Can Solinas be Chiefs’ Mr Fixit?
New coach says he’s working on a plan to bring silverware back to the club
AS THE cold front swept through the Kaizer Chiefs village in Naturena this week, perhaps coach Giovanni Solinas momentarily forgot his is a hot seat.
But a reminder of what is at stake when Amakhosi host his former employers Free State Stars in the quarter-finals of the MTN8 competition today (6pm kick-off), with the context being that Chiefs haven’t won a trophy in three seasons, quickly jogged his memory.
“It’s an opportunity for us to change that because the road to winning the trophy is short,” said Solinas, who wants a reaction from his side following Tuesday night’s 3-1 defeat at home against Wits.
“But this road is not only short for Chiefs, it is also short for other teams and other coaches who want to win this trophy.
“So, yes it is a short road, but a difficult road.
“The opponents are strong – the best teams in South Africa, the ones that qualified for the top eight.”
The MTN8 isn’t necessarily the shortest route to a trophy; it just appears that way because clubs play a quarter-final, semi-final and then the final.
The semis, however, are played over two legs, giving this tournament the same number of matches as the Telkom Knockout, which is the second cup competition in local top flight football.
In as much as Solinas has somewhat asked for a little bit of time to settle into his new job, patience isn’t synonymous with Chiefs fans.
“Every coach and player that comes to this club needs to understand the pressure,” the coach said.
“There is a big expectation here from everyone.
“In my opinion, we need to manage this pressure. It’s a problem if this pressure is negative and you are constantly worried. We need to exploit the pressure for motivation.
“For a club like Chiefs to be without a trophy for three seasons is a problem.”
Solinas said he was using the lack of success under his predecessor Steve Komphela as a way to spark an appetite for silverware among his technical staff and players.
“We talk about it all the time,” he explained.
“Together we are trying to solve this.
“We are asking ourselves why it has taken three seasons for a team this big to win a trophy.
“Where is the problem? Where do we need to improve? How can we fix this?
“Yes, we are working towards this. We are trying to solve this situation. We must solve this situation.”
Solinas gets it. He gets that his time at Naturena so far could turn into a roller-coaster ride should they miss out on the MTN8 title.
“This season the club needs a trophy.
“I don’t know which trophy, but this season we need to achieve some silverware.” MARITZBURG United are still searching for their first win of the new season, and are hoping to break their duck when they lock horns with Cape Town City at 3pm at Harry Gwala Stadium in Pietermaritzburg tomorrow in what should be an entertaining MTN8 quarter-final.
The Team of Choice have endured a torrid start to the 2018/19 campaign, having suffered defeats in their two first league games.
They were thumped 2-0 in the KZN derby against Lamontville Golden Arrows in their season opener at home last week. Then on Wednesday they travelled to Goble Park in Free State where they stumbled to a 2-1 loss against Free State Stars.
However United goalminder, Richard Ofori, sees the tussle against City as a chance to propel his side to victory.
“Cape Town City are a very good team. They boast experienced players in their set-up. It is going to be a very tough game for us. After two defeats, this game is a vital one for us to come back as a team. We have to win at all costs. We actually haven’t played that badly so far and have created chances but now we need to put the ball in the back of the net. It is part of the game. We need to be calm,” Ofori told the media yesterday at Harry Gwala Stadium.
The Team of Choice were red hot last season as they carved up a lot of the opposition with verve and an iron will to win. They were MTN8 semi-finalists and went all the way to the Nedbank Cup final in Cape Town before losing to Free State Stars.
“Our mindset needs to change. This is not last season. We made our presence felt last season and every team that is coming up against us wants to win. Teams are treating us like a big team after what we achieved last season. That’s why we have to change our mindset and back ourselves.”
City are slowly building their reputation as cup specialist. In their first season they lifted the Telkom Knockout and last season they were the MTN8 runners-up.
“Nothing comes easy. We are not down. We will bounce back. This is a very big competition. Last season we reached the semi-finals and we want to make the final this season but we have to first beat Cape Town City. We can’t just say we are already in the final. We have to take one game at the time,” Ofori said.
Andrea Feliccia will have a late fitness test to see if he has recovered after suffering an injury at training last week.
So far this season City have beaten SuperSport United 2-0 at home, but they suffered a setback on Wednesday when beaten away 2-1 by Baroka FC.