Eric Tinkler admits change in formation nearly backfired in Pirates game
Cape Town City coach Eric Tinkler says his gamble on playing formation nearly backfired in the game against Orlando Pirates on Saturday.
Erick Tinkler told SuperSport TV that he tried something new by tweaking his team’s formation in the first-half of the game.
However, such changes nearly backfired as his side struggled to find its rhythm in the DStv Premiership game.
HOW ERIC TINKLER REVERTED TO USUAL FORMATION
“It wasn’t pretty. We tried something new today in terms of the formation and to be honest, it didn’t work,” he said.
Eric Tinkler said the new formation played into the hands of the Buccaneers.
“They put us under extreme pressure. When they scored, I obviously had to change to what we know better.
“I don’t think it was pretty…[in terms of] possession, both team were giving it away very cheaply.”
The former Pirates coach explained the actual changes he experimented without success.
‘DEON HOTTO WAS HURTING US’
“We were playing with a back-four in the beginning, so we changed to a back-five because [Deon] Hotto was hurting us so on the left-wing,” he said.
Eric Tinkler praised his team for bouncing back from the early setback to turn around the game.
“I am very proud of them. Very proud of the technical team [for] coming back and winning it,” he said.
“It was a gutsy performance by the boys. They put in hard-work. It was not easy to come from 0-1 down especially after we lost to SuperSport United.”
Pirates scored first through Hotto in the 21st minute of the match at DHL Stadium.
However, Juan Zapata equalized for the hosts 10 minutes later.
Darwin Gonzalez finally snatched the winner for Cape Town City in the 74th minute to turn the game around
City had lost the previous match to SuperSport before facing Pirates.
The Citizens, who finished second last season, are in position eight.
The Citizens are 18 points behind leaders and holders Mamelodi Sundowns.
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