Tinkler Laments Missed Chances – iDiski Times

Cape Town City head coach Eric Tinkler said that Congolese outfit AS Otoho frustrated his team in the first half, and he was disappointed to not win by a bigger margin than the 2-0 achieved in the first leg of their first preliminary round CAF Champions League tie at Athlone Stadium.

Taahir Goedeman and Marc Van Heerden scored second-half goals as City won the game comfortably on Saturday afternoon, but they will know they could’ve won by a bigger margin.

Tinkler, who had to watch from the stands due to not holding the required badges as a head coach, said it was always going to be a tough game, not knowing much about their opponents.

Full Time @CapeTownCityFC a 2-0 AS Otoho #CAFCL #TotalEnergiesCAFCL pic.twitter.com/qN3Q4lnHF2

— Rob Delport (@FMSouthAfrica) September 10, 2022

“Coming into the game, in terms of our analysis of them was always going to be very, very difficult, because the only real footage we managed to get of them was a cup game that they played a couple of weeks ago,” Tinkler said after the game.

“Because there was nothing else, you know, we normally work with InStat, but unfortunately, there was nothing on InStat. So our analyst managed to find through YouTube that match. And in terms of how they played, especially on that pitch, there in Brazzaville. A lot of long ball, second balls, you could see that they were a threat aerially.

“But there was always that uncertainty in terms of, would they still be playing that way? Would it be that same line-up? Because obviously, the coach that was there parted ways, new coach was appointed. So we kind of weren’t 100% sure exactly what they were going to come with.

“We managed to obviously get some info in terms of their players and positions, etc, etc, and you know how it works in CAF, it’s literally last minute that you get the team sheets, just before kickoff, basically.

“And we could see that, ultimately, there was the possibility of them changing their formation to a back three, which ended up being correct, we assessed it correctly. So they played with the back five, they tried to frustrate us in that first half. I think their goalkeeper, I don’t know how many times it took way longer than six seconds to release the ball. Whenever the ball went out, they took their time.

“So you could see the way they set themselves up, they literally came here to try and get a 0-0- draw, or steal something on the counter. And even though they played in that low block, we still managed to penetrate, we still created chances and we should have scored, we should have scored at least two or three in the first time.

“And that was a bit frustrating, and you could see the players at halftime being a little bit frustrated about that. I felt that Ambina needed to play a little bit higher. Because really, they were playing a 5-4-1 formation, and we had the three at the back and there wasn’t that necessity.

“So we wanted him to step in a little bit higher. In the second half, we wanted fullbacks to get a little bit higher and wider. And that perseverance, we eventually got the first and then we got the second, we should have got a third that I don’t know why it was disallowed, but it is what it is.

“But that started opening them up, that started changing the way they play, he went back from a five to a four. And then I think a little bit of fatigue on our side towards the end, they started putting those long balls and picking up the second balls, and then they became a little bit more of a threat, especially on the corners and the free kicks.

“And there was once or twice a day that we were scrambling a little bit, and they could have come away with something 2-1, which would have been disappointing. So for me, again, same old problem, not taking our chances and making sure that we punished teams. We needed to go get the third, we needed to go get the fourth and we didn’t do that.

“So that for me is a disappointing factor, knowing that you going there now with a 2-0 lead, I would have preferred to have gone there with a little bit more, because we’ve already seen the type of pitch that we’re going to be playing on and, we’re going to have to be extremely positive, not go they look to be defensive, but rather look to go there and get that away goal because it still obviously exists in this competition.”

In this edition of iDiski Times Grant Margeman talks about his desire to show his worth at SuperSport United and eventually return to claim a spot at Mamelodi Sundowns. Banyana coach Desiree Ellis talks about their preperation for the World Cup and how the WAFCON gold medal has changed everything. There is also a feature putting focus on the Bafana Bafana goalkeeping conundrum. Read this and a whole lot more in the full edition below: