Kaizer Chiefs coach Stuart Baxter feels his side weren’t at their best, bemoaning their decision-making during their draw with TS Galaxy this past Sunday.
The Glamour Boys started their DStv Premiership campaign with a goalless draw with the Rockets, both sides sharing the spoils at the Mbombela Stadium.
Amakhosi were busy during the current transfer market and have already signed five new players, including Sifiso Hlanti, Kgaogelo Sekgota, Phathutshedzo Nange, Cole Alexander and, most recently, Keagan Dolly.
However, Baxter insists they’ll have to improve their performance on the training pitch rather than opening their “cheque books” to bring new players in.
“Going into the first game you know very little because you’ve got very little to go on,” Baxter told SuperSport TV post-game.
“They’ve got new players and you don’t know if the coach is going to change. In principle, they played the way we thought they would play. We just weren’t good enough. Our quality was too poor, especially on the breakdown.
“To get longer attacks and pick our way through a man-to-man-inspired type of defence, when we did I thought we looked OK, but we didn’t do it enough and the decision-making on the pitch wasn’t good enough tonight.
“Samir was frustrated because good players usually are when they’re not performing well. So, Samir was trying very hard but he just wasn’t producing what he can produce. So, Keagan’s fitness allows him to play half an hour, forty minutes a half. So we looked for the mobility and when he first came on I got what I wanted, but because the decision-making drifted in and out we didn’t get it enough.
“It’s a frustrating evening. A point away from home you’re on the board. We get more information and hopefully, the players like Keagan get those extra minutes and we can make tweaks to the way we play. And, hopefully, we will take three points in our next game.
“I think the buildup play has got to be there before you get strikes on goal. I think there was one strike from us, one strike from them and everything else was a war of attrition. Some sort of quality or a set play was going to win the game, but neither side produced that, so maybe 0-0 was the best both of us could hope for.
“Cheque books don’t usually solve anything. I think if you draw a game 0-0 away from home and then your only solution is the cheque book then that’s a big question mark against the coach. We’ll do some good work on the training ground, we’ll try and inspire them. Our first line of attack will be to do the work on the training ground.”
