Kaizer Chiefs cannot afford to test their fans’ patience much more

26 August 2016 - 14:39 By Nick Said

After a rare trophyless season in their previous campaign‚ Kaizer Chiefs have an immediate opportunity to make amends when they kick off in the 2016 MTN8 with a quarterfinal at Cape Town City on Friday night.Coach Steve Komphela led the side to the final of this competition‚ as well as the Telkom Knockout‚ in his first season in charge but came away empty-handed on both occasions.That has stretched the patience of the Chiefs faithful‚ who found little joy either in Tuesday’s 2-1 league defeat at BidVest Wits‚ where the side showed no improvement on their hardships of last season. Another defeat on Friday against City and Komphela will have much food for thought going into the international break.He has admitted to feeling the pressure‚ but says too that he is fully aware of where the side went wrong against Wits."The beauty is that we played only two days ago‚ so there is a reference point in the previous match‚" Komphela said. "We are anxious to rectify the mistakes and we know what those are."We are going to keep to the same structure‚ we are just going to add another dimension‚ which is going to give us a result. We are comfortable that we can go into the game with a plan having seen them [Cape Town City] on Tuesday."We saw their system. We saw their behaviour in defence and attack. One interesting comment was made by the coach [Eric Tinkler] post-match about how they missed two chances from set plays – that shows you that they concentrate a lot on set plays." Chiefs did look to have a soft centre against Wits without defender Erick Mathoho‚ who is sidelined with an injury picked up on national team duty at the Olympics.Komphela admits his loss is a blow‚ but has challenged his central defenders to step up and suggested he would stick with the pairing of Ramahlwe Mphahlele and Lorenzo Gordinho."We know Tower's [Mathoho's] strengths and his capabilities‚ but on the other hand it's an opportunity for Rama [Mphahlele] to show face. "The same for Gordinho and [Daniel] Cardoso. It's an opportunity for Siya Xulu to challenge for a starting position."In the central positions you want to keep consistency‚ especially in a group of defenders. In the midfield and up front you can play around and make changes. But in defence you are looking for consistency."  City coach Tinkler has a full squad to select from with the return from suspension of number one goalkeeper Shu-Aib Walters‚ who will take over from the talented but inexperienced Samora Motloung.Tinkler says his players are feeling the effects of the bumps and bruises from the Polokwane win‚ but has backed them to recover in time."Nobody is injured‚ but we have only had a couple of days to recover. That is the problem with playing games so close together‚ the last two days have been about recovery and little else. It was only today [Thursday] that we could do some tactical training."This game was originally scheduled to be played on Saturday and I think both teams would have preferred that." A big decision for Tinkler will be whether to start with club captain Lebogang Manyama‚ who was hugely influential in the front line when he came on against Polokwane having missed most of preseason with broken metatarsals in his foot."Will he feature in this game? Yes he will. There is a chance he could start but I am not sure he has the capacity to last for 90 minutes at this stage‚" Tinkler said. - TMG Digital/The Times..

There’s never been a more important time to support independent media.

From World War 1 to present-day cosmopolitan South Africa and beyond, the Sunday Times has been a pillar in covering the stories that matter to you.

For just R80 you can become a premium member (digital access) and support a publication that has played an important political and social role in South Africa for over a century of Sundays. You can cancel anytime.

Already subscribed? Sign in below.



Questions or problems? Email helpdesk@timeslive.co.za or call 0860 52 52 00.