Zwane Downplays Pre-Season Impact With Usuthu
AmaZulu coach Arthur Zwane has stated that having a full pre-season with the club doesn’t necessarily make a significant difference, reflecting on his experience last season when he was appointed mid-campaign.
Zwane joined Usuthu as co-coach with Vusi Vilakazi in October, at a time when the club was in crisis. They were at the bottom of the table, having lost their opening three matches under former coach Pablo Franco Martin, which led to Martin’s departure.
Although the team’s fortunes didn’t immediately turn around, with two more losses following Zwane’s arrival, he remained steadfast in his belief that AmaZulu would avoid relegation. Usuthu eventually secured their first win in their sixth match of the season, a victory that propelled them to finish sixth in the Betway Premiership table, despite playing two fewer games due to the expulsion of Royal AM.
When asked if a full pre-season, allowing him to thoroughly assess the team and acquire desired players, would help the club achieve a higher position, Zwane offered a candid response.
“It doesn’t make any difference to be quite honest,” said Zwane.
“You can have a pre-season, but it depends on how you prepare, it depends on how you start. Whether the players will grasp the information quicker, sooner, or later, or if it comes with luck as well. You can win five, six, or seven games and think you have arrived. What is key is the consistency, and we are looking for that in our performances.
“Our worrying factor right now is dealing with young boys; when chips are down, they can crack and commit mistakes that are costly. So, that is one thing we need to manage, and we need to manage in a wise way. These players have done the pre-season, and when I look at it again last season, they lost those games due to elementary mistakes from individuals, not that the team was bad, do you understand what I’m saying?
“It can be like that even this season or we start well. But what is key, there will be times, because the number of games will be coming thick and fast as I said earlier on. We are going to consolidate and maintain and make sure we don’t have too many injuries. Once we have sustained that part, I think we can finish very strong.”
Ahead of the new season, Usuthu unveiled Keagan Allan, Ryan Moon, Darren Johnson, Thando Ngwenya, and Liam Bern. However, AmaZulu cannot currently register Bern with the PSL as Cape Town Spurs are contesting his signing.
Usuthu will kick off their 2025/26 season when they visit Stellenbosch FC in the MTN8 quarter-final at DHL Stadium on Sunday at 3:00 PM.
