Coach happy after Tigers romp to win
FUTURE Tigers coach Asanda Mvalo believes his charges have got all it takes to be top contenders in the ABC Motsepe League following their stunning performance when they thrashed FC Buffalo 4-2 at the Ginsberg Stadium near King William’s Town over the weekend.
Mvalo was impressed with the victory as his charges “stuck to the game plan.”
Regardless of their convincing win Mvalo said there was still room for improvement.
“This was a game we won because we stuck to our plan and I think if the boys keep it this way no one can stop us on our path.
“Last week we won because the guys played brilliantly and if you look at the team that played last week and the one that was playing today, you’ll notice that it’s 70% of the squad from last week.
“Because my philosophy in football is to plan for each game and not use the same plan over and over. I change every time according to the opponent’s style and next time we play I might not play the guys that won here today,” said Mvalo.
He said trusting his players always works out for him as he knows all their strengths and weaknesses.
“I always try and turn their weaknesses into their strong points and the relationship we are building allows us to get stronger every time and take each game as it comes.”
Mvalo said he was not under any of kind of pressure as the Ginsberg outfit were the runners-up last season.
FC Buffalo coach Malusi Mxoli, who led the East London side for the first time, admitted they were facing a strong side, hence they were outplayed.
“They were organised and composed and I think they knew what they wanted. We came with a group that we hoped we would make a team.
“We made silly mistakes and that put us under immense pressure and we couldn’t cope with that pressure on our shoulders but we tried to beef our defence where we made a lot of mistakes,” he said.
“We also tried to make to make changes in that department but nothing came right.
“And we also tried to contain the opposition and then we pressed them but unfortunately today was not our day.”
Mxoli said the undesired result would not deter his team’s mission to finish in the top five this season.
“85% of the guys I played here are new to the team and I picked them because they have potential to be great, but the fact that our team didn’t have a preseason played a role in our performance but with time everything will eventually fall into place.
“And me coming in as coach now and having a new side that has only played together a couple of games was also another factor that contributed to tod result.
“Because if the boys were used to playing with each other, surely we would have had a different result,” the coach said.
Other results: Swartkops Valley United Brothers 4 Pondo Chiefs 4, Mthatha City 2 Tornado 2, Sibanye 0 Try Again 0, Butterworth 2 Matta Milan 1, Spears 0 PE Stars 0; Lion City 3 City Lads 1, Highbury 1 EC Bees 1.