Luc Eymael Urges Chippa Players to “Step Up”
Chippa United’s new coach, Luc Eymael, has urged his team to “wake up” to prevent further setbacks this season.
Eymael, recently hired to rectify the club’s poor start, managed his first game on Sunday, resulting in a 3-0 defeat to Orlando Pirates. This loss has left the Eastern Cape team at the bottom of the standings, with no points from five matches.
Eymael is the fourth coach this season for Chippa. Sinethemba Badela handled the first two games, achieving a draw against Mamelodi Sundowns and a loss to Durban City before being dismissed.
Following him, Musa Nyatama stepped in as caretaker after a significant 4-1 defeat to TS Galaxy, and Morgan Mammila took over for the loss against Richards Bay last week. Eymael was present in the stands for that match, awaiting the finalization of his work permit.
“We need to work diligently during this international break to enhance the players because it’s truly time to wake up,” Eymael stated in an interview with Sportswire.
“If we don’t, we will remain in this predicament, and my goal is to stay in this role [in charge of the club]. I have never found myself in this situation [at the bottom of the table], but it is pivotal that we wake up. It’s essential to learn from past mistakes to grow and potentially achieve something in the future.”
Eymael is familiar with the league, having previously coached Polokwane City and Free State Stars, where he guided them to a Nedbank Cup title during the 2017/18 season.
In the match against Pirates at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Chippa’s defense struggled with mistakes. Goalkeeper Stanley Nwabali erred on the first goal, with a misplaced pass to the midfield leading to a goal for the Pirates. The second goal also arose from another error in midfield.
Eymael attributed the team’s problems to previous coaches who encouraged a buildup from the back. “It is not me who taught him [Nwabali] that; that habit has been ingrained by the prior coaching staff,” he remarked.
“During the week, I emphasized that we should build from the back and then directly engage the fullbacks, and if that isn’t feasible, we should launch the ball to the wingers. I noticed that he [Nwabali] was reverting to habits instilled by past coaches, opting for the most perilous pass—a central pass to a number six.”
“I explained this to him. We need specific training to avoid such mistakes, but unfortunately, those errors surfaced against Pirates. Take the second goal; we conceded at the near post; that should never happen. But I’m not here to point fingers.
“My aim is to correct these issues because I want to lift this team from its current position, but everyone must awaken. I’ve expressed this to the chairman [Siviwe Mpengesi], but it’s challenging to rectify problems without a pre-season, and we lack the time to make the necessary changes. Picking up bad habits is easy, but eliminating them is a tough journey.”
