Derby coaches both crave to be winners
• Middendorp and Zinnbauer are ‘from the same football school, but are different characters’
Orlando Pirates assistant coach Fadlu Davids has said the two Germans taking charge of Saturday’s Soweto derby at FNB Stadium are from the same football school but “completely different in personality”.
Davids can bring unique insight into Kaizer Chiefs coach Ernst Middendorp and his new Pirates countryman and counterpart Josef Zinnbauer ahead of the Soweto giants’ Premiership meeting this weekend (kickoff 3.30pm).
Apart from having worked with Zinnbauer since the former Karlsruher SC coach’s arrival in early December‚ and his subsequent remarkable unbeaten streak of seven league victories and a draw‚ Middendorp was Davids’s earliest coaching mentor.
Middendorp brought his former striker at Maritzburg United into top-flight coaching as the German’s assistant at Bloemfontein Celtic and Maritzburg. Davids subsequently became head coach of United‚ before being poached by Pirates.
“I think in terms of football school‚ they both come out of the same German school where a lot is focused on verticality and counterattacks‚” Davids said when asked to compare Zinnbauer and Middendorp.
“So the football thinking and approach are quite similar. Of course Ernst has changed over the years since I played under him and then started to work with him. He’s always kept up with the latest trends.
“Personality-wise, each one with a strong will‚ with a strong organisation skills set — what Germans are born with,” said Davids.
“But both with a strong will to win everything — from an exercise in a training session to everything they do. If they are playing a card game they want to win.
“But you cannot compare the two. Both good coaches. But completely different.
“When it comes to football sense, they both have their [Uefa] pro licences out of the same football school in Germany.
“But both want the same outcome‚ which is of course to win a football match.”
Pirates goalkeeper Wayne Sandilands said Zinnbauer did not fix the side’s problems with a magic wand.
The keeper said the team did not change overnight, as Zinnbauer had worked long and hard to better organise the team in all departments.
“It’s hard to pinpoint one
●
thing to say this is why everything has changed‚” said Sandilands‚ whose own form improved considerably after Zinnbauer took over.
“At the moment there’s the right chemistry‚ everybody is pulling together and everybody is one-minded and has bought into the style‚ the structure … it’s just the mix of things.
“But as things stand it’ sa good environment to be in. Everybody is excited to come to training and excited to play and we’re backing each other ... hopefully we can just carry on dominating as we have.”
Pirates have already suffered two defeats to Chiefs in official matches this season but the Bucs gloveman said they have an opportunity to correct things on Saturday.
“We’ve got a very important four games [against Chiefs‚ Sundowns‚ SuperSport and Wits] ahead of us. So we just have to focus on the next step.
“It’s a matter of focusing on the next game‚ which is Chiefs‚ and the three points available. We’ll do everything in our power to get those three points.”