Quote of the week

“To be a great champion you must believe you are the best. If you're not, pretend you are.” – Muhammad Ali

Tuesday, September 29, 2015

Vodacom Premier League - Week 5 Talking Points

Another week, another batch of talking points. Here are the talking points from Week 5 in the Vodacom Premier League…
Matlama want the title, but consistency is needed
Inconsistency is the name of the game so far…
The weekend’s action showed the lack of consistency to start this season’s Vodacom Premier League. With the exception of champions Lioli and possibly Likhopo, every side has fluctuated between good and bad displays on a weekly basis. As a result, no side has yet shown itself capable of being a real challenger to Lioli. On Saturday, Bantu were held to a 0-0 draw by newly-promoted Liphakoe taking them two steps back after the step forward of winning back-to-back games.

Quthing is a tough place to go but Bantu, champions in 2014 and Lioli’s main rivals on paper, are now already five points behind Tse Nala. Matlama and LCS both won over the weekend but it’s still too early to say they are a genuine title challengers.

But LCS showing signs of improvement
It was always going to be a difficult challenge for Mpitsa Marai taking over at LCS in his first gig as a head coach. As a player from 2000 to 2010, Marai won every trophy possible with Masheshena as LCS established themselves as Lesotho’s pre-eminent club. In July he was tasked with continuing the solid work done by Katiso Mojakhomo last season as LCS made it into the top four for the first time in three years.
LCS have shown signs of improvement under Mpitsa Marai
Marai is also expected by those at LCS to eventually return Masheshena to be the country’s most feared side. Things looked bad to start the season. Masheshena were beaten 1-0 by Kick4Life on the opening day of the campaign and followed that up with an insipid goalless draw with Sandawana. However, since then Marai’s side has rattled off three wins in a row and sit three points behind leaders Lioli. Maybe Marai can indeed be the man to return Masheshena’s glory days.

Rocks starting to fall to the bottom
Mphatlalatsane, Sandawana and Likila United are beginning to differentiate themselves in the way they don’t want to. All three have looked extremely poor in their games so far this season and they make up the league’s bottom three. Mphatlalatsane and Sandawana are winless while Likila’s sole win came in the boardroom after they were awarded a 3-0 victory for a cancelled match against Mphatlalatsane on August 29.  On that day Mphatlalatsane forgot their players’ licenses illustrating their shambles. As early as it is, the trio look as though they will be fighting out a relegation battle until May.

Elsewhere… Lioli got back to winning ways with a 3-1 over Likila United on Sunday. It was also a good weekend for Linare. Tse Tala made in two wins from two and ended Rovers’ unbeaten start to the season with a hard-fought 1-0 win in Roma.

Week 5 Results
Saturday
Liphakoe 0-0 Bantu
Kick4Life 1-1 Sandawana
LDF FC 0-1 LCS FC
Matlama 3-2 LMPS
Sunday
Mphatlalatsane 1-4 Likhopo
Likila United 1-3 Lioli
Rovers 0-1 Linare

Vodacom Premier League Table


P
W
D
L
GF
GA
GD
Pts
1
Lioli
5
4
1
0
9
2
7
13
2
Likhopo
5
3
2
0
11
2
9
11
3
Matlama
5
3
1
1
9
6
3
10
4
LCS
5
3
1
1
4
2
2
10
5
Rovers
5
2
2
1
4
3
1
8
6
Bantu
5
2
2
1
4
3
1
8
7
Linare
5
2
0
3
6
8
-2
6
8
Kick4Life
5
1
2
2
3
5
-2
5
9
LMPS
5
1
1
3
5
6
-1
4
10
LDF
5
0
4
1
2
3
-1
4
11
Liphakoe
5
0
4
1
1
2
-1
4
12
Likila United
5
1
1
3
4
8
-4
4
13
Sandawana
5
0
3
2
4
9
-5
3
14
Mphatlalatsane
5
0
2
3
2
9
-7
2