SuperSport United assistant coach Andre Arendse admits Orlando Pirates have taken over the mantle as cup kings in recent seasons, but they are determined to prove their worth.
SuperSport last won a trophy in 2019 in the form of the MTN8 and overall have lifted 11 domestic cups and three league titles since being formed in 1994.
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It’s a club that has always been a challenger or thereabout for titles but over the last five season there’s been a shit in strategy for the club to remain profitable and sustainable by selling their best talents at the end of each season and promoting heavily from development.
This has led to the club being less competitive in the league and in the cups, having also reached the CAF Confederation Cup final back in 2017, but since then it’s been a notable change in transfer policies at the club.
“In the past we started to have the that whole mantle of being cup kings, we loved it, we thrived on that, along the way we built really good squads of players, who could take us the distance in any cup competition,” he said.
“So, there was a lot of focus on that as well – our squad has changed a bit over time and one of the key aspects is where we have gone as a club, in terms of development structures, developing to sell and that type of thing.
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“That has now become the lifeblood of the club and sometimes it does pose a bit of a problem, trying to keep squads together for example but we have been able to manage that – I think we’ve fallen a but short on the focus of these cup competitions.”
Arendse says the focus with a youthful squad will always be to finish as high as possible in the league each season with cups the secondary objective – but the club’s CEO Stan Matthews says prior to the start of the campaign, they believed there’s enough experience to challenge for a domestic cup this time around.
“As you know any club, coach, team will tell you the league takes priority over cups, but it does give you a sort of feel-good factor and it’s one of the reasons why we feel the need to embrace this opportunity because of the stats you have given – when we last won a cup,” he added.
“It sits in our minds but first and foremost in this particular cup now – we need to try and go as deep as we possibly could, and this stage now is a step in the right direction, against the holders, against the super strong team like Pirates.
“You could say they have become cup kings at the moment in recent times, so it’s a good test for us, we need to put a XI together, a squad together that we feel will not only challenge them but feel we can win the game as well – we want to reach this final.”
The two side’s meet at the Old Peter Mokaba Stadium tomorrow at 15h00 for a place in the semi-finals of the Nedbank Cup.
