Hunt masterclass gives Sundowns’ rivals hope
A Gavin Hunt masterclass successfully reduced the star-studded Mamelodi Sundowns to ordinary opposition who could not capitalise on a decided possession advantage.
After Hunt guided SuperSport United to a stunning 2-1 DStv Premiership win over the champions last weekend, many perennial Premiership also-rans would have drawn great inspiration for the season ahead. Cape Town City, Royal AM, AmaZulu and Orlando Pirates are the clubs who finished behind Sundowns in the last three seasons.
Three of these four teams (CT City is the exception) are already sitting above Sundowns on the latest standings and they would have been encouraged by SuperSport's victory.
With this win, Hunt again highlighted his standing as one of the most successful coaches in the professional era. During his first stint at SuperSport, he won three consecutive Premiership titles, starting with the 2007/08 season. He's also won numerous titles with Bidvest Wits and Moroka Swallows.
The outstanding feature of Hunt's conquests was that he claimed a plethora of titles with ordinary players and at clubs that did not have huge budgets. Prior to this return SuperSport, Hunt had inauspicious runs at Kaizer Chiefs and Chippa United but in recent times no coach has managed anything noteworthy at those clubs.
For the Sundowns clash, Hunt's team selection was hamstrung because he could not call on the services of Ricardo Goss, Grant Magerman and Thabang Sibanyoni, who are on loan from Sundowns. According to the loan agreement, these three players are ineligible for matches against Sundowns.
However, Hunt plotted Sundowns' downfall with a 4-4-2 gameplan with Thulani Hlatshwayo as his centre-piece. The Soweto-born Hlatshwayo had a long association with Hunt while he played for Wits, and he could be relied on to rally the troops and stick to the gameplan.
Upfront, the two-prong attack of Iqraam Rayners and Bradley Grobler ran their socks off all night whenever in possession and they managed to pull Sundowns' defence out of shape by running wide in the final third.
Each of SuperSport's goals came from players reacting to goalmouth crosses from out wide, which Sundowns failed to contain.
There is also a flip side to this shock defeat because it sounded a wake-up call for Sundowns, who, perhaps for the first time in two seasons, will have to revisit their rotation policy. Given their massive squad and the information that becomes available after every match, Sundowns are sending vastly different squads to matches, which have been coming thick and fast in the early season.
Sundowns' recruitment drive hasn't slowed down at all and new recruits arrive regularly.
After two defeats and a draw after six matches, Sundowns need to breathe new life into their Premiership campaign otherwise they cannot hope for another title by the time the season ends next June.
It is very likely that Hunt will build on this momentum despite his claim that he needs a bigger squad.
He has no problem dipping into the club's reserve strength in the Diski Challenge League and plans to call up more youngsters as the season unwinds.
He is very passionate about the Diski League players graduating through the Premiership ranks: “We are going to build a big team here with these young players. This will be a great team in the future.”