It could be like a bomb

After a frustrating five-month spell on the sidelines, Evans Rusike is back on the field for SuperSport United, who are in search of their first league title in a decade, with their last coming in the 2010/11 season. The Zimbabwean, who arrived in Tshwane from M aritzburg United three seasons ago, having also been on the wanted list of some of the bigger clubs at the time, has not exactly set the scene alight at M atsatsantsa. So much so that the club’s CEO, Stan M atthews, has publicly told him to shape

up or ship out! In this interview with Soccer Laduma’s Delmain Faver, the 30-year-old opens up on his struggles with the team, having to adapt to a new position and his contract coming to an end at the end of the current campaign.

Delmain Faver: Evans, it is good to see you back on the field after struggling with injury.

Evans Rusike:

Thanks, my man. It has been long hey. It feels so good to be back after such a long time on the sidelines, you know. I’ve been struggling with this injury since last year November. It became very frustrating for me on the sidelines, but I am very happy to be back on the field and doing what I love. I have enjoyed these last few games and I’m looking forward to contributing to the team.

DF: Talk us through the frustration you experienced watching from the sidelines.

ER:

Yeah, man, it was very frustrating for me. You know, there are certain games that you watch where you say, “I could have done this and that,” but because of your situation, you are unable to. The only good thing for me was to see that the guys, like Bradley (Grobler) and (Thamsanqa) Gabuza, were doing well and banging in those goals. I had to support them because it is about the team, it is not about me, you see? So, even though I was sitting on the sidelines, I was happy that my teammates were scoring.

DF: What kept you going? ER:

You see, I’m a family man. I have a family back home that has been supporting me, encouraging me and helping me to stay strong, you know. Another thing that kept me going was that I am looked up to as a role model back home. If someone says to you, “You inspire me and I want to be just like you,” how can you give up when you are hearing those things? I also have to say that the support from my teammates has been immense. Even though they knew I could not contribute to the team at that time, they were still supporting me. I am grateful that we have that tight bond in the team, where the guys are like brothers, are like fathers. Even when you are dealing with something personal, they are always there to support you and encourage you. So, those are the things that I can say kept me going.

DF: Is it safe to say that things have not really panned out the way you had hoped when you joined SuperSport United in January 2018?

ER:

(Sighs) That is true. You know, when you sign for a club, you have your own goals and ambitions that you set out for yourself, but certain things don’t always work out the way you had planned.

DF: What are those ‘certain things’ for you?

ER:

There are things like injury that can hamper your progress. There is also a change of position that is fairly new to me. When I was at Maritzburg (United), I was playing centrally, and if you could see, I was scoring all the goals. I think I scored six goals from a central position because I can create space for myself, I am a person who loves scoring goals, but since I have joined SuperSport, I have been used more as a wide attacking player where you focus more on the crossing side than on the scoring side. Yes, there are still goals, but it is not as much as it is from central because of the angles and stuff like that.

DF: Have you ever addressed this change in position with coach Kaitano Tembo?

ER:

Yes, man, I have spoken to the coach on many occasions, but he has told me that he wants to use me in wider positions so that I can exploit the spaces behind the defenders and use my skill to beat them in one-on-one situations and maybe try to cross to my teammates or create space for myself to shoot. I am not one of those players who will question the coach’s decisions. All I can do is give my best whenever I am given an opportunity, just as I have been doing since coming back from the injury.

DF: Moving on. In recent seasons, we have seen Matsatsantsa in and amongst the top teams in the league, but somehow, the team has seemingly lacked that ‘killer instinct’ in the business end of the season.

ER:

That is true. You see, here at SuperSport, we are very ambitious and we are

very competitive. That is why every season you see us there, as you said. I think the problem with us has been consistency. We can start off the season well, but somewhere along the way, we lose our consistency and that has been the cause of us not challenging for the league as seriously as we would have liked. But we know that the expectation at the team is to get at least one piece of silverware a season. Unfortunately

this season, we got knocked out of the MTN8 and the Nedbank Cup, but we still have a chance with the league and we will be giving it our all.

DF: You’re sitting in a pretty position on the log standings too. Do you think this is the season

where you guys can go all the way? ER:

Yeah. You look at the start we have had and the way the team has been playing, it shows that we are serious about pushing for the league. There is no team that goes into the league not wanting to win it. Why not? I believe that we have the team to compete. If you look at the blend of youth and experience in the team, it could work. The team has brought in some young players, but the team also has experience. So, if you take the energy of the young guys and you put it together with the experience of the older guys, it could be like a bomb (laughs).

DF: Moving on to your personal situation, your current contract with the club comes to an end in June… ER: Ja, it’s coming to an end, man, but every opportunity I get, I will try to make the best out of it.

DF: The club’s CEO, Stan Matthews, has said that the Tshwane-based outfit will have to let you go if you don’t start scoring goals. Would you say that puts pressure on you as a striker? ER: I wouldn’t say ‘pressure’ because I think this game is all about pressure. Every time you are on the field, you are expected to deliver. So, in another way, you can’t say it’s pressure. If we say it is pressure, then that is the name of the game. It has pressure. If you are on the field, you have to deliver.

DF: Do you think you have done enough in these three seasons to earn a new contract at the club?

ER:

For now, to be honest, I’m glad that I am back and I am playing. There have been setbacks, you know, and a lot of things have been happening, but I’m just glad that I’m here, I’m playing. And we all know if you are playing and you are doing well, who knows what can happen? So, it’s not like I’ll be here forever. A football career is like that – it’s short, you know, but I am just grateful for where I am now. I have a contract with SuperSport and I will honour that contract. I’ll push very hard because of the trust that they have in me.

DF: You were recently linked with a move to AmaZulu FC and a possible return to the Team of Choice to reunite with coach Ernst Middendorp…

ER:

(Laughs) Ja, man, it’s not like it’s the first time that I hear these kind of talks, but I can only react when maybe my team tell me, ‘No, you should go there,’ but if my team doesn’t talk to me in any way, telling me that I’m supposed to go here and there and all that, I’m still okay. I focus where I am contracted to, so if the club doesn’t come to me and tell me that, ‘No, Evans, this is what’s up,’ then there’s nothing I can do. This is football, you know. Rumours will always be there. People want to make their things happen. It’s like that, but me, I focus on SuperSport, the club that I am contracted to now and I’ll put my 120% (effort) on honouring my contract.

DF: What was your relationship with coach Middendorp like because we know he’s one coach that managed to get the best out of you?

ER:

To be honest, he is one of the best coaches that have ever coached me. I think he used me very well and I did well under him. So, we had a coach-player relationship. I respect him and I’m grateful to him because he showed me another side to me that I did not know myself, so ja.

DF: What was that other side?

ER:

(Laughs) Which other side are you referring to? In terms of my game, he has changed it in a positive way. You know how strikers are supposed to be, how they are supposed to move. It was a lot of things… you could say that it was a package.

DF: There was also talk that he was keen on your services when he was at Kaizer Chiefs. Is there any part of you that perhaps regrets not making the move to one of the biggest clubs on the continent at the time?

ER:

I won’t say that I regret it because SuperSport is not a small club either. It is a big club. At that time when they wanted me, I was still contracted to SuperSport, so if they wanted my services, they had to talk to SuperSport and look in their budget to see what could be done for me to go there (laughs). But it is what it is.

DF: On that note, Evans, let’s end the conversation for now. We appreciate your time. All the best for the remainder of the season.

ER: Thanks, man. Thanks a lot. ❐