Chronicle Editor
Innocent Kurira, Sports Reporter
PREMIER Soccer League coaches Mandla Mpofu of Highlanders and Bulawayo City’s Philani Ncube have said local players still have a long way to go before reaching full fitness.
Coaches have been moaning about the fitness levels of players since football resumed with the Chibuku Super Cup early last month.
The general feeling among them is that they did not get enough pre-season training to sharpen their charges.
Teams were hit by injuries in every matchday of the Chibuku Super Cup, with almost every player struggling to finish the regulated 90 minutes with the required intensity.
The PSL is set to start at the end of this month.
Ncube says players and coaches are not physically and mentally ready for the start of the league season.
“I think it’s wrong timing to start the league this month-end. The players are far from being match fit. You look at the teams play you can tell the players have knocks and some are just playing because we have given them pain killers,” said Ncube.
“We need technical people in these decision-making bodies; someone who understands the body of a player, not someone who just says play.
“If you look at the mid-week games that were played some weeks ago, the players looked drained after that tight fixture schedule. If l was in the decision-making body, l would give us another four weeks for the players to be ready,” he said.
Mpofu said he needs a few more weeks to get his players to full fitness.
“We are still in pre-season and are not fit. I would say the players can get to full fitness maybe after five league games. Remember to get fit you need to be playing. The fixture schedule for the cup has been hectic, but what can we do? We are just happy that we are back playing football. When we start playing, the players will improve their fitness levels,” said Mpofu.
The PSL was last played in November 2019 when FC Platinum clinched their third successive PSL title. — @innocentskizoe
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