AmaZulu co-coach Vusi Vilakazi has revealed that, unlike his tenure at Richards Bay, he is not under any panic mode at Usuthu as they are not pressured to compromise good football for grinding results.  

AmaZulu made it two consecutive league victories, defeating neighbors Richards Bay 3-1 on Saturday to move up to 13^th place on the Betway Premiership table.

With the appointment of co-coaches, Vilakazi and Arthur Zwane after the departure of Pablo Franco Martin, Usuthu has registered two out of three league victories after losing their first three. 

Before resurfacing at Usuthu as the reserve team head coach, Kanu was dismissed as the Natal Rich Boys head coach after leading the team in their relegation playoff triumph. 

The 42-year-old was therefore not met with an unfamiliar task when called up to co-coach an Usuthu who was sitting at rock bottom in the relegation zone. However, the former Golden Arrows coach argues that the two situations are incomparable as he believes that there is no panic at AmaZulu. 

“We are not in the panic mode right now and we said when we arrived here that we will slowly move away from the position where we are at AmaZulu right now. So, I think we have more time and more games at AmaZulu so there is no panic mode unlike at Richards Bay where we had to grind. We were not even playing nice football, but we had to grind,” he explained. 

Usuthu’s victory over Bay on the weekend was inspired by three young players who made immense contributions to the team’s performance. 

24-year-old Tshepang Moremi, Rowan Human (23), and Ethan Brooks (23) were all involved in the three goals scored having all also started the game ahead of some experienced figures. 

The Usuthu co-coach lauded the three lads for their contributions to the team’s success while adding a pitch of some constructive criticism. 

“Well, I think they are players with big potential and a lot of potential I must say, but we still feel that they are still in their closet. They still need to come out of their closet. But that goes with the motivation, we need to motivate them and have that freedom so they can express themselves,” expounded Vilakazi. 

While praising the Usuthu young guns, coach Kanu further pointed out a few areas of improvement for his young troops, saying, “In terms of keeping the ball, we can’t coach them, but we need to put more emphasis in terms of the defensive structure. That is where they are lacking but with ball usage, they are top class but they are players who must come out of the closet in terms of being one of the best.” 

The Durban side will be hoping for a full and fit squad of both experienced and their young exiting talent as they are set to end the year with three more challenging fixtures. 

In their climb away from the relegation zone, Usuthu will pay a visit to TS Galaxy on Sunday, come back for a home game to Royal AM, and finish the year with a trip to the Western Cape for a clash with Cape Town City.