GOOD TO HAVE YOU BACK: Travis Graham and Toriq Losper discuss tactics. Losper has returned from injury ahead of Friday's game against AmaTuks. Photo: Grant Pitcher, Gallo Images GOOD TO HAVE YOU BACK: Travis Graham and Toriq Losper discuss tactics. Losper has returned from injury ahead of Friday's game against AmaTuks. Photo: Grant Pitcher, Gallo Images
Anthony McLennan
It’s back to league duties for Ajax Cape Town this week, with the University of Pretoria set to provide a formidable challenge for the Urban Warriors at the Cape Town Stadium on Friday night.
This follows the hard-fought 2-1 Nedbank Cup win over Bidvest Wits last Friday night, which put the Cape side through to the semi-final, with a home draw against SuperSport United scheduled for two week’s time.
But before then, matches against two of the more unfashionable PSL clubs await as Ajax host AmaTuks, followed by an away trip to Free State Stars (Tuesday, 21 April), two sides that the Urban Warriors have struggled against in the past.
The focus now for the team is to make sure of a top eight finish, an objective that coach Roger De Sa feels his side could potentially have wrapped up within the next seven days.
“The cup competition – we shelve that now, and focus on the two league games, that’s how we have been doing it all season. It’s always difficult to go from cup to league, and so on. At least we are coming to the league in a positive frame of mind, and confident as well.
“I see this game against Tuks as a very important game for us, to continue that winning mentality. The important thing is for us to focus on our job and our target to try and get into the top eight. It’s important to get the two wins as quickly as possible.
“If we can get full points from that, it almost guarantees us a top eight spot – I believe 40 points (Ajax are currently on 34 points from 24 games) will guarantee a top eight finish,” he said.
The Parow-based club’s recent overall record makes for very good reading – six wins and two defeats in their last eight games, the team having come back strongly after the slump they suffered leading up to the Christmas break. However, the 9-1 Nedbank Cup win over rookies Mainstay United aside, the only other time that Ajax have won by more than one goal was when they beat Chippa United 2-0.
For the rest, the team has had to really grind out results, sometimes relying on a bit of luck to go their way. It’s working for now, the victories helping to bring confidence and self-belief to a young side, although one continues to get the feeling that this bunch of talented players are good enough to be winning games more comfortably than they have been.
It’s something De Sa is aware of as he looks to try and mould his youthful team into a top four club in the near future, although for now, winning without playing at full capacity is by no means a bad thing.
“There have also been times when we have played well and we didn’t get results,” De Sa pointed out. I’ve watched Chelsea win championships after championships, not in the nicest way. I think grinding results is part of being a good team. Playing to win, playing the result, is important. That said, we are a footballing side, no doubt about it. I think where we are lacking is we seem to play pretty good football in patches, but we don’t follow that up for the 90 minutes.
“We have got to learn to keep on playing, even when we go one-nil up, we have got to learn to try and get the second, and the third, and that’s something we are trying to get better at. Tassie (striker Tashreeq Morris) for example has admitted that it’s something he can improve on, and when he gets it right, when we all get it right, hopefully we can get the second and third goal and play to our full potential. I think the only time we did that was versus Black Aces here in Cape Town (a 3-0 win in the Telkom Knockout in October)], when we dominated the entire 90 minutes.”
A big positive of late for De Sa has been the fact that for the most part he has had a fully fit squad to work with – Toriq Losper and Aidan Jenniker are set to return this week from short-term injuries, which has given him more options, and has allowed him to blend youth with experience.
“What I like about the team is the versatility. We can keep the opposition guessing a bit, where they can’t just set up camp and say ‘right this is how they are going to play’. Is Tassie going to play as a striker or a winger, where is Riyaad (Norodien) going to play, left or right? Is Keagan Dolly on the wing or through the middle – I think it’s important to keep opponents guessing a bit.”