Room for improvement – Truter
AMAZULU FC coach Brandon
Truter feels that his side are showing improvement.
Usuthu’s 0-0 Premiership draw with Sekhukhune United at Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban on Saturday means the club are now unbeaten in the five games in which Truter has been at the helm since the sacking of Benni McCarthy.
“We played some good football,” said Truter.
“Our pressing, counter-pressing and structure was good. They could not get out. The only trouble that they gave us was from set-pieces and one or two counter attacks.
“There has been progress in terms of where we come from with regards to ball retention and structure. There has been huge progress from our last two games until now.”
On paper, AmaZulu dominated the game. They had 66% ball possession and also had 12 shots at goal, whereas Sekhukhune had seven.
The best chance of the game for Truter’s side came in the first half as Tapelo Xoki headed towards goal from a corner, forcing ‘Babina Noko’ goalkeeper Toaster Nsabata to pull off a superb reflex save that will go down as one of the best of the season.
Even though Truter has won three out of his five games at Usuthu so far, he still thinks there is plenty of room for improvement.
“Our box entries need to improve,” said the coach.
“The final ball also needs to be better. The guys were getting the balls into the right areas of the field. We got the balls in and there was a body or two missing in there.
“We have finishers like Andre de Jongh and Luvuyo Memela. (Saturday) we had to use a false nine in the form of Memela and they struggled to contain us.”
The result left AmaZulu in seventh place in the league with 40 points after 28 games. Their next game will be against Cape Town
City, before they conclude the season with a KwaZulu-Natal derby against Golden Arrows.
AmaZulu have had an inconsistent season and failed to build on their impressive previous campaign when they finished second to Mamelodi Sundowns, who last week ensured a successful title defence.
The erratic nature of this season means that two wins from their final games could potentially take them into the top four.