Tembo thrilled with his youthful Spartans’ exploits

For a coach like Kaitano Tembo who had been in the academy structures of SuperSport United before he was elevated to the seat of assistant coach , subsequently earning promotion to the top job three years ago, it comes as no surprise that he has so much faith in youngsters, who have been an integral part of United’s decent start to the DStv Premiership this season.

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Matsatsantsa A Pitori find themselves second on the log behind leaders and defending champions Mamelodi Sundowns, and thanks to the likes of Jesse Donn, Luke Fleurs, who have received numerous Man-of-the-Match gongs, United have been able to tick the right boxes so far. Tembo says he’s always had faith in his youthful Spartans, but is aware that he needs to blend them with the more experienced campaigners if he is to get the best out of them.

“Over the years we have been bringing in experienced players and I speak about the likes of Dean Furman, Reneilwe Lethsolonyane, Thuso Phala, Morgan Gould and others. When you have a lot of experienced players in the team, it means you are not going to be able to bring in a lot of youngsters at the same time.

Tembo believes in what he calls the spine of the team, where senior players hold the fort in certain positions while the juniors play a supporting role beside them. He explains:  

“It’s players like Buhle Mkhwanazi and alongside him there are players like Keenan Phillips, Luke and Thatayaone Ditlhokwe who is still 23 years old. In midfield we have Teboho Mokoena and he is playing a senior role in the team and there is the emergence of Donn. In attack we have Thamsanqa Gabuza and Bradley Grobler together with youngster Gamphani Lungu.

Tembo adds: “This is how we are trying to structure it and make sure we have the spine whereby young players are able to lean on that spine when the going gets tough. Our youngsters must be able to offer the energy in the team and the production line has opened up more and that is why we have more under-23 players than any other team in the league.”