Basic errors again proved Cape Town Spurs' undoing as they lost to Stellenbosch in the DStv Premiership on Tuesday with coach Ernst Middendorp railing against a lack of team spirit in the final stages of the match.
“There was frustration in the last 15-20 minutes where you saw on one side, a unified team with everybody contributing to a team performance, while, on the other side, there were just 10 players plus goalkeeper on the field, just hoping that the match would come to an end. It was definitely not a unified team,” moaned Middendorp after the 3-0 ;oss at the Cape Town stadium that kept his side firmly rooted to the bottom of the table.
It was a second game in four days for the veteran German in charge of his new side after they lost 2-1 to Royal AM on Saturday.
— Cape Town Spurs FC (@CapeTownSpursFC) November 29, 2023
“We didn’t show the character that you have to show if you want to stay in the PSL.”
He said Spurs needed to be sharper in the one-on-one moments, in attack, midfield and defence. “It's too naive in general.”
But he did say Spurs had periods of the game where they matched Stellenbosch, who are now up to fourth in the DStv Premiership standings.
“In some periods we were equal, but in certain moment falling apart and, in this moment, you can see that the character of the team is not the best.”
“Yeah, this is this is definitely nothing that you can be proud of. Absolutely. It’s a disaster, it's definitely embarrassing, there's no doubt about it,” he said of the final spell of the game.
“A lot of work to be done in this direction, it's difficult to say. I see certain quality, I see certain skills on the training grounds.”
“There were moments where you can see there is no confidence at all. Consequently you’re making mistakes and not functioning as a team,” he added.