Rusike comes out second to Tau as an attacker‚ says Maritzburg's Davids

06 February 2018 - 11:49
By Marc Strydom
 Evans Rusike of Supersport United during the Absa Premiership match between Supersport United and Ama Zulu FC at Lucas Moripe Stadium on January 31, 2018 in Pretoria.
Image: Lefty Shivambu/Gallo Images Evans Rusike of Supersport United during the Absa Premiership match between Supersport United and Ama Zulu FC at Lucas Moripe Stadium on January 31, 2018 in Pretoria.

On certain statistics‚ new SuperSport United signing Evans Rusike comes out second to Percy Tau as an attacker in the Premier Soccer League‚ says the Zimbabwean’s former coach Fadlu Davids.

Maritzburg United coach Davids admitted that his team will struggle to fill Rusike’s shoes after the sought-after striker was sold to SuperSport in the January transfer window.

Rusike scored his first goal for his new club in his second game as Matsatsantsa bounced back from a torrid run with a 4-2 home thrashing of Bloemfontein Celtic on Saturday.

“Evans is a fantastic player. Just last week‚ before he was sold‚ we looked at the stats‚” Davids said.

“Not in terms of goals and assists‚ but in terms of elements that are important to us.

“We look at the statistics and‚ you know‚ it’s (Mamelodi Sundowns forward) Percy Tau on top and him second.

“He’s one of the best strikers in the league and congratulations to SuperSport – they’ve got a fantastic player. He scored for them on the weekend.

“And of course losing a player like that is always a situation.

"But we have to tweak‚ we have to change our attacking structures slightly to be able to accommodate the players who we have.

“Because the players we have now have different strengths and we have to tweak the structures to get them to display their skills‚ play into certain areas on the pitch.

“And ja‚ we move on.”

United‚ who lost 2-1 against Orlando Pirates at Orlando Stadium on Saturday‚ meet the ABC Motsepe League fallen giants Swallows FC in the Nedbank Cup last-32 at Dobsonville Stadium on Saturday.