Inter City FC head coach Theo Hempe feels they are too good of a team with quality players to be relegated this season despite his side’s woes in front of goal and their current precarious (second last) position on the log.
City, a newcomer to the ABC Motsepe League is currently flirting with danger and in jeopardy of losing their Second Division status in its debut season. Three wins from 13 matches, which includes two draws and nine loses looks ominous and nothing to write home about.
Furthermore, City have almost conceded twice as many goals as they have scored which is 12 goals scored and 20 conceded.
Irrespective of this, Hempe, a former Cape Town Spurs pro player, suggested that he is not too critical of his players for their efforts so far this season.
Hempe explained to No Bones with Jones. “We are actually playing really well. We create so many chances but just not scoring. We have some young players so it’s a learning curve but we are playing really well. Like for e.g. we outplayed Spurs both matches but conceded in 90th min in both matches.
“I would be worried if we were not playing well or creating chances but actually we played very well. It will change again. We defend well, play good football and create many chances every match. Very confident we’ll start winning and climb up the table.
“I’m also not upset with the players as they are playing really well, working hard but just need to start scoring again. We are probably limited upfront in terms of experience and numbers but the team is playing very well,” the former Milano United coach added.
According to Hempe they also have a “fantastic” coaching team who works tirelessly behind the scenes to address their issues on the field and to turn things around.
“We complement each other, we work well together, we work hard and players are responding to it,” Hempe further explains. “It’s just a matter of putting the ball into the net. Let me give you another example… We had four 1v1 situations against the Spurs goalkeeper last week and couldn’t convert
“Even their coaches told us they couldn’t understand why we were not at least 3-0 up at half time. So, that indicates where our shortcomings are. Strikers and (natural) finishers are hard to come by. It’s a South African problem. Still, I believe we are too good a team to be down there for long,” Hempe concluded.
PHOTO SUPPLIED BY CONRAY SWAIL
