Truter Happy With Usuthu Progress

AmaZulu Head Coach Brandon Truter says he is happy with the progress his squad is making in the preseason but says there is still a lot of work to do.

Usuthu were in a preseason camp in Polokwane this past week before heading back to KwaZulu-Natal, where they won the Prince Mangosuthu Legacy Cup on Saturday.

ONE OF MANY THIS SEASON 🥳🏆💚

AmaZulu Football Club are the champions of the Prince Mangosuthu Legacy Cup after defeating Richards Bay FC 4-2 on penalties.#PMLegacyCup2022#HebeUsuthu#UsuthuTogether pic.twitter.com/qPQ4WERbeV

— AmaZulu FC (@AmaZuluFootball) July 23, 2022

iDiski Times journalist Lethabo Kganyago caught up with the former Richards Bay and Swallows coach to find out how the preseason has been going.

“We’re actually in week three. So far, so good,” Truter told iDiski Times. 

“I’m happy with the progress that was made over the past weeks as well. We played two training matches, which opened us up to where we still need to work on it. 

“It showed us also a few weaknesses and how we can also come up with a system that will be beneficial to all the players. And not just me saying, we will use this system to play with this playing style or this philosophy. 

“While that is developing with all the players around us. I’m actually very, very excited, and happy to see how we have progressed over these past three weeks.”

Truter said with some of the new players like Ethan Brooks, who only joined now after the Cosafa, Cup, and others like Gabadinho Mhango and Larry Bwalya, the focus is on integrating them into the team.

“Ja, look, I think the biggest part with Ethan, with Gabadinho, the other guys like Veli Mothwa also joined us late, it’s integration and getting them to understand as well,” Truter explained. 

“For me, it’s down to man management, for the technical team  it’s down to managing their load as well. We also have Larry Bwalya who joined us late, with the Zambian league ending after the PSL. He had a very short break, and then coming back with still amount of fatigue, so it’s about getting ready. 

“But the PSL season kickoff is around the corner. So we have to get it right. We on a camp now, a week camp, away from everything, where we can just focus on the team. 

“But going back, we’re going straight to the Legacy Cup, from here, from Polokwane, and then of course, we have the Premiers Cup after that, of the data and then immediately the league starts. So it’s about managing and fine-tuning at the moment. But there’s so much still to do.”

In the latest bumper edition of iDiski Times, you can hear from Thulani ‘Tyson’ Hlatshwayo following his exit from Orlando Pirates, where he talks about being ignored at times, where things turned sour and what it was like to represent his boyhood club. There is also an interview with Teko Modise who speaks about his new agency, former Bucs coach Fadlu Davids who says that co-coaching doesn’t work and a whole lot more. Read the full edition below: