Burdens and blessings are cousins – Komphela on Sundowns schedule dilemma
Former Mamelodi Sundowns coach Steve Komphela has shared his thoughts on the tight schedule that his ex-club finds itself in.
Sundowns take on TS Galaxy in the Carling Knockout match in Mbombela on Wednesday evening without seven of their players who were in the Bafana Bafana squad.
They will also travel to Angola on Saturday for their opening match of the inaugural African Football League against Petro de Luanda. The seven players who will obviously miss the clash against Galaxy are set to travel straight from Abidjan to Angola.
The addition of the African Football League and the Carling Knockout means Sundowns will have a congested fixture schedule. This will include the League and CAF Champions League duties.
But with the well-documented challenges of traveling within the continent, the 56-year-old Komphela predicts a ‘crazy schedule’ for his former club.
WHAT STEVE KOMPHELA MAKES OF MAMELODI SUNDOWNS TIGHT SCHEDULE
“What a difficult question. But it is a hell of a relevant question. I feel very sorry for [Sundowns],” said Komphela.
“The schedule is going to be crazy. It is going to be the African Super League, and you are going to have the Champions League, the DStv Premiership, and knockout competitions, Carling Black Label is no different. At the back of that schedule, you have the traveling and you know how difficult it is to be traveling on the continent.”
Komphela acknowledges the depth within the Masandawana camp but says mental fatigue might take its toll on the players.
“Bafana Bafana were playing in Ivory Coast and I don’t know how the Sundowns players who had gone there will come back for the match [against TS Galaxy]. It’s going to be a mess. Then it goes to the depth of the squad, yes it is true there is depth in the squad but there is also chemistry because as soon as you change one or two players it does reflect in the team performances and group dynamics.
“That is also a challenge so it’s going to be a bit difficult. But I think burdens and blessings are cousins, the fact that Sundowns is so blessed to have so much quality and they are into the continent at such beautiful competitions, those blessings become a burden in terms of how you mitigate them,” he added.
“So the squad depth, yes it will be but one big thing we thought of was fatigue. Not only physical fatigue but also fatigue mentally. How many matches are they going to play, which then creates the other view on no but too many matches for players.”
WHAT COULD BE A LONG-TERM SOLUTION FOR EASY TRAVELING IN AFRICA
“Now I will pull some of these thoughts that I normally have in my life. Football is then using business to say, SAA or whoever you are. Is it possible for you to have a connection in Burundi, in DRC, in Egypt, and all that. So that the network of flights in connection is so swift that sports can meet the agenda and demands.
“So you then use sports to trigger the business connection and force business entities to create those routes and all that even though it’s only Mamelodi Sundowns but the message is there, that we need to create a network of connections in the continent so that it is easy and it is more accessible traveling because Sundowns is going to have problems.”
The clash between Galaxy and Sundowns kick-off at 19:30.
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