Tinkler ready to throw kitchen sink at red-hot Sundowns
'You need to be brave when playing the final, insists the Cape Town City coach.
Cape Town City hard at training ahead of the MTN8 Final against Mamelodi Sundowns at the Moses Mabhida Stadium on Saturday. Picture: Ryan Wilkisky/BackpagePix
Mamelodi Sundowns coaches have always moaned about how teams take a cautious approach when playing them, sitting back and look to catch them on the break, to the point that former Downs coach Pitso Mosimane always called out Orlando Pirates as the only team that was brave enough to throw the kitchen sink at Masandawana.
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With that in mind and the potent quality that Sundowns possess, co-coaches Manqoba Mngqithi and Rhulani Mokwena can rest assured knowing that Cape Town City are not intending to fall back and play dead when they meet in the MTN8 final this Saturday in Durban.
City mentor Eric Tinkler, who already has a Telkom Knockout trophy with the Mother City-based outfit under his belt, won his maiden MTN8 trophy with Supersport United where they Cape Town City 4-2 in penalties in 2017.
Tinkler’s side head into the final on the back of an empathic 4-3 win over Golden Arrows. However, the former Bafana Bafana midfielder does not mind if the final pans out in similar fashion, insisting his side will throw the kitchen sink at Downs.
“It was sort of like a heart attack to win the game 4-3,” said Tinkler. “You only get one chance in the cup final and we must go with the same mindset that we had against Arrows where we scored goals and we were positive.
“This this is a cup final, it’s once off and you need to be brave when playing the final. We can’t go there and try to keep it a nil-nil to possibly try to take it to penalties. No, that is not the way we will plan things. We will look to apply ourselves against Sundowns because with the quality that they have, you cannot afford to sit back and wait because you will get punished. We will go out and play good attacking football because that is what we are good at. If we have to win it 4-3 like we won the game against Arrows, then so be it,” Tinkler said.
