Stellenbosch consider ‘old-school’ approach to stop AmaZulu striker Ngwenya

Stellenbosch head coach Gavin Hunt says his team may need to use an “old-school” man-marking approach to contain AmaZulu striker Thandolwenkosi Ngwenya in Sunday’s Carling Knockout Cup quarter-final.

Ngwenya has been one of the most prolific forwards in South African football this season, scoring 11 goals in 11 appearances in all competitions for Arthur Zwane’s side.

Asked by iDiski Times whether Stellenbosch had a specific plan to limit the Zimbabwean forward, Hunt joked that the club could return to the defensive methods of the past. However, he stressed that awareness and concentration would be central to dealing with Ngwenya’s movement and threat.

“Well, maybe we should do it like we used to do in old days? We go with a man marker, don’t we?” Hunt said at the pre-match press conference, where he was joined by defender Given Msimango.

“As they say about modern football, maybe we should go back to the old ways and man-mark a few people. I can tell you a few stories about man-marking.

“So, you know, the bottom line is awareness, awareness of the situation, and it should be for any striker, you know what I’m saying. But awareness has to come into play. And my guy on my left here, you know, I can only tell him, but if he’s not aware, I mean, you know.

“But yeah, I mean, I’ve had incidents, we’ve had man markers, and the team runs out, and the guy’s not playing. What happens now? You know what I mean.

“So, obviously, he will play on the weekend. There’s no doubt about it. But I mean, yeah, the awareness has to be there, and certainly concentration is very important.”

Msimango is expected to form part of a defensive unit that could also include young players Luthando Vena and Siviwe Nkwali. He agreed with Hunt that maintaining focus would be vital, although he made clear that he was not convinced by the suggestion of assigning a direct marker.

“Yeah, I think in terms of game awareness and game intelligence, I think the young guys are doing exceptionally well,” Msimango said.

“The little bit of guidance that I add on the pitch helps, and it was just unfortunate that the last game, the loss to Chippa United in the league, didn’t go our way.

“But going into the next one, the coaches obviously spoke about the technical and tactical elements of man-marking of which I totally disagree with.

“On the day, it’s a collective effort as a defence, as midfielders and attackers to try and mitigate their threats. And I think with the planning that we’ve had this week, we’ve done enough to ensure that we get a good result on the weekend.”