Chiefs coach defends Katsande decision

BELEAGUERED Steve Komphela believes he made the right decision replacing one centreback with another after Mulomowandau Mathoho’s seventh-minute dismissal in Kaizer Chiefs’ 2-1 Absa Premiership defeat against SuperSport United on Wednesday.

Faced with 10 men before the game had even got into its stride at the FNB Stadium, Komphela took some time – 10 minutes – to react.

During that time, Aubrey Modiba headed SuperSport ahead.

When the substitution came‚ it took everyone by surprise. Daniel Cardoso replaced Lorenzo Gordinho in a centreback swap.

Komphela’s decision not to remove an attacker and pack his midfield‚ leaving Willard Katsande moved to central defence‚ seemed to give SuperSport an advantage.

They ran rampant in the first half‚ even if they could only add one more injury-time goal, by Bradley Grobler.

But Komphela said the manner in which Amakhosi improved in the second half‚ pulling a goal back by Gustavo Paez‚ proved he had made the right move.

“It looked crazy at the beginning. What happens on the bench is something very special – you have to be there to live it and understand‚” the Chiefs coach said.

“We had to take time and think‚ what do we do? We left it‚ left it‚ left it‚ for a while. And it was clear that a change had to be made.

“And there was no way you would compromise a ‘Pule’ [Hendrick Ekstein] or a ‘Shabba’ [Siphiwe Tshabalala]‚ who I thought both did well‚ or Bernard Parker.

“The decision was right. And the centre got quiet and solid. Katsande assisted us a lot. And that’s why we played a better game in the second half‚ one man down.”

Despite Komphela’s assurances, it was hard to see his thinking.

Packing his midfield would have seemed his best move to negate SuperSport’s numbers advantage.

Removing Katsande from anchor seemed to take out of the equation the one man who could have saved the game from midfield‚ to where he could be less influential at centreback.

The substitution seemed a schoolboy error. Early in his tenure at Chiefs, Komphela could perhaps afford some of those.

Now‚ with the results not coming with three games in 2017-18 and no win‚ and disgruntlement in the stands growing‚ he cannot.

Yet, such decisions are sometimes also the result of pressure. It is a tough situation to be in.