Chiefs coach jokes and frets over goal drought
Kaizer Chiefs coach Cavin Johnson was joking about his team going more than 300 minutes without scoring in the three matches played so far in 2024, but let on he was worried too.
Amakhosi played to a third draw running, all goalless, in all competitions when they were held by struggling neighbours Moroka Swallows in their Premier Soccer League (PSL) match at the FNB Stadium on Saturday.
Johnson’s side played to a 0-0 draw against Royal AM in their first league clash after the break for the Africa Cup of Nations.
After that Chiefs played 120 minutes without scoring against Milford FC, losing their Nedbank Cup last-32 clash against the KwaZulu-Natal Motsepe Foundation Championship side 5-4.
Saturday’s stalemate leaves Chiefs in sixth place in the PSL, 16 points behind Mamelodi Sundowns, a team that is looking like a shoo-in to win a seventh successive league title in a season in which Amakhosi will complete an unprecedented nine campaigns without silverware.
Johnson was smiling and joking after the latest draw, charming reporters as he tried to convince them Chiefs are approacing each of the remaining league matches as a cup final.
On Saturday, Chiefs looked far from a side desperate “to win a cup final”, as Amakhosi laboured to another unenterprising draw against a Swallows team who came into the match having failed to win in eight previous league matches amid well-documented off-field issues.
“We need to be more clinical in the last third of the game,” said Johnson. “We did do that [threaten in the final third] in two patches of the game. We again didn’t concede, which is a big plus. But it’s not good enough coming after a loss. Now we need to pick ourselves up.
“It’s two days before the next game against Golden Arrows [at FNB Stadium on Tuesday]. We’re going to come out again to get the three points against Arrows.”
Johnson smiled again before dropping another of his now familiar classic answers when talking about Chiefs’ lack of goals.
“It’s always been a concern since I started,” said Johnson of his charges, who scored 16 goals and conceded 12 in 18 league matches this season.
“I think whatever team I’ve coached before, it’s always been my concern, because football is only nice when you see goals. Sometimes all my life I’ve said if you score two goals against me, I score three goals. You score six, I score seven.
“That’s something I work on continuously wherever I am. Just like you’re worried, I’m also worried. So yes, [it’s about] working on it, and it will come back.”