Top 8 in doubt: has SuperSport’s bet on youngsters been too risky?

SuperSport United have taken a gamble on their young players earning them a top eight place this season but Sunday’s 2-0 defeat to Royal AM at Lucas Moripe Stadium suggests it might have been the wrong bet.

Matsatsantsa have qualified for every top eight competition that has been played in the Premier Soccer League era but look in danger of missing out this campaign after yet another home defeat.

They have been defeated in five of their last seven league games at home, something they never endured before, leaving them clinging on in eighth place but with Cape Town City and inconsistent but capable Lamontville Golden Arrows just behind them.

Their flip-flop on selling Teboho Mokoena to Mamelodi Sundowns and the absence due to injury and other issues of the likes of Bradley Grobler, Thamsanqa Gabuza and Sipho Mbule has left coach Kaitano Tembo short on experience.

CEO Stan Matthews said in October there was “no way” they would sell Mokoena this campaign as it would undermine Tembo, but by January had accepted the cash from Sundowns, who had also snapped up key defender Grant Kekana before the campaign started.

The rationale was that the youngsters in the squad, all highly promising, could see them through to their minimum goal this campaign, a top eight place.

But Tembo admitted after their latest loss to Royal AM that maybe they need a change, a result not helped by a glut of missed opportunities, including a penalty by Jamie Webber.

“The goals are coming too softly. Maybe we need to give others an opportunity,” Tembo said. “I thought we started very well, we kept the ball very well, and defended well until they took the lead with a goal that I thought was very soft.

“That was the same goal we conceded against Maritzburg United. Even after that we kept on going and had more chances than them, Iqraam [Rayners] one-on-one with the goalkeeper and the penalty as well.

“That summed up our game today. We are really struggling to find the back of the net and need to work that little bit harder because we are lacking the quality, especially in that final third. There is no killer instinct at all.”

They did at least have Gabuza back on the park after three months and he won the penalty that was spurned by Webber.

“Gabuza did very well considering he has been out for some time. I was quite happy with the way he came on, his attitude was right. He worked very hard and I didn’t think he would last 90 minutes, at one point I wanted to take him off but he said he wanted to keep going. I was quite happy with him.”

The club have drafted in experienced winger Aubrey Ngoma, whose talent has never been in doubt but his ability to stay fit and available for selection is the big question. 

“Aubrey has also been out for some time now, you can see he is a little bit rusty. We will bring him on gradually, but you can see the quality is there. We just need to speed him up in terms of match fitness.”

Next up is a home clash with AmaZulu on Saturday, where they will hope to avoid an unprecedented sixth loss in eight games at Lucas Moripe.

“AmaZulu is another tough game, but we will have to really work hard, especially defensively,” Tembo said.