NO CONTINENTAL DISTRACTION A PLUS FOR CHIEFS
No continental distraction could be a plus
KAIZER Chiefs being free of continental competition‚ and three of their fellow Absa Premiership title contenders not having that luxury‚ just could play a role in the championship race‚ says Amakhosi midfielder George Maluleka.
As Chiefs prepare to meet Highlands Park at Amakhosi’s alternate venue of the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban tomorrow (6pm)‚ a run of four wins has the Soweto giants‚ much maligned for the first half of the season‚ firmly in contention.
Chiefs‚ growing in confidence with each positive result‚ are in third place on 30 points from 17 games.
After a year and a half with the team‚ coach Steve Komphela has some form of squad at his disposal that can match his playing philosophy‚ translating into Chiefs’ best fluency under the former Bafana Bafana defender.
And possibly an added factor that just might translate into what at one stage seemed an unlikely league title for Amakhosi is that they are free of continental competition.
The same cannot be said of fellow challengers Bidvest Wits (in first place)‚ SuperSport United (fourth) and lurking defending champions Mamelodi in fifth.
Asked whether this might be a factor in the title race‚ Maluleka said: “I think it will. We have been in that same situation before ourselves.
“That was the year we lost the league to Sundowns, having had an 11-point lead.
“We dropped points‚ we were drawing and we became desperate – and that cost us in a few crucial games.
“We don’t know how the other teams will deal with continental competition. It will take its course. “We’re not worried about them. “We’ll just focus on ourselves and make sure that in every game we go into‚ if we can just make sure that we play very well, at least we’ll give ourselves a chance to come out with a positive result.”
The core of Chiefs’ 2012-13 and 2014-15 league and cup double winners – Maluleka‚ Itumeleng Khune‚ Mulomowandau Mathoho‚ Willard Katsande‚ Siphiwe Tshabalala and Bernard Parker – were instrumental in the club’s turnaround.
But do Amakhosi have the depth to be league title winners outside of a capable first team? “We said from the first game of the second half of the season that we’re going to go all out‚” Maluleka said.
“And definitely‚ I think we do have the depth. We have three or four players in each position‚ so I think that should be enough.”
Maluleka said Chiefs’ players – led by their seniors in the squad – had some heart-to-hearts as they were struggling for results in the first half of the season.
Now‚ as the wins come‚ so does the confidence. “I don’t think much has changed. “I just think we’ve been working on our mindset lately – having a positive mindset‚” the playmaker said.
“You always can have doubts when you play for a very big club like Kaizer Chiefs – doubts to say: ‘If we lose this game what will happen?’
“In the first half of the season‚ when we were getting a lot of draws‚ we sat down as a team and discussed the issues.
“I don’t say we resolved everything [that way], but it helped us roll up our sleeves and say: ‘We need to do this as a team and not leave anyone behind’.”
Highlands are in second-last place, with just two wins from 17 games.