Hunt wants to play smarter
BIDVEST Wits coach, Gavin Hunt, wants his players to embody their nickname in their quest to wrestle back the Absa Premiership title they lost to Mamelodi Sundowns.
The Clever Boys might be at the summit after 14 matches but they still don’t have all the characteristics of a league-winning team.
Hunt would know. He does after all have four league titles to his name, three of those titles came back-to-back with SuperSport United from 2008 to 2010.
The fourth came two seasons ago with Wits. But Hunt didn’t bask much in that success as his team put on a terrible title defence in the last campaign to eventually finish 13th. The Milpark-based side has bounced pictured, back in style to set the pace in the league race. They could have been way ahead had they not dropped points against Golden Arrows and Bloemfontein Celtic after taking the lead in both matches.
“We’ve been dominant at home, even in the games we’ve lost we were dominant but you have to be dominant and clever,” Hunt said. “Our game intelligence has to be better at times. Sometimes we want to attack even when we don’t need to attack. We’ll work on it this week to try and finish the year on a good position.”
The Clever Boys made no mistakes in their 2-1 win over Baroka at Peter Mokaba Stadium on Sunday even though Bakgaga finished strong in search of an equaliser.
Wits will end 2018 with a clash against Chippa United at Bidvest Stadium on Friday. The Chilli Boys, just like Bakgaga, are fighting for their lives at the bottom half of the table.
“It’s harder to play those teams than the top teams,” Hunt said.
“The teams at the bottom have
Ntuli is another one who burst onto the scene with Arrows in 2012.
He dazzled in Lamontville for two seasons before moving to Mamelodi Sundowns in 2014.
Ntuli will be his usual self against his former side on Saturday. When he is around, defenders don’t get any breathing space. He is fast, physically strong and very dangerous in the air.
Vilakazi will be looking to orchestrate things in the middle of the park. He will be up against Danny Phiri and Thabo Molefe.
Vilakazi started his professional career with Abafana Bes’thende back in 2008 but left in 2009 to join Bay United. He will be looking to get one over on his former side.
Thembela Sikhakhane also began his career at Arrows in 2013. He spent three years at Abafana Bes’thende before joining Orlando Pirates. Sikhakhane is on loan at Usuthu from the Buccaneers. been hard for us. But you’ve got to have better quality to win games. It’s going to be hard for us.”
While teams at the bottom half of the table have given Wits a tough time, the Clever Boys have done well against teams at the top. Wits collected maximum points against Kaizer Chiefs, Orlando Pirates and Cape Town City before stealing a point in Atteridgeville against the Brazilians.
This means Hunt’s challenge with his players isn’t tactical but mental. If they can play against teams in the bottom half of the league like they do against the top ones, they will move a step closer to winning the championship and bury the demons of the last campaign.
“If you look at the points that we have, would we have taken it
(if someone told me at the start of the season)? Yes. Especially playing against Chiefs, Pirates, Cape Town City and Sundowns in a matter of a couple of weeks apart,” Hunt said. “We played all of them away in a matter of a couple of weeks. It was tough.”
Sikhakhane will be looking to keep Arrows at bay while Vilakazi will be expected to make things happen in the middle of the park and the duo of Khenyeza and Ntuli will be tasked with scoring goals.
Arrows and AmaZulu are separated by one place and three points on the log. Abafana Bes’thende are on 16 points after 14 games. They are 10th on the log. On the other hand, Usuthu, are on 13 points after 14 games and they are 11th on the log.
AmaZulu will be looking to get on level terms with Arrows and keep their unbeaten run at home intact. They are yet to be beaten at home in the league this season. Arrows have manage to get points in difficult places like Cape Town, Free State, Bidvest Stadium and Mbombela Stadium this season. They will be fancying themselves to get one over on their sworn rivals.