De Sa can’t afford to experiment at this late stage

“WE put in a couple of fresh legs after some guys were tired from Saturday night. We tried different players, different ways.” This is how Sowetan quoted Pirates coach, Roger De Sa in “Pirates soldier on after title blow ” on May 2.

This statement confirms to a large extent what has been the coach ’ s undoing, which unfortunately has put the club where it is today – struggling to win and getting maximum points from low-ranked teams such as Chippa United.

You cannot keep changing the starting line-up for every game, under the pretext that players are tired. This clearly shows extreme naivety on the part of the coach.

If his players are not strong enough to endure a gruelling schedule of playing two matches in week, then they are not profes- sional football material.

An experienced and tactically attuned coach will stick with a winning formula, including his regular players who can do the job – win games for him.

The chop-and-change strategy has never worked anywhere. Players only rest when they are injured, off-form or the match to be played is of little consequence.

You cannot leave experienced players such as Oupa Manyisa and Tlou Segolela on the bench in a match that meant so much in terms of the club ’ s league title hopes and then claim that they were tired and that you wanted to try “different ways ”.

At this stage of the race, there is no time to experiment and try different ways. You stick with what is familiar and what brings you results. Simple as that.