You don’t cut corners in football

G’day

Firstly, let me welcome everyone back from the Christmas break, with the hope that we all had a great festive season and that 2019 will bring all our hearts’ desires and become an even greater year. A lot has been going on in the football fraternity around the world ,but they say charity begins at home, so I can’t focus on the world without discussing what is closer to home. You have to look no further than the current log standings to see how exciting the second round of this season is going to be. For a long time in the first round, Orlando Pirates occupied the top spot, but Bidvest Wits have seemingly found their footing and continue to grind the results. What do the current log standings mean for the rest of the teams? Remember what I have been talking about in this column, collecting as many points as possible before the Christmas break. Look at how those who managed to get their job done have fared so far and how their good work has influenced their position on the log compared to those who didn’t. Wits have been consistent and I’m just going to mention two of the points I discussed towards the end of the year, which I thought were imperative. I’m talking about consistency and collecting as many points as possible. When you do that, even away from home, then you know you’re up to something. That’s championship mentality right there! You don’t just go to Goble Park and come back with maximum points. If teams aren’t noticing it, by the time they catch a wake-up, Wits will be gone soon because they’re quietly collecting points and stretching their lead. I’m telling you, there’s something I’ve seen about this Wits team. With 33 points from 16 games, it is going to be a case of ‘catch us if you can’. Yes, Mamelodi Sundowns are also making a strong comeback with games in hand, but you’d rather have points than games in hand. When you look at the chasing pack, they’ve not really been consistent because they’ve dropped points where they shouldn’t have. That’s the last thing you want to do at this stage of the season. You don’t want to lose ground with the log leaders because it gives them a breathing space. It is a very tricky situation that some teams find themselves in and I’d like to mainly focus on the chasing pack, which makes the season more interesting. What happens at the top affects the bottom because the top teams will cancel each other, at some point, with the bottom teams doing the same as well. The mid-table teams will just be hoping for good results that will favour them. You also look at the time period in between the remaining games. It is only when Kaizer Chiefs, Pirates and Sundowns are playing in the CAF games that other teams will get a breather. The three mentioned teams are also not going to have it easy as they will be forced to play five games in about 21 days, which is a very tight schedule, and it goes back to what I was saying towards the end of the year: whoever collects as many points as possible before the Christmas break will be doing themselves a huge favour. When you look at the number of games played before the Christmas break and the cup competitions, you’ll notice the difference between the first and second round. The first round had two cup competitions, the MTN8 and the Telkom Knockout, whereas the second round will have the Nedbank Cup and CAF competitions. With the Nedbank Cup, any team that gets knocked out in the Last 32 will spend more than two weeks without any competitive games, which will badly affect the momentum. These are some of the things to take into consideration as they will determine whether your team wins the league, gets into the Top Eight or gets relegated at the end of the season. Having said that, these aren’t things you need to start worrying about now, no. You have to plan for them before the season starts and plan your periodization accordingly. As much as I have spoken about the possible period of inactivity for teams knocked out of the Nedbank Cup, you also have to consider the fact that all the remaining games have to be played in a short period of five months. What effect will that have on the teams? You’ll have injured players, suspensions, loss of form and all that to deal with. Let’s look at Chiefs, for instance, and this has absolutely nothing to do with what happened on the weekend against Sundowns. Itumeleng Khune is out for the remainder of the season, which is a big blow by any means for not only the club but Bafana Bafana as well. All these things jeopardise your tactical and technical approach because it means you don’t have all your players available. You also have the congestion of the games to contend with, which is the worst scenario for anyone to find themselves in. There’s not enough time to train when you have five games in 21 days, for instance, otherwise you’ll have football problems. Remember, there’s also travelling involved in that period, which takes its toll on the players. You also need to readjust your tactical approach every time a certain player is not available for whatever reason. That’s why some teams are struggling but, with the transfer window now open, how many teams have taken advantage of the transfer window? Very few and that’s simply because there’s nothing in the market, which is unfortunate. You can’t bring in someone who will need time to adjust now, you need someone who will walk straight into the team and deliver. That’s just how football is. This is when planning of the season comes into play. You can’t tell me there’s a team that didn’t know, from the beginning of the season, which departments would need strengthening at this stage of the season. That would mean something is not right with that team. Our European counterparts are very good at this kind of planning and they don’t just sign players because a certain player is injured – no, they identify the need to strengthen long before the right time arrives. That way, you don’t find yourself desperate and when you have depth, you’re never found wanting. Those who didn’t plan will be experiencing problems and trying to cut corners. You don’t cut corners in football! Look at the FA Cup. How many teams have used their regular players? Most teams played their reserve team players who have been training with the senior team in preparation for the future. They already know what to expect from those players and what areas they will reinforce. That’s the planning I’m talking about.