SuperSport United head coach Gavin Hunt is adamant that he won’t adopt a football style of ‘playing from the back’.
The 60-year-old is a fan of defenders or goalkeepers kicking the ball long instead of building from the back. Speaking to The All Rounders SA podcast, the Matsantsa coach said some coaches are only playing a certain style of football because it is fashionable.
Gavin Hunt says quality players can infuence how you play
“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.
Hunt has explained that the reason his team play a certain style is because of the players he has.
“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,” said Gavin Hunt.
“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.
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