Daniel Cardoso’s own-goal perfectly illustrates the flaws in Kaizer Chiefs’ defence, as for their creativity in the final third, Amakhosi blew hot and cold, pinning their hopes on Khama Billiat and Leonardo Castro, writes MARSHALL GOUTS on their 1-1 draw against Baroka.
1 Chiefs’ defence needs working
The opener came from a long ball sent forward by the Baroka goalkeeper, which was not properly dealt with by defender Cardoso and goalkeeper Itumeleng Khune due to a lack of communication.
One of the primary concerns for Giovanni Solinas’ side was not only the lack of pace in central-defence, but also the lack of a leader. Between defensive duo Siyabonga Ngezana and Cardoso, it was often not apparent who was responsible for marshaling the defence.
Left-back Siphosakhe Ntiyantiya often got caught out on defense and with constant heckles from the Chiefs faithful, Solinas should be wary of throwing him in at the deep-end.
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2 Solinas coming to terms with squad
The Italian mentor has only been in charge of the Amakhosi for four games, however, he still seems to be learning about his players.
Goalscorer Siphiwe Tshabalala was replaced by veteran attacker Bernard Parker ― a like-for-like swap in terms of being the two senior men in the side. This is of course in contrast to his first league game against Mamelodi Sundowns, where he started both.
The former Free State Stars mentor will come to terms with the management of his squad, but just how gradual will that process be? The quicker, the better ― Chiefs fans are impatient and following glimpses of potential, progress is expected in each and every game.
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3 Missing link(s)
They started the game like a house on fire with Siphelele Ntshangase linked up well with Billiat, Castro and Tshabalala. However, after the home side scored, the Chiefs attack was short on options.
Often former Mamelodi Sundowns attackers Billiat and Castro looked to link up with one another due to lack of options further forward and/or lack of support in close proximity.
Besides Billiat and Castro, there weren’t any Chiefs players making driving runs towards the area and actually taking a shot on target. Gustavo Paez was completely out of sorts.
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4 Gamechangers, what game changers?
Chiefs needed some impetuous off the bench, but were unable to find it despite Solinas making all three his changes by introducing attackers Bhongolwethu Jayiya, Parker and Ryan Moon ― neither of whom produced the intended effect, leading one to ask the question:
Do Chiefs have enough quality within their ranks as things stand?
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5 Progress and Talent
‘We created a lot of scoring chances we could’ve scored at least three goals. We hit the post three times I think we’re getting better each day.’
These were part for the post-match comments made by the new Baroka coach, Wedson Nyirenda, and he wasn’t wrong at all. Towards the closing stages, the home side looked the more likely to score the winner, with most of the attacking threats coming from man-of-the-match Talent Chawapiwa.
Under their new coach, Baroka has shown that they can not only play their normal attractive style of football but that they are also mindful of the threat posed by their opponents. This was shown as early in the 28th minute when their Zambian tactician made a tactical substitution to nullify Chiefs’ midfield.
