BY TAWANDA TAFIRENYIKA CAPS United coach Lloyd Chitembwe says the lack of pre-season matches had taken its toll on the team, but is now looking to a much more improved performance after managing to balance between recovery periods and loading.
The Green Machine had failed to win their last five matches in which they drew four and lost 6-2 to Manica Diamonds, but bounced back at the weekend with a 6-0 thumping of Hwahwa.
And Chitembwe, whose team face Bulawayo City on Saturday, says it has not been easy without pre-season games for the team to get into the groove because of the need to balance between recovery and loading. He, however, said yesterday he was now looking to a better performance since he has now passed that critical phase.
The Premier Soccer League (PSL) did not manage to have a pre-season since the long break occasioned by the African Cup of Nations finals in Cameroon and festive season.
“What was important for us was to try to balance between recovery periods and loading and we have done exactly that considering we never had a pre-season. So we were trying to bring everything together in one same plate. It wasn’t easy, but I think we have gone past that phase and are looking forward to the game against Bulawayo City. In terms of pre-perations, I believe we are now in the right space unlike in the last three weeks. It has given us more options to work on the team and more time to obviously try to improve on certain aspects of the game, so we are good to go,” Chitembwe said.
The Caps coach though said the big victory over WhaWha was now water under the bridge. “Like I said before, we don’t let a win excite us for more than 24 hours, neither do we allow a defeat to crush us for more than 24 hours. We are now looking forward to the match against Bulawayo City. We know what we have to do and obviously it won’t be easy but we have a big responsibility to go out there and perform,” he added.
Both teams have won one game each and with Bulawayo City having shocked Bulawayo giants Highlanders 1-0 in their last six matches, they should get the feeling there is no need to subject themselves to artificial limitations. They now have the belief they can beat any team on the domestic soccer scene. With Caps United also buoyed by the WhaWha victory, notwithstanding their station on the league table, the fact that it was their first win in six matches raises stakes.
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