positives in this game.
“However, you can’t be complacent with this type of result. That’s why we need to go back and work on our attacking prowess and our converting rate.
“Those weaknesses really showed in this game, and we need to plan how to get a better result in the next game.”
Despite agreeing that his team needs to get a better result in their next match, though, Mustapha insisted that desperation for victory should not override the need to continuously expose young talents and allow them to grow gradually
“The positives are that, as a developer, you will definitely rewrite the story and make corrections for the next game.
“When you give young players chances to play week in week out, you try to take them through the right path then, definitely, they will improve.
“So, the most important thing is to see what they are lacking; and we are working on it. Our targets will always remain the same every season.
“Our target is to play good football, regardless of whatever the outcome will be at the end of the season. We always play good footbdll,” Mustapha submitted.
