Azeez Mohammed: Katsina United’s new players need time to gel

Katsina United technical advisor Azeez Mohammed says rebuilding his team following the departure of several key players has been one of the main challenges facing his team this season.

Mohammed was speaking after his team’s 2-1 victory over Doma United in the round six match of the Euromatch Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) on Sunday night at the Mohammed Dikko Stadium, Katsina.

The tactician revealed that the team lost several important players from last season, including their top scorer, Uche Collins, and Azeez Falolu, among others, leaving it with a largely new squad that requires time to gel.

“We lost our team’s top scorer last season and one of the league’s top scorers,” Mohammed said.

“We also lost a lot of important players like Azeez Falolu and the rest. So it’s a completely new team now.

“If you look at the team, a large number of players are new. Therefore, you can’t expect too much from these types of players immediately.”

Despite the transition, Mohammed expressed confidence that the team would improve as the new players gained momentum and became more familiar with each other.

“But the moment they get the momentum, they will surely give us what we want,” he added.

The coach stressed that scoring points remains the immediate priority as the team continues to work to improve its offensive performance.

“The most important thing is to win the game. If we get a goal, let’s keep the point because the point is more important.”

“We can score three and they can score four; we didn’t do anything. But if we score one and they don’t tie, it’s three points.”

Mohammed also praised Doma United for their performance, noting that the competitiveness of the league means his team must seriously prepare for each opponent.

“If you see the way Doma played today, no one would expect this to be a team that came from the NNL last season. They played very well,” he said.

“Now it’s not about the name; it’s about who plays and how they play.”

Mohammed said his team would continue to work on the new team as the season progresses, with the aim of building a more cohesive team capable of producing better results.

“We prepare very well for every match we want to play. So we try to get the necessary results and keep working and fighting, Insha Allah.”