Stellenbosch FC head coach Tshegofatso Mabasa has explained why he didn’t start striker Tshegofatso Mabasa in their 1-1 draw against Mamelodi Sundowns.
Hunt, who has been in football for over 20 years and has seen it all, has taken Stellenbosch up the log after finding them languishing in the relegation zone in January.
The four-time league winner has set up his Stellenbosch side in an unpredictable way, making regular changes to his starting XI.
Against high-flying Sundowns, Hunt opted to start the game without natural striker Mabasa, who came off the bench to score the late equaliser.
After the final whistle, Hunt explained that it was the best way to tackle Sundowns’ strengths, because he needed players that will be on the right side of the ball also some pace was needed.
“I don’t want to sound clever, other coaches will sit here and sound very clever and will give you the whole football explanation, but I felt it’s a best way to go,” Hunt told the media.
“We want our people on right of side of the ball, not wrong side of the ball. The striker will be on the wrong side of the ball a lot of the times and when we break out we break out with space. We want to let the centre-half have the ball 9/10 they will give it to us.
“It’s not being clever it’s just, we had what we wanted to do and I said it before I’ve beaten Sundowns many times playing with no striker. I’ve done it before and I did it again. So it’s not clever, it’s a way to try and do something.
“We got to do something different, we can’t play our normal way against a team of this quality, they will beat us 10 times. So we have to do other things differently and I thought we did.”
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