Pirates’ league form has been appalling with four defeats in seven games and just a single win out of all those games that have been intertwined with the demanding task of continental club football (CAF Confederation Cup) and the Telkom Knockout for which they are in the final and semi-finals respectively.
“I wouldn’t know what the problem is but I know players are going through the motions now and are just playing because they are playing. Only a few guys can say that they are there in the game but most of them are not there, they are just playing because they have to play,” discloses Gcaba.
“So, we have to set our minds rights because this is all up in your mind. For a player to always perform you have to fix your head first before you fix your feet,” he suggests in trying to provide a solution while then admitting to the need to deal with the challenge of a heavy fixture load.
“The thing is when you lose a game it is not nice because you know that you play every three to four days and that means there is not enough rest. You play a game and the following day you have to recover and then the next day you have to go back to camp and then go and play another game. So it all depends on how you rest as a player and take care of yourself,” says Gcaba.
Yet despite their struggles in the league they have been able to get it going in the CAF Confederation Cup – which has been pointed out as a possible distraction with The Bucs players’ minds pivoted towards that continental final next month.
“I wouldn’t say it is missing (the CAF energy) locally. You know that we are not playing with robots but with people that work hard and always up their game whenever they play against us. So we as players have to double our efforts for us to win games. We cannot play a good game today and then a bad one in the next, we have to balance everything and know about where I am going wrong and where I am doing right. We have to fix the wrong things that we are doing as players so that we get it right.
“We have to focus on the derby now because the Confeds is on the 20th (November), so these games that we have to play now are just as important as the Confeds. The derby is here now and we know that we are coming from a loss (against Golden Arrows) and then we know that a derby is a different ball game and that is where you say I want to do my best, though not to say other games are not important. We have to turn it around for the fans and for ourselves. We know that our confidence is a bit down at the moment after the loss against Arrows which was a game that everyone expected that we would win,” he reasons.
