De Sa will only pick ‘players who listen’
Roger de Sa is about to get tough with his Ajax Cape Town squad, after they again squandered an easy win against Chippa United.
|||Cape Town - Roger de Sa is about to get tough with his Ajax Cape Town squad, after they again squandered an easy victory - and three points - in a 1-1 draw with Chippa United on Tuesday night.
Seemingly in control of proceedings, Ajax let it slip after yet another lapse in concentration as Chippa took advantage of some sloppy defending and punished the Capetonians. Ajax are back in action on Saturday when they host Free State Stars in a last 32 Nedbank Cup tie at the Athlone Stadium (kick-off 6pm) - and De Sa has already warned that there will be changes. Even the regular starters are in danger of demotion to the bench.
“We keep saying ‘they are young, they are young’…’” said a visibly unhappy De Sa. “But when do they grow up? Maybe I should talk a different language and they will start to listen and understand me.
“But the only option, I guess, is not to play them, and pick only those who are prepared to listen. We have to step up, that’s for sure. I can tell you that, over the last few weeks, we have given away seven charity goals… and, if you are a professional footballer, you can’t carry on making such mistakes, you have to eliminate them from your game.
“The performance against Chippa wasn’t too bad, it was a gutsy display from the team. But it was again disappointing how we conceded a goal… again it was a silly error and it was charitable goal. What makes it even worse is that, at halftime, I told the players I didn’t want them to make any unnecessary back-passes and that is exactly what they did, and we conceded. And then there were the chances up front… we should have been two or three goals up and instead we had to be happy with a point.”
Ajax’s goal was scored by the in-form Prince Nxumalo - it was the 25-year-old’s 11th of the season. He is now just one goal behind Zambian Collins Mbesuma of Mpumalanga Black Aces on the PSL’s leading goal scorer charts.
But De Sa admitted that he still needed even more from his star striker.
“We are all taking about Prince and how well he is doing,” said the Ajax coach. “Yes, he is playing well at the moment, he has been good… but how many opportunities does he miss? We say he scored a goal, but in the very same game he’s missed quite a few. If you want to be a top striker, you have to put away a higher percentage… Prince knows that and he is working on it.”
Ajax recently lost 1-0 to Free State Stars in a PSL fixture in Bethlehem - and now they’re at home in a cup game. With the advantage of Athlone, the Cape side is hoping to put one over the Free Staters this time around. There’s definitely no inkling in De Sa’s mind about defeat, it’s just not the way he’s wired. He’s already on record as saying that he’s a very poor loser, which is why he is a demanding a response from his team on Saturday. “There’ll be no change in attitude against Free State Stars on Saturday, it will be no different to any other game… we will be trying to win.
“That’s just how I approach the sport, everything is about winning. When I was at school, the game at first break was massive… and the game at second break was just as massive.
“Last year’s Nedbank Cup final was massive… and so, too, will Saturday.
“Obviously, having made it to the final last year, we will be looking to again do well in this competition.
“We lost to Free State Stars last week, so the guys have an idea of what to expect. They know what the opposition is all about.”
Cape Argus