Kaizer Chiefs coach Stuart Baxter feels his side are still lacking “that cutting edge” after playing out to a goalless draw with Cape Town City at the DHL Stadium on Tuesday evening.
The Soweto giants moved up to third place in the DStv Premiership standings, level on 29 points with fourth-placed Royal AM and Stellenbosch FC in fifth after 17 matches.
Despite dropping points, Baxter is taking away only positives from the match as they begin preparations for their upcoming DStv Premiership encounter with Baroka FC on Saturday.
“I thought it was an interesting game of football. Both teams tactically were set up,” Baxter told SuperSport TV after the game.
“Probably the lack of quality from both sides meant a draw was going to be the fair result. Because in the last third both teams threatened, but didn’t have the composure in the final third. I don’t know what Eric was saying. But, for us, I thought we played through very well. We played better than we did against TS Galaxy but we’re still lacking that cutting edge.
“That final ball now that the pitch was a little bit difficult because it got really wet in the second half because of the dew. It was sharp and difficult to play. But, if I’m looking at anything tonight, I’m taking the positives from the attitude, the structure, the ability to play through then I’m hoping that our front players are going to be a little bit more composed so we can take a few of those good situations that we got.
“Because we had loads of good opportunities, didn’t we? Even right at the finish, you’re cutting balls back, you’re playing really well to get in there, you’re cutting balls back and it’s getting a little too close or it hit the goalkeeper. Some set plays that we hit we said that they’re very strong across their six-yard box. We don’t want to put them in their zonal players but too many found their way into their space, making it easier to defend. Small things make a big difference, you know, if you look at the quality of some our play it was very good but we’ve got to finish it. We’ve got to put ourselves in a position where we get ourselves in front.
“I think our front three on their day could be the best front three in the country. I think they’re so lively, their movements when they’re on song is very difficult to deal with. When we play the way we played today I didn’t think we had enough happening around them. So, when the ball went into Khama, for example, their centre back could stand very tight because he saw no movement around him. Now I think when we get there then people have a handful because they are so lively.
“Personally, I’m not one of these where you should rotate the squad because you have players. They should earn the right to get in and be better than the ones that are playing. I don’t think our front three are playing poorly. I don’t think we’re giving them enough support in terms of quality service and in terms of things happening around them. But, at some point, when you’re not scoring goals even good players need a rest,” Baxter concluded.
