Fatigue blamed as coach despairs
PLAYERS MUST REST AT EVERY OPPORTUNITY SuperSport have won only two of their last 14 matches.
SuperSport United coach Eric Tinkler says a lot of his players have run out of gas ahead of Matsatsantsa’s Absa Premiership clash with ninth-placed Bloemfontein Celtic at Lucas Moripe Stadium this afternoon, which is also a dress rehearsal for their Nedbank Cup last-32 meeting in a week’s time.
United are seemingly finding it hard to recover from their gruelling 2017 Caf Confederation Cup adventure where they went as far as reaching the final, losing to DR Congo’s TP Mazembe.
“We’ve got guys who have been playing two seasons in a row. Aubrey Modiba, Thuso Phala, Reneilwe Letsholonyane – all these guys have come through two long, hard years,” said Tinkler.
“Modiba was at the Olympics. Dean Furman, Clayton Daniels and Morgan Gould were all involved in the Fifa World Cup qualifiers with Bafana Bafana – when we did have a break, they didn’t have a break. Then we have the month of January where we played a lot of games, it is insane. That’s what it costs you to play in the Caf competitions. It is not me trying to make any excuses,” Tinkler added.
Having to make his preparations around a depleted squad has proved to be a giant hurdle for Tinkler, as he has only mustered two wins in 14 outings since the Confederation Cup final.
“Somewhere in between that you try to prepare tactically. It is very difficult as a coach,” Tinkler lamented.
The former Orlando Pirates coach believes the only way for Matsatsantsa to haul themselves out of their slump is to make sure he gives his players rest at every opportunity.
“We need to give the guys as much rest as we possibly can. These guys always give 100% in their performances and in the morning the batteries are dead and they have just two days to recharge those batteries again to as close as possible to 100%.”