Time to stay up

Update on Kaizer Chiefs' league encounters:

There was always the possibility that the start of the week could turn out to resemble the overcast skies that we have experienced over Johannesburg in recent times.

It could have been a blue Monday for us had we not pushed hard in the second half against Benoni United on Sunday, as we eventually got the goals which won us the points. The reason I say it could have turned out differently is because in the first half of Sunday’s game against Benoni, the visiting team gave as good as they got - as much as we attacked them they threw back at us.

During that first half, we were fortunate that a free-kick Benoni Premier United had after about 30 minutes ricocheted off the cross bar and went out. We too had numerous scoring chances in the opening period but we just could not find the breakthrough.

Having Siyabonga Nkosi back did make a difference for us; he along with Gert Schalkwyk and Kaizer Junior did ask a number of questions of the Benoni defence. In the second half we picked up the tempo and got the goals that we deserved - as a coach when you make a substitution your intention is to bring on players who will make a difference and change the current state of the game.

Thankfully on Sunday a double substitution we made inside the first 10 minutes of the second half helped lift our game, as Arthur Zwane and Scara Ngobese came off the bench and helped give the guys a boost. The pair were involved in the action from the beginning. Scara got us the breakthrough with a well-taken goal, Arthur battled well and he too was able to get in a number of dangerous crosses into the Benoni penalty area.

I think that we improved a lot in the second half of Sunday’s game and we should have continued pressurizing the opposition and should have pressed for more goals.

Having said that,I must add that Siyabonga Nkosi was unfortunate not to have scored from a free-kick late on in the second half. The fact that we are asking questions of the opposition from set pieces, throw-ins and dead balls situations show that we are making a lot of strides in becoming a complete team.

There are a number of issues that occurred prior to and during Sunday’s game which I wish to bring to light. The first thing is I know that it was reported that we started with a 4-5-1 combination against Benoni United. Actually this is not entirely true - I have said this before and I will make it clear again, against Benoni we played using two strikers in a 4-4-2 formation. This is not the first time that Gert Schalkwyk has been used as a second striker; if you can race your mind back to the pre-season one would find that we used him as second striker in a number of pre season matches. It is a position where he has slotted into without any difficulty and as time goes on, and if the need arises, I am certain that we could continue using him as a second striker.

Another issue that I feel needs addressing, is the treatment been meted out by a number of fans towards David Obua. It is very strange for me to see that a year ago Obua could do no wrong and was the darling of all the fans - today after a few indifferent performances he has become public enemy number one.

Obua might not be having the best of times on the field of play but that is no reason for people to shout abuse at him, all players go through good and bad spells. Instead of being abusive to him or any player experiencing a dip in form, we need to help guide them through what can sometimes be a very trying and testing time. My advice is to help the players through their tough times by supporting them and being an extra leg to stand on and be a motivating factor in getting them back to their best once more.

The final issue I would like to raise is the way our team began playing around with the ball after we had scored our second goal on Sunday. I have said it before that I am not one who encourages ‘Tsamaya’ football. I think that dancing on the ball and embarrassing your opponent by doing these crazy tricks is really disrespectful and I do not approve of it. I did raise this with the team on Sunday and I said that it must not happen; I recall a game against Sundowns last season when one of their players toyed around with us.

We did not like it and I told my players at that time that in the same way that we did not like being messed around with; we should not do it in matches when we are dominating proceedings. Instead I would prefer for our team to press home the advantage and go for more goals, we need goals because there could come a time when goal difference could work against us.

When that does happen we will then run back and think about the time when we should have scored goals instead we preferred to behave like the Harlem Globetrotters and put up an exhibition instead of scoring goals.

Anyway I think I have said a lot today and will communicate with you later in the week closer to our game against Jomo Cosmos on Saturday, which is scheduled to be played in Durban on Saturday afternoon.

Amakhosi for Life

Ernst Middendorp
Kaizer Chiefs Head Coach