Playing from the back has come to prominence in the past five years. But Gavin Hunt is simply not having it. The SuperSport United mentor is not going to go with the flow and adopt a playing style that his players will struggle to master.
Mamelodi Sundowns are South Africa’s flag bearers when it comes to playing from the back. Simply put – the slow build-up style sees the goalkeeper launch play with a pass to the defenders instead of traditionally kicking it long. This is done to entice the opposition to press, thus freeing more space behind them.
This style was perfected by European giants Barcelona, particularly in the era of Xavi, Andres Iniesta and Sergio Busquets, who branded their style as the Tiki-Taka. Meanwhile, Manchester City and Arsenal are the benchmark in the English Premier League.
In Mzansi, some teams have tried to mirror this style of play, but its reflection is full of cracks, which often leads to a lot of errors that result in constant loss of possession and conceding goals carelessly.
"What a lot of crap, absolute crap. That's why you lose your job. Why copy?"
“Football is a fashion thing. You watch the FIFA World Cup – teams play 3-5-2, so after Germany won the World Cup in 1990, every team started playing back three.
“Somebody played the 4-3-3 and then everybody started playing the 4-3-3,” an annoyed Hunt told The All Rounders SA podcast.
“It is a fashion thing and when people see people playing out from the back, then ‘Oh, we have to play this way of football’. It is absolute nonsense. First, do you have the players? If that’s the case then why don’t you win the league? If you believe that’s your way then that’s fine, but don’t try to influence other people because you are doing that.
“You have to be very careful with football philosophies. As coaches we have a way of thinking and we want to play a certain way. But it’s no good going to a club and say ‘I want to play like this’.
“I went to certain clubs and they don’t wingers and I asked how are we going to play without any width? They had full-backs in attack and they wanted to play like that,” Hunt explained.
At SuperSport, the veteran mentor has assembled a commendable blend of youth and experienced players ahead of the 2024/25 Betway Premiership.
Matsatsantsa A Pitori will kick-off the league season with a Tshwane Derby crosstown rivals Sundowns on September 14. Even in this term, Hunt will not be persuaded to adopt a playing style that will in turn frustrate his players.
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“Philosophies get developed by the quality of the players that you got. I can come in and say, ‘We are going to play like this’. Some people say ‘Gavin Hunt plays a style’, but I play the style because of what I got.
“We play in a way where we win away and do not lose many games, and it is effective. I can go buy a team and win the league by 20 points – no problem… but I can’t.
“Sometimes you don’t get a player because he costs R10 million and then you get another one whose wages are less, and that’s how it works.
“It’s called management in coaching. When you can put something together. You need to look at a player and see if he can do the job for you because he is free and you could not get the one that you wanted,” Hunt concluded.
