Chiefs coach Zwane admits he made some mistakes this season

Kaizer Chiefs coach Arthur Zwane has admitted he made mistakes this season. 

This campaign has a few rounds of league and cup matches to go and Amakhosi are in danger of going to the off-season empty-handed again, but Zwane said he has learnt a lot. 

Chiefs take on Orlando Pirates in the Nedbank Cup semifinal at FNB Stadium on Saturday looking to book a place in the final and keep alive their hopes of silverware for the first time in eight seasons. 

“I have learnt a lot, so much happened in terms of injuries, lack of consistency and chances we created but missed,” he said when asked to reflect on the season. 

“But it is part of the game, hence I can’t blame players because I was once a player and I also made mistakes. I have also made mistakes as a coach this season, which is part of the game and part of learning.  

“We have moved on from mistakes we thought at some point we had rectified.  

“But we are still making those costly mistakes. The best thing you can do is to focus on the next game and forget the past, because the past will not help us now.” 

Chiefs were stunned 2-1 by Swallows at the weekend and Zwane said they were again punished for being shy in front of goals. 

“As much as we lost the previous game in Polokwane against Swallows, I think we created enough chances to win that game, but we were sloppy in defending.  

“We gave them about two to three opportunities to punish us and they managed to take two. Itu [Itumeleng Khune] made one brilliant save but if you looked at the game, we could have done better in creating more chances. 

“We had more mobility in front of goals, we had about 26 box entries and at one stage possession was 78 in our favour. But as you know, you can have possession for the whole day, as long as you don’t score goals it counts for nothing.” 

Looking ahead at Pirates, who have won their past eight matches in all competitions before they took on Royal AM on Wednesday, Zwane admitted they are against a team enjoying a rich vein of form. 

“There is no doubt Pirates have been doing well recently and they have won about six games on the trot, if I am not mistaken. They are high on confidence but they are coming into this game knowing they are up against a Chiefs side that is wounded. 

“We will give our best and we are going to FNB Stadium to win the game and nothing else.” 

Chiefs beat Pirates in their past five derbies, but Zwane said previous results count for nothing. 

“In football you can't rely on what you did in the past, we won those games against them in the past. It talks to preparations and we got it right, hence the Pirates coach said this time around it will be a different Pirates. Only time will tell, that’s all I can say. 

“This is football and it is very unpredictable, it is how we are going to approach this game and also their approach against us, and the best team will win on the day. 

“The team that will create and convert the chances they create and dictate terms will win the game.” 

Support independent journalism by subscribing to the Sunday Times. Just R20 for the first month.