We were not trained for this – Mosimane
Dividing the squad in half and having an 11 versus 11 drill at training is a thing of the past, at least for now under the very strict Covid-19 protocols for teams in the Absa Premiership and GladAfrica Championship.
Pitso Mosimane instructs players during the Sundowns training at Chloorkop (Gavin Barker/BackpagePix)
Since teams returned to training, the maximum number of players allowed on the pitch simultaneously is five and this, by most admissions, has proven to be a less effective way for coaches to train their teams.
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Mamelodi Sundowns coach Pitso Mosimane cuts a very frustrated figure but somehow still manages to find ways around the strict measure put in place.
“We were never trained to do social distancing when we trained and qualified to be coaches, many of us have never had that, it is a new life and we have to adjust and be innovative. It is a total different thing, frustrating.
“Training has been good, it has got its own challenges and positives. Our challenge is the new training programs. We are in a situation where training is in small groups and with social distancing,” said Mosimane.
“These are the challenges, but we make a plan because when you are training within Covid-19, it is about being clever and finding alternatives and thinking about what you can do. But we are not complaining, we have got the conditioning up, but the tactical awareness is not very good because instead of doing 11 versus 11 to get the shape and movements … we don’t train the whole team,” he added.
This week Masandawana conducted their first video match analysis at the Royal Marang where they are holding a camp. It was not the usual intimate and up-close kind of procedure.
“We did the first video match analysis and we could not all go into the conference room and all sit there, we do them outside on the balcony with good social distancing with the projector and the open spaces,” said Mosimane.
“We are struggling to hear what the players are saying, because they have got the mask on and you cannot hear the guy at the back because we use A big space. We can only do it at a certain time and that is between 5pm to 6pm because if we do it earlier there is the reflection of the sun and you cannot go indoors because the doctors said they do not want anyone in the conference room where there is little ventilation, it is too dangerous,” he added.
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