MTN 8 Review

We travelled to Cape Town last week for the MTN 8 first leg semi final against Ajax Cape Town. Our approach going to Cape Town was to score at least one or two goals, as we wanted to make things easier for us on the return leg. It was not be, as Ajax Cape Town emerged victorious.

We created a number of chances and we should have done better in terms on our finishing on that particular game. I have always refused to comment on referees but that night it seemed as if everything was against us.

I am an optimist and I was still confident that we would bounce back when we host them at Orlando last Sunday. It was a very open game; a good advert of South African football as both teams had a go at each other. We had struggled to score goals in the past couple of games and it was good that we managed to score three goals. I am sure the fans were satisfied with the level of display from our side maybe not with the result.

I was not happy though with the way we defended on the day as we allowed in three goals. We made lot of mistakes at the back. I think also credit should go to Ajax Cape Town who were also very good on one-on-one situations. Their forwards made life difficult for us. I would like to congratulate them for the victory and wish them all the best in the final against Golden Arrows.

Absa Premiership: Kaizer Chiefs vs. SuperSport United

The trip to Pretoria was always going to be difficult as we were not only playing the defending champions but we were coming back from an energy draining encounter in Cape Town. I must admit that at this point in time, SuperSport United are stronger than us and they proved this when we met.

Having said that, we played much better especially in the second half and that to me was a good sign of the good things to come. I want my teams to keep the ball on the ground at all times and it showed on Tuesday that we could create lots of problems when we play according to our strengths.

On a personal level it was for the first time as a coach that I had to experience back-to- back defeats but then again in football you never stop learning. SuperSport took their chance and emerged as winners.

Absa Premiership: Kaizer Chiefs vs. Bidvest Wits

We are welcoming Bidvest Wits at Orlando Stadium on Wednesday night. We have already come up against them this season in the cup so they are not completely unknown to us. They are a very good side, very strong on set pieces as they have many tall players. It seems that a lot of sides will target us when it comes to set pieces because we do not really have very tall players in our defense. To me it does not matter whether a player is short or tall; what matters is the heart. I want my players to fight for the team.

We are traveling to Durban on Sunday for our game against AmaZulu. I will talk about this game after the Bidvest Wits game. We are also expecting some of our players to be called up to the national team next week, as it is a FIFA international week.

Injuries

We have some injury problems at the moment, particularly in the goalkeeping department where we have lost the services of Itumeleng Khune for three months and Thela Ngobeni for two weeks. We have brought in Arthur Bartman to help take the pressure off our young goalkeepers.

Reneilwe Letsholonyane is still out as well as Thabang Rooi who is struggling with a shoulder injury.

Thanks to all the supporters who once again came to support the team on Sunday, I am looking forward to a similar support on Wednesday.

Dovidenja!