Ertugral admits wrong substitution
Muhsin Ertugral made a rare admission for a coach after Saturday’s Telkom Knockout semifinal defeat, saying he made the wrong change in the defeat to Orlando Pirates in Durban.
His confession also served as a stinging criticism of substitute strikers Katlego Mashego and Collins Mbesuma, who both failed to make any impact after being brought on to try and help the home side win the game.
“I have to ask myself why did I bring on these players,” said the new Lamontville Golden Arrows coach after his side let slip a 32nd minute lead to go down 3-1 at the Moses Mabhida Stadium.
“(Thamsanqa) Gabuza gave Pirates a lot of problems and I should have kept him on in the game. I blame myself for brining Mbesuma on in his place and am now asking why I did so.
“You have to also ask what these so-called star players brought to the match. Did they take our game up a notch or did they bring it down?” Ertugral asked.
“Mbesuma only touched the ball five times and three times he gave it away. With that experience you expect they would help the team rise to a new level but that didn’t happen.”
Ertugral said the unheralded Gabuza deserved his place in the starting line-up, keeping Zambian international Mbesuma and ex-Bafana Bafana player Mashego on the bench for a second successive match.
“Gabuza was the reason we beat Ajax in the quarter-finals and took us to the semifinals. He also scored last week against Cosmos.”