‘Pull up your socks’, Grobler tells his young SuperSport teammates

SuperSport United is known for being one of the few DStv Premiership teams that pride themselves with using young players, and that has been visible in their squads of recent seasons.

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The Spartans do, however, blend their youthful players with more experienced players such as Bradley Grobler, Thulani “Tyson” Hlatshwayo and Siyabonga Nhlapho, to mention just a few.

But head coach Gavin Hunt has not been able to strike a winning formula as the side are yet to collect maximum points after drawing two and losing two in their opening matches of the season.

Veteran striker, Grobler, is of the view that some youngsters are not pulling enough weight and they need to change the way they play as he calls for more grit and agility from the likes of Luke Fluers (22), Kegan Johannes (21), Thapelo Maseko (19) Rasebotja Selaelo (21), Thalente Mbatha (22), Sbusiso Maziko (22) and a few others.

“Something that is changing in world football is the difference between the older group of players and the younger group. I’ve got nothing against the youngsters, I think we have unbelievable talent in the team. 

“But what lacks is that hunger and desire, that fight and the will to play well and when the game gets ugly, you also have to get ugly. You have to play hard and fight for results because that is what you need in this league,” said Grobler.

“You need guys who are willing to go on the field and die, whether it is for one point or three points. They have to fight from the first minute. We have to get that into our system because it is not good enough to have all the talent in the world but if you don’t have all that fight and hunger, it will be difficult. This is something I have always spoken about because SuperSport has always had unbelievable talent and it is all about getting,” he added.

Matsatsantsa A Pitori are up against Richards Bay on Wednesday evening at the King Zwelithini Stadium where they will continue their hunt for what has been an elusive first set of three points.

Grobler believes that the camaraderie in the team will spur them on against the Natal Rich Boys.
 
“One thing that we’ve always had is a good group of players who get along together. There is no animosity. Me and Tyson have a good fight in training with hard challenges and that’s what is missing these days. 

“The youngsters need to know that they must put in much effort in training like they do on the field. I’m not saying they should kick players and be stupid but the need to play hard because what you do at training is going to happen in the game. We need to get that aggression in the team,” said the United all-time leading goal-scorer.