EAST LONDON – Clinton Larsen is cautiously happy with the progress that Chippa United have made since he arrived in Port Elizabeth.
After five games, the Chilli Boys have not lost, moved out of the relegation zone and managed to reach the quarter-finals of the Nedbank Cup after defeating a very stubborn and hard-working Tshakhuma Tsha Madzivhandila FC 2-0 last weekend at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth.
Goals were scored in the second stanza by the industrious Kurt Lentjies and Mark Mayambela, who replaced Thabo Rakhale.
Larsen was happy with the results of the weekend, but at the same time, he was also concerned with the poor finishing of his players.
“They say there is no room for comments in the results column, but I would like to comment on that.
“Before the game, we spoke about it being a difficult game and treating the opponent with respect – I think we have done that.
“We knew it’s not going to be easy based on what we saw against Polokwane City. They are an outfit with good attacking players, but we knew that we could expose their defensive deficiencies.
“Something we spoke about before the game was that, if we score our first goal, this team would lose shape, discipline and we could expose them as the result.
“And that is exactly what happened. The most disappointing part is that after we got our first goal, we had so many opportunities to go 2, 3 and 4-0 up.
“That is the ruthlessness we are looking for in the team, especially when we are on top of the team. But I keep saying we are a work in progress.”
Well done!!! #ChilliBoyz🌶️🔥😎 pic.twitter.com/AloNcfxmLR
— Chippa United FC (@ChippaUnitedFC) February 16, 2019
Larsen believes while they are on a five-match unbeaten run, Chippa still have a long way to go to maintain their Premiership status.
“I have said it that we have small group of players, and we are going to use them sparingly with the games coming up. We have got to make sure that we spread the workload throughout the squad,” he said.
“So it is going to be important that players like Lerato Manzini, William Twala, Mark Mayambela and Daine Klate and a lot of the other guys who have not played much, when they get an opportunity, they really need to get the results for us.
“It’s a better pressure on them because the other boys have been doing well, but as a professional, that is what you have to do.”
🌶🔥🚨 FIXTURE ALERT 🚨🔥🌶
🏟️ @NMB_Stadium
🕗 Kick Off 20:00
🎟 Tickets available at @TicketProSA #ayeyechilliboyzayeye #seasonofrevival #prideoftheeasterncape
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— Chippa United FC (@ChippaUnitedFC) February 18, 2019
Chippa United will welcome Golden Arrows in their next league game at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium on Wednesday – where they will want to get maximum points that will push them closer to the top 10 on the table.
@PedroMapelo