Stuart Baxter is enjoying having four months to work with SuperSport United under no real pressure, but says it is also an awkward phase.
United's new coach believes his players are slowly adapting to his style of play, he said after his side's 2-0 Absa Premiership defeat to Mamelodi Sundowns at Lucas Moripe Stadium on Tuesday night.
Baxter is yet to win two matches in a row in his seven games with the team he took over after Gordon Igesund's dismissal in late January. The former Kaizer Chiefs coach's record at Matsantsantsa reads: WDLWLWL.
"You come into a club and say, 'How much can I actually change? Do I just give the players everything I've got and expect them to deal with it, and have them not know what's hit them?" the coach said.
"Or do I, as we're trying to do, change a few of the big structural things and then just give individual advice here and there, and hope the atmosphere, tempo and structure will get better?
"It's a difficult one, because every day you're thinking, 'Don't give them too much'. But I think the boys are doing a good job, and some of the football we're playing is what I want to play."
A concern for Baxter is that former Bafana Bafana captain Dean Furman has been notably bellow his best in defensive midfield.
Furman, who last played for Doncaster Rovers in England's League One (third tier), has struggled to adapt to the style of play in the PSL. Baxter believes the solution is to keep his key midfielder playing.
"I think Dean is almost playing well. He's very close in what he's doing. Do you play him through this or rest him? I think with Dean, yes, you play him. With a more temperamental player maybe you wouldn't. I think Dean will want to work through this.
"You look at a player like Dean, who we know is a bit all-action, and say he's not at the pace. But I think sometimes things are not happening quickly enough in front of him so he's having to take an extra touch, and then he gets himself in trouble."
SuperSport meet First Division Moroka Swallows in a Nedbank Cup first round match at Dobsonville Stadium on Tuesday.
Baxter happy with his progress
Stuart Baxter is enjoying having four months to work with SuperSport United under no real pressure, but says it is also an awkward phase.
United's new coach believes his players are slowly adapting to his style of play, he said after his side's 2-0 Absa Premiership defeat to Mamelodi Sundowns at Lucas Moripe Stadium on Tuesday night.
Baxter is yet to win two matches in a row in his seven games with the team he took over after Gordon Igesund's dismissal in late January. The former Kaizer Chiefs coach's record at Matsantsantsa reads: WDLWLWL.
"You come into a club and say, 'How much can I actually change? Do I just give the players everything I've got and expect them to deal with it, and have them not know what's hit them?" the coach said.
"Or do I, as we're trying to do, change a few of the big structural things and then just give individual advice here and there, and hope the atmosphere, tempo and structure will get better?
"It's a difficult one, because every day you're thinking, 'Don't give them too much'. But I think the boys are doing a good job, and some of the football we're playing is what I want to play."
A concern for Baxter is that former Bafana Bafana captain Dean Furman has been notably bellow his best in defensive midfield.
Furman, who last played for Doncaster Rovers in England's League One (third tier), has struggled to adapt to the style of play in the PSL. Baxter believes the solution is to keep his key midfielder playing.
"I think Dean is almost playing well. He's very close in what he's doing. Do you play him through this or rest him? I think with Dean, yes, you play him. With a more temperamental player maybe you wouldn't. I think Dean will want to work through this.
"You look at a player like Dean, who we know is a bit all-action, and say he's not at the pace. But I think sometimes things are not happening quickly enough in front of him so he's having to take an extra touch, and then he gets himself in trouble."
SuperSport meet First Division Moroka Swallows in a Nedbank Cup first round match at Dobsonville Stadium on Tuesday.
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