Chiefs should have retained Zwane in final – Mosimane
History-making coach cherishes Ahly’s 10th title
Al Ahly coach Pitso Mosimane is of the view that Kaizer Chiefs should have kept Stuart Baxter in the stands as he’d been in the semifinal meeting against Wydad Casablanca and allowed Arthur Zwane and Dillon Sheppard to lead the team in the CAF Champions League final against his team on Saturday.
Chiefs opted to have Baxter on the bench when they lost 0-3 to Ahly in the final at Stade Mohammed V in Casablanca, Morocco.
It was Baxter’s first match in charge since his return to the club to replace Gavin Hunt, who guided them to the semifinal before he was fired.
“The surprise was Baxter on the bench and Khama Billiat starting from the bench,” Mosimane said after the match. We knew Chiefs’ starting line-up. Our scout identified their players who were wearing bibs and those who weren’t. We scouted their pictures during their training sessions. We knew that those who were wearing the bibs would start. Everything came out as we expected.
“For me, it is to give respect to coach Gavin because he doesn’t get credit for bringing the team to the semifinals. You must give credit to coach Arthur with his assistant Sheppy for bringing the team to the final.
“Also, credit to Stuart. I know he has been working behind the scenes and helping them. But as a local and a township boy, I’m very happy for Zwane.
“If it was my way, I think he should have finished what he started. But let’s not forget Hunt, he has done well and the way they played, it suited them in this competition.”
With the Champions League title his third, and second with Ahly in succession, Mosimane was full of praise for his players and said they deserved to win their 10th crown.
“We really needed this trophy. I know the team from my country also wanted their first star, but we wanted it more than them,” he said.
“The 10th one is important. It is good for history. It is good for our archives. How better to do it with three goals. Yes, I understand that there was a red card [Happy Mashiane], but that’s part of football. You should not be reckless if you play the cup final. You should not be too emotional and this happens in football.”
Kaizer Chiefs coach Stuart Baxter reckons they never really stood a chance to beat Al Ahly in the CAF Champions League final, revealing the only way they could have scored was through counterattacks and set-pieces.
Clinching their 10th Champions League, Al Ahly thumped Chiefs 3-0 at Stade Mohammed V in Morocco at the weekend. The Egyptians, coached by Pitso Mosimane, scored via Mohamed Sherif, Magdy Afsha and Amr El Solia. Chiefs were dealt a huge blow when Happy Mashiane was sent off in the first period’s stoppage time.
Baxter was in Amakhosi’s dugout for the first time since he returned to the club last month, with assistant coaches Arthur Zwane and Dillon Sheppard having been at the helm since the exit of Gavin Hunt towards the end of the domestic campaign.
The Chiefs mentor is of the view that only through counter-attacks and set-plays could they have managed a goal. While he admitted they defended poorly, he also bemoaned Mashiane’s red card.
“The goals that we gave away were poor goals. If we defend properly and normally, we can extend that time when they don’t score and increase the frustration for them and maybe we get a set-play or a counter-attack,’’ said Baxter.
“Happy’s red card ... you are going in and scrambling and to decide it’s a cup final you can’t go on and play 4-4-1 and only defend, so we went with a 4-32, bringing on Khama [Billiat] which was a gamble because he’s not played for so long.
“Finals are defined by certain incidents and this one was affected massively by the red card. It changed the whole complexion of the tie.’’
Baxter, who is the last trainer to win a trophy (the 2014/15 league title) at Naturena, admitted it will be difficult to prepare for the new season as they’d be integrating new players into the set-up, having hardly had a break.
“I think we’ve got to do a proper debrief of the game and the players have to do a proper debrief individually … their experiences for the whole journey. The problem we’ve got is that we don’t have a lot of time to prepare … even if we do get new players in. So it’s a little bit of a conundrum for us now,’’ said the Chiefs coach.