Soccer News of 2012-08-05

Cup competitions can be useful if we plan properly â?? Coach Sarpong

Former Liberty Professionals Coach J.E. Sarpong, says Ghana’s league can reap the full benefits from cup competitions if the football calendar is planned properly.
According to him, the current football calendar is not properly arranged and that is making it impossible for players of some teams to rest and plan ahead.
He made these comments on the August 4 edition of the Joy Sports Link which discussed the importance playing of cup competitions in our local league.
“We have to notice that the human body is not a machine and has to be rested after rigorous activity. We also need to pay attention to the physiological aspect of the game as well,” he said. Coach Sarpong said cup competitions must be placed strategically on the calendar to ensure that the players and team’s benefit adequately from them.
“These cup competitions help improve in the form of some players as well as bring in a few pounds or dollars for the club’s coffers,” he told Joy Sports.
Coach Sarpong also explained that cup competitions are key platforms for clubs to make use of peripheral players.
“We should appreciate that there is the need for clubs to make full use of the players they own at a point in time. Therefore if a player is leaving a club and there is a cup competition, his services are maximised to the club’s benefit before he leaves,” he said.
Coach Sarpong’s former club, Liberty Professionals which he saved from relegation last season, have never won a league title but at least have one Top Four trophy to boast of.
Currently the Top Four Tournament, President’s Cup and the MTN FA cup are the cup competitions on the calendar while other leagues in other parts of the continent and the world have several which are scheduled to fit well into the plan for a season.
Former Heart of Lions coach Ken August, who also contributed to the Joy Sports said the closeness of the FA Cup to the start of the league is another major problem which must be solved if we want our clubs to benefit fully from it.