Muddled Chiefs coach needs to get back to basics
STEVE Komphela may or may not be on thin ice as coach of Kaizer Chiefs.
The coach‚ though‚ does seem to need his side to win against Cape Town City at FNB Stadium in tonight’s Premier League fixture‚ if only to relieve the growing pressure on him and his players and quell any possibility of possible tensions within his squad becoming irreparably damaging.
Now‚ more than ever perhaps, Komphela also needs to return to the number one coaching mantra: Kiss‚ which in this case serves as the acronym for “Keep It Simple Steve”.
Perhaps the coming weeks represent Komphela’s toughest period yet in his just under one-and-a-half years in his dream job at the country’s biggest football club.
Certainly‚ the past few weeks have not gone swimmingly. In fact‚ with Chiefs booted out of the Telkom Knockout‚ leaving one cup opportunity this season left outside of the league for Komphela to win his first silverware‚ not just at Amakhosi‚ but anywhere‚ Komphela appears increasingly to be just trying to keep his head above water.
Amakhosi’s penalties Telkom quarterfinal defeat against Free State Stars was followed by the 2-1 league loss against Mamelodi Sundowns at Loftus Versfeld‚ then the 1-1 draw at home against SuperSport United at FNB last week.
In three games Chiefs had their moments. They were not convincing enough over 90 minutes in any of them to justifiably be able to claim they should have been winners‚ either.
Komphela’s complexity in his formations – introducing a 3-5-2 against Stars and Sundowns then backtracking and reverting to a 4-5-1 against SuperSport – appears to have confused his players.
That the coach could not find place all for in-form George Lebese within the 3-5-2 against Sundowns‚ then replaced Lebese who was having a strong game with youngster Emmanuel Letlotlo against SuperSport‚ has confused the fans‚ who became openly hostile as a result of the latter decision.
There is nothing wrong with a 3-5-2 formation. Just so long as your players understand their roles they must play within it. That Komphela struggled to explain in simple terms how his 3-5-2 worked in his post-match TV interview after the Loftus defeat suggests they might not.
Even the press were left scratching their heads because Komphela insisted that against Downs it was a 3-4-3 system‚ with Siphiwe Tshabalala one of three strikers along with Mitchell Katsvairo and Lewis Macha‚ when in practicality Tshabalala was clearly playing behind the other two.
In defensive situations Chiefs play with five defenders‚ with wing-backs Sibusiso Khumalo and Ramahlwe Mphahlele dropping back‚ while in attack certain players push forward from defence to midfield‚ or midfield to attack. It’s a technical and complex system‚ though‚ that requires a team high in form and confidence to be able to apply it. Chiefs have gone five matches without a win. Even this report – with its threes and fours and fives and twos – is becoming somewhat muddled and tedious‚ is it not?
It seems clear that Chiefs need to get back to basics‚ and play it simple.
That will not be easy against a Cape Town City who under former Orlando Pirates coach Eric Tinkler have played things simple so effectively that they are in second place in the PSL to Chiefs’ fifth.
Then again‚ no-one ever said coaching Amakhosi would be easy. It is not. It is the toughest club coaching job in the country. The coming weeks will tell if Komphela can overcome the realities of his present situation and keep his place in that hottest of seats. — TMG Digital/TMG Sport