AmaZulu coach Romain Folz says his players are not in the best of shape at the moment, and even Manchester City coach Pep Guardiola would not be able to do anything with them at this current state.
Folz revealed that he was not surprised to see his side crushed 3-0 by Mamelodi Sundowns in the semi-final of the Carling Black Label Cup at FNB Stadium on Saturday because physically they are not at their best.
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He said the Tshwane giants have players who circulated the ball better and held on to it a long time, resulting in his side chasing the ball all the time, which required a lot of work.
The former Marumo Gallants coach said he saw this from the first week he sat the foot at the club that they are not in the best shape after the departure of coach Brandon Truter.
“I think it is one thing to want to implement something, it is another thing to have the legs and the capacity to do it,” said Folz after the game on Saturday.
“I feel like most of our players are not training physically. We were facing a team that is good on the ball and on the attack, making sure that plays left, right and move the ball quickly and hold the ball too long.
“The boys, moving a lot, it required a lot of runs to do on and off the ball. If you are not ready, as much as I can give the best instruction that I want – it can come from Pep Guardiola, but in the end if you are not responding, you are not going to do anything.
“I knew this assessment from week one, that our capacity to repeat the effort is low and I knew that coming to face teams that are very much capable of moving the ball that we will struggle, for sure.”
That’s why Folz is looking forward to the upcoming FIFA World Cup break so he can address these issues.
“That’s why I said after eight days after getting a job, our biggest challenge is going to rebuild everyone physically when the break happens,” he said.
“That will be one of our first missions and I’m positive that after the break, our capacity to answer those challenges is going to be much better. That is one aspect that led to our poor performance.
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“Even that, even with us not capable enough to repeat those efforts, being late on many, many occasions on and off the ball, we still have a few chances and they could have put us in a better situation than chasing the game.”
As Sundowns ran in riot to crush AmaZulu, Folz in the technical area, looked defeated, having no ideas on how he could counter the Tshwane giants, who also crushed Orlando Pirates 4-0 in the CBL final.
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