'Your biggest enemy is you': Eymael tells Black Leopards

Black Leopards coach Luc Eymael has called for more discipline from his players as they prepare to host Lamontville Golden Arrows in their Absa Premiership clash at Thohoyandou Stadium on Saturday.

With just six points separating Bidvest Wits in fifth place in the table and bottom side Chippa United, victory or defeat could either see Leopards climb into the top eight, or end the weekend in last place.

But what Eymael wants to see is some consistency from his players and better tactical discipline on the pitch, which he lamented in the wake of their 3-0 midweek loss to Chippa.

“In the first half against Chippa we did not come to the party, in the second half we were better but did not convert our chances,” Eymael told TimesLIVE.

“So there is still a lot of room for improvement. We improve in terms of our character, on acting faster in certain situations, most of the time I feel like we are reacting.

“But mostly we are trying to improve the tactical discipline — it has to be better and the players must be responsible.

“I said to the players [before the Chippa game], ‘Your biggest enemy is you’, and at the end of the day I was right. We must be better in our tactical discipline.”

Leopards have won two of their six matches since Eymael made his return to the Premier Soccer League, where he previously led Polokwane City and led Free State Stars to the 2018 Nedbank Cup title.

Both of those league victories came in Thohoyandou, a 1-0 success over Bloemfontein Celtic and a 2-1 victory over Cape Town City, though he did also suffer a 2-1 loss to Mamelodi Sundowns in Limpopo.

He knows that high-flying Lamontville Golden Arrows will present a huge challenge.

“They are a very good team with a lot of good players. They have a good coach [in Steve Komphela] and are having a good season. It will be a very difficult game,” the coach said.

Abafana Bes’thende have not won any of their seven previous visits to Leopards in the Absa Premiership, but did claim a 1-0 success in Limpopo when both teams were campaigning in the National First Division.