Hunt concerned World Cup break could derail momentum

SuperSport United coach Gavin Hunt is concerned with the upcoming Fifa World Cup break as he feels it will derail the momentum of many teams.

Matsatsantsa a Pitori will play their last match on Sunday when they host Swallows at Lucas Moripe Stadium at 3.30pm. And their next game will be on December 30 against Marumo Gallants.

Hunt says it will be difficult for players to train during the December holidays ahead of the league resumption as most are used to playing in January.

“Well, you can see we are doing 45 minutes and hour sessions and December is going to be worse because it will be the first time that it will happen where we will play games on the 30th and 31st,” Hunt told the media.

“So, you will have players training on Christmas and Boxing Day and these types of things are going to be the first for many players and everybody because we normally play in the middle of January and finish on December 21.

“We will have time off now after this game and that’s our Christmas and then we will come back in December and train.”

Hunt suggests that the December fixtures should have been brought forward to next week before the MTN8 final to accommodate the New Year’s Eve matches.

“I know there is an MTN8 final, but we should have played the game on the weekend and Wednesday and got three or four games out of the way,” he said.

“Now in January, we will have eight games plus the 30, so it is eight games in 16 days. It is quite pushy.

“Nobody knows what’s going to work or not going to work. Do we overt-rain, do we under-train and how much training do we do? It is very difficult as you can see.

“So, it is very difficult to try and see where you are, how much training, what to do and what not to do. When everybody is down on the beach, it will be mentally taxing to be training.

“We play on Sunday and we won’t play until the 30th of December which is two months. So, it's going to be different how we handle the players and maintain the level.”