At the Durban City FC training grounds, the focus is on unity and precision. As the squad prepares for its next challenge, Assistant Coach Pitso Dladla points to a recent period of intensive work as a critical step in the team’s evolution.
Up next is a home fixture against Siwelele at the Chatsworth Stadium on Tuesday 16 September.
For Dladla, the time away from competitive fixtures was a golden opportunity to solidify the squad’s foundations, especially vital for a group blending experienced campaigners with new faces.
“Some of the players here are new, and some are even new in the league. This time was crucial for us to strengthen ourselves tactically and ensure a complete understanding of what the technical team wants,” Dladla explained.
“We needed this period to work with the boys, to continue building. It helped us very well in that regard.”
With the focus turned firmly inward, training sessions were dedicated to forging a cohesive identity and a resilient mindset. The objective, Dladla says, is to build a team that excels in every phase of the game.
“We’re working more on ourselves. We just want to be the team that is good without the ball, but you also want to be a team that is good with the ball. We want to improve as a team more than anything else,” he stated.
“That needs more training sessions. We are still developing a lot of what we want to be. We used this time to work on things that were supposed to become a whole team, and the boys are responding very well.”
Dladla noted the premium placed on concentration and execution in the top flight.
“The intensity is different. The chances you get, they are minimal. Opponents wait for the mistake, and once you commit, they punish you. Unlike in other leagues where you might get away with errors, here, each and every mistake is punished.”
This newfound sharpness will be essential for the upcoming match. Dladla is under no illusions about the task at hand, dismissing any notion that a newly branded team lacks experience.
“They pose a danger like all other teams. We may say it’s a new team, but it is not a new team; it’s just a new name. Look at their players, most of them have lots of caps in this league. We know them, and our coach has coached lots of them, so it’s going to be a tough game.”
“But,” he concluded with conviction, “with the support that we normally enjoy playing at home, we believe that if we do well as a team, we will be able to get the result.”
