Kaizer Chiefs goalkeeper coach Rainer Dinkelacker has been hard at work over the past couple of months, as he has had to run the Chiefs goalkeeping trio of Emille Baron, Markus Bocsker and Itumeleng Khune in to shape for the new season.

Rainer and his keepers should be happy with the work they have put in over the pre season as the results and the performances from the Chiefs keepers who have stood in goal for The Amakhosi during the three league games they have played this season so far, have been excellent to say the least. While Emille Baron was able to keep a clean sheet on the opening night against Benoni Premier United, Itumeleng Khune, who made back-to-back appearances against Jomo Cosmos and Wits University, could only be beaten from the penalty spot in both encounters.

Dinkelacker runs a tight ship with the clubs keepers and has always worked on building a strong bond between them, no matter who the number one is at the present time, he has the support of the rest of the goalkeeping trio. Even though the race to be the number one at Chiefs has been tight as Dinkelacker predicted earlier in the season, the competition between the keepers has been of a professional nature.

New Innovations

In order to keep the Chiefs keepers ahead of the pack in terms of introducing new training methods and innovations, Dinkelacker spent time in May and June gathering information on the latest goalkeeping training methods and equipment. He, as a result, implemented a whole new dimension to his training sessions with his goalkeeping crew.

“I realized that there was a problem with the reaction time of our keepers, meaning that after they had made one save how quickly could they be ready to make a follow up. You must understand that a keeper has to think quick off his feet, as a result we came up with a special piece of equipment that assists in improving the reaction time of the keepers.”

Dinkelacker, who introduced the new reaction training methods in June, has been pleased with the results of the this specialized training device

“If you have watched our matches you will notice that the guys have been quick to make saves and get their bearings back, they are thinking quicker than the opposing strikers and have been able to out think them”.

Khune no surprise

While many people were surprised at Itumeleng Khune’s outstanding displays against Jomo Cosmos and Wits, they have come as no surprise to Rainer, who has been working with the young keeper for the past four seasons. It may have taken Rainer some time to get the current Chiefs number one to do some of the drills the way that he wanted him to, but he believes that the best is yet to come from the national u-23 goalkeeper.

“A year or two ago it took me a while to get Khune to do certain things correctly in training, these days he is a natural as he does what ever you ask from him thoroughly. We always you knew he would be a great goalkeeper and his recent performances show that,” added Dinkelacker.

The fact that Khune was able to play in the reserve league as well as concurrently for the national u-20 and u-23 teams was a blessing for the young keeper and it proved to be invaluable experience for him as Rainer further added: “For a keeper to be at his best, he needs to be constantly active. If you look at Khune, he was playing for the junior national teams and the reserves, so when he was thrown in to the deep end, so too speak, he had the match experience to guide him through and he needs to understand that all the games he has played prior to him making his debut against Cosmos have helped ensure that he was thoroughly prepared for life in the PSL.”

Father figure

Rainer has held the post as Kaizer Chiefs goalkeeper coach in a full and part time position since 1999 when he was brought in by Muhsin Ertugral to assist the then Chiefs number one Brian Baloyi. Over the years he has formed a close relationship with the keepers at Chiefs and is looked upon as a father figure by his charges, and has a relationship that extends beyond just the training ground with them.

While explaining his relationship with the keepers Rainer added, “From the day we start out with pre-season training I make it clear to the guys that apart from being their coach, I am also their father, because more than anyone they know they will spend the most time with me. So I am a father to the team within the team, when things do not go according to plan on the training ground or during a match, I need to be there for them.”