Having watched Orlando Pirates run riot in the first halves of their last five matches, coach Josef Zinnbauer says his troops’ nonchalant behaviour later in the contests has been due to exhaustion.
After amassing 13 points out of a possible 15 thanks to four wins and a draw in five matches, there’s been an overwhelming cloud that has hung over Pirates in recent weeks.
That new-found prosperity has been devised by new coach Zinnnabaur, who’s seen his troops score nine goals, out of their 12-goal tally, in the first half halves of their last five matches.
However, while those early leads have guided Pirates to four wins, the Buccaneers have taken the foot off the gas in the later stages of those matches, hence they’ve conceded four goals in four of their last five outings.
Add to the fact that, having kept a clean sheet during the 1-0 victory over Mamelodi Sundowns, the Sea Robbers were saved from the jaws of a loss or draw by the upright on multiple occasions or by some excellent goalkeeping from Wayne Sandilands.
And it was the same script but a different cast when the Buccaneers defeated Highlands by 3-1 at Orlando Stadium on Saturday night as they managed to hold on for three points despite a nervy end to the contest.
“(Heading) into the second half, we already had three goals. And you know the players, it’s standard point to say, ‘yeah it’s easy today and we have a second game in three days’. Maybe they were a little bit tired and they took a step back. And the opponent came at them because they had nothing to lose,” Zinnbauer said.
The sooner Pirates understand that they won’t always be able to walk away with a positive result after being complacent in the second half, the readier they’ll be in their bid to at least finish the season with silverware, especially with the Nedbank Cup still up for grabs.
Nonetheless, Zinnbauer says he is aware of his team’s shortcomings but acknowledges he won’t be able to make the difference overnight as he tries to transform the entire squad to his new philosophy.
“All the goals that you see are based on the work that we do in the training sessions - we are a unit at the moment.
“We work good against the ball and with the ball.
“But it’s not easy, we cannot convert all the chances we create into goals in one game, it’s a dream and not possible,” he said.
“For me, it’s better to win the games that we’ve played well.
“We are a unit, and we work well with or without the ball, and that for me is important at the moment.
“We’ve been working together for four weeks now but the players do not have a 100 percent idea of what we want.”
On Saturday, there was yet another positive impact under the German coach as South Africa Under-23 defender Bongani Sam finally made his long-awaited debut for the Buccaneers after signing from Bloemfontein Celtic in July.
The Nedbank Ke Yona Team search product had an impressive outing in front of his home supporters, but his lack of match fitness saw him substituted in the latter stages of the second half by defender Alfred Ndengane.
“We worked with all the players, not just Sam. (But) he is a young player and you have to be careful with him. Individually we are working with him, showing him clips from the training sessions and games and he made a good performance and we are happy about this,” Zinnbauer explained.
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