SOWETO DERBY MATTERS
With both Chiefs and Pirates chasing league leaders Sundowns, this clash of South Africa’s giants is one of the most important in many years. Will the players deliver or will the coaches’ tactics cancel each other out? Here and discuss the biggest game in
THE SOWETO Derby between Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates isn’t boring as a spectacle and as a football match. The problem is the expectation from the fanfare that surrounds this match – the sold-out crowd in the biggest stadium in Africa, VIPS in the stands, the banter from the two sets of fans and the build-up that starts a week, if not more, in advance.
All of that contributes to heightened expectations that are hard to consistently meet. But the quality of football on display is consistent to what is produced in the country.
“Whether you like it or not(the fanfare around the Soweto Derby will always be there). You might choose to ignore it and say let me focus (but that won’t happen).
“When you go to the filling station, they remind you. When you go by your gate, they remind you. As you drive, they remind you. So you can’t ignore it,” Chiefs’ coach Steve Komphela said. “The biggest thing is to stay focused. As you go to your gate you hear, ‘Khosi, baphi labantu? Abeze.’ ‘Where are these people? Let them come.’ When Pirates and Chiefs play, it’s just another phenomenon. You will feel the butterflies at 2.30pm and you say, bring on this thing. Let it come. We try to go in there without stress.”
Try as they might to handle that stress, more often than not the players fail – with their subconscious dragging them back as the burden of losing this match far outweighs the blessings of winning it.
That’s why the last four matches in the league have ended in draws. But the situation is different this time around. There is a league title to fight for. The winner will move a step closer to being genuine championship challengers in the chase to catch the leaders, Mamelodi Sundowns.
The big question then is, will this derby be exciting? Yes. But there won’t be many goals. This is going to be a highly tactical game that will see these two teams consistently cancel each other out as they play a similar formation (3-4-3).
“There are so many things that we as coaches can control in a game but there are things that are beyond our control,” coach Milutin “Micho” Sredojevic said. “There is no team that will attack from start to end. You need to have the perfect balance between attack and defence … We have similar approaches with three people upfront and four people supporting them. I call this James Bond (007). We attack with seven and we defend with seven. The same with them.”
A moment of brilliance or a lapse in concentration is likely to decide this match with one goal likely to separate these Soweto giants. The key will be ensuring the players handle the expectation, especially with the league a realistic target for both teams. The concern is that if these matches were cagey with three points up for grabs, how then will they be with so much at stake? But the stakes being high is what will make this an entertaining match. These two clubs have produced some memorable matches in cup games that needed a winner. The situation is similar, a draw will hurt both clubs and could see Sundowns stretch the lead – especially since coach Pitso Mosimane predicted that it’ll be a draw, which means he will want to sleep tonight with three points from AmaZulu
“It’s going to be a highly pressing game. It might even get to a state where there is chaos pressing, the ball almost rattling left, right and centre,” Komphela said. ORLANDO PIRATES and Kaizer Chiefs might use the same formation (3-4-3) but what they get out of it is totally different.
Amakhosi, with a technical team led by two former centrebacks – coach Steve Komphela and his assistant Patrick Mabedi, have the best defensive record in the league. Chiefs are stingy at the back while the Buccaneers, after getting over their teething problems, have a stronger attack than their neighbours.
This will make the Soweto Derby at FNB Stadium tomorrow a battle between Pirates’ good attack and Chiefs’ strong defence. The winner of this clash will be the team that makes the most of their strength while covering their weaknesses. Pirates have a stronger attack but their defence is suspect while Chiefs have a solid defence but their attack is toothless.
VERY seldom does a player from either Kaizer Chiefs or Orlando Pirates admit that the Soweto Derby between the two sides lacks the spark that fans crave. In fact, these very stars of the biggest fixture in the Absa Premiership calendar have a list full of reasons why this is.
Even the coaches have made some compelling arguments.
But Ramahlwe Mphahlele took a different direction this week.
“I am not saying we should disrespect tactics, but lets try and have a go at each other,” the Chiefs defender said. Quite refreshing. “I just feel we are too cautious as players. We have the chairman (Kaizer Motaung) come in and tell us about the history of the derby every time and I just feel the players then decide they don’t want to lose the game,” Mphahlele, now in his second season with Amakhosi, added.
“We shouldn’t go into the game with that mentality. We need to go in and win the game. If we don’t have that, we end up playing it safe.
“I am urging my teammates and Pirates players – let us go out there and attack each other. Let’s make it exciting, have a go at each other. Go out and exert yourself – if there are no goals then so be it, you can’t do anything about that. What is important is that we are not cautious about the game.
“If Pirates score first, then we have to go in and score as well.”
The last time Chiefs and Pirates faced off in October that league match ended in a goalless draw, leaving over 75 000 supporters disgruntled that they witnessed a highly tactical game, but without either of the two teams leaving it all out on the pitch.
Perhaps with the stakes a lot higher this time around – the Buccaneers second on the log, Chiefs third and both chasing log leaders Mamelodi Sundowns with just eight games remaining – the game could be more open.
“It is important the teams behind Sundowns keep chasing,” said Mphahlele.
“You never know when they are going to drop points. If they don’t then we will take our hats off to them and say they are good because they won the games that mattered in the race.”
The league leaders have a tough programme from this month onwards until the end of the season as they begin their CAF Champions League journey, their matches there sandwiched in between their domestic fixtures.
“Those are the things that make the players tired. It drains you to sit on a flight for eight or nine hours and then come back to play a very stressful game.
“But our job at Chiefs is to focus on us. We can say Sundowns are in the Champions League, but if we don’t win our games then there’s no catching them.”
He said Amakhosi would need experienced players to guide the rest of the squad for the eight games that will determine who wins the title and also coach Steve Komphela’s future.
“You need quality, players who know how to deal with that situation,” said Mphahlele.
“It’s not easy. It’s not like you are playing the first league game. You need players that can take the stress. This weekend is going to be stressful. Pirates are going to come at us, the fans are going to start shouting, but you need to be resilient and focus on the job at hand.”