BY FORTUNE MBELE
SOME Premier Soccer League (PSL) coaches have expressed concern over the short period they have been given to prepare their players for the topflight season kickoff next month.
The coaches are happy to finally return to work, but have issues with preparation time considering that the players have been out of action for about 15 months.
Bulawayo City coach Philani “Beefy” Ncube, whose side returns to the elite league following a spell in the second-tier league said normally six weeks would suffice, but under the current circumstances they need about 10 weeks to prepare. He said the fitness levels among players were way too low for them to get to the required standard within the next six weeks.
“COVID-19 really struck us hard. These players are worn out and down. We have to literally start walking them like crawling little babies. Running is a struggle. Of course, there are differences in the fitness levels among different players since some stuck to programmes that we gave them when the lockdown was introduced but clearly other players did not stick to the plan. We have to plan seriously for this period and six weeks will not be enough because we have to take things gradually,” Ncube said.
He said an expert in fitness and health science was needed to give the authorities sound advice. “I think what we need is someone technical in the PSL, someone with a sports science background because this six-week period is not enough for pre-season after one year and three months of inactivity. A lot of factors have to be considered. At least eight weeks for a pre-season without friendly matches would suffice under the circumstances.”
Beefy echoed Highlanders gaffer Mandla Mpofu’s sentiments, who fears his players might sustain injuries in the Independence Trophy match against Dynamos on Sunday at the National Sports Stadium.
“We have a serious situation here. We have players who are overweight and others who are underweight. Fitness levels are different. What we are doing is destroying these boys. We need to be careful. It is better if there will be no relegation and promotion in the upcoming competition. We will play with no pressure and incorporate the first five games into the pre-season. In these six weeks after the long period with no football, you cannot start integrated training for everyone. In the circumstances it can only be done after 10 games,” Ncube said.
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Mxolisi Ndlovu, a sports scientist, coach, and former lecturer at the National University of Science and Technology, now based in the United Kingdom, is in agreement with the coaches. “Four to six weeks is what you would have when everything is normal. Pre-season involves a progressive load of training. Now considering that players have been inactive for so long, you certainly would not want to load them heavily right from the start.
And they will need more recovery at the beginning than is usually the norm. There is a real risk of injury during the pre-season or even more occurrences of injuries during the season. What I would suggest is an eight to ten-week programme which would give teams the opportunity to also organise and play friendly games (remember there are no substitute limits).
More friendly games will allow teams to build their practice intensities gradually,” Ndlovu said. He added: “There is also the element of psychological preparation in players. Coming from a period of uncertainty, are they ready psychologically to resume training?”
However, Chicken Inn gaffer Joey Antipas is of a different viewpoint.
“My players showed professionalism and adhered to the training programmes that we gave them. I am quite impressed with my lot of players. They are in good shape and what is left now is to look at other aspects of the game; the tactical and technical. If players were not working during the inactivity period, then they will suffer. We just need the six to eight weeks to prepare. If a player has got it, they have it. It’s all now about getting the players get to speed,” Antipas said.
Triangle coach Taurai Mangwiro, who is also a Caf instructor, said the most important thing for now was the return of football.
“I would like think that what was important for us was the return to football and I would like to applaud the government for that. It has been a pretty long time without football. We need at least six to eight weeks of preparations to play a season, but with this inactivity, it’s difficult.
While I concur with other coaches, my worry is how many games are we going to play in the round-robin or cluster competition and what happens after that tournament? If after this competition we are going to have a league programme, I don’t have a problem. If it means we are just preparing for six weeks to play three games, I don’t see the wisdom. The other nitty-gritties the administrators would know but I am glad football is back,” Mangwiro said.
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