After Mamelodi Sundowns were criticized for not being their usual self against Orlando Pirates, KickOff spoke to a strength and conditioning coach on whether it is related to the Club World Cup.
Sundowns could not come out of the starting blocks quicker than expected and didn't have their usual rhythm integrated into their passing game from last season.
This website spoke to Strength and Conditioning Coach Kaitlin Hunt on whether there is anything to read from this, related from a prolonged season that had the FIFA Club World Cup, and consequently having a short pre-season.
"I think they carried the fatigue from last season. There is residual fatigue, so they carry over that fatigue from last season. You could see they don't look energized, they don't look like they have had a lot of recovery time," explained Hunt.
"Another challenge they can experience is soft tissue injuries like hamstrings, abducter, adductor, your calfs and things like that, because they have not been able to load them.
"I think Themba Zwane, for example, he went off with a bit of a thigh injury - things like that can happen as well. Your high-intensity efforts, your sprinting, your explosiveness, high-speed running, repeated sprints and all that stuff, obviously they have had a very short pre-season.
"So, they haven't really had a progressive time and exposure to all those different actions and so they might lack that sharpness, because obviously they haven't had the time to spend on those specific aspects and to gradually build it up," she continued.
The Tshwane giants have already played four matches, in different competitions, in just under two weeks.
"And again, the fixture (schedule) is so congested. The main thing is, they don't get recovery time, so the window is very short, playing every three, four days. They don't get those longer windows.
"The best example I've seen, Luis Enrique spoke about it the other day with PSG (Paris Saint-Germain), before their first game he said they couldn't peak, physically or mentally.
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"To come back soon, they haven't realistically got back into the rhythm of things, they haven't built this conditioning and fitness base. The sharpness is the biggest thing, it's gonna take a while for them (Sundowns) to get into that space. Hopefully it doesn't take too long," Hunt concluded.
