Kaizer Chiefs
Giovanni Solinas constantly fiddled with his starting XI throughout his time in charge at Kaizer Chiefs, so much so that the team often lost its identity amid the disappointing set of results recorded under him. KICK OFF’s Lovemore Moyo dissects the cockt
We analyse where Giovanni Solinas got it wrong, with Ernest Middendorp fully aware of the task at hand in his second spell with Amakhosi.
Statistics reveal that Giovanni Solinas made an eyebrow-raising 74 changes to the Kaizer Chiefs starting line-up in his 22 games in charge at the club as he played dice with his options, choosing the experimental path over one of stability. A team of Amakhosi’s calibre should surely not be tampered with so frequently, but Solinas’ ideas appeared to be thin on consistency following a limited pre-season with his new club. The Italian stuck with the same starting XI in the first two games of the season against Mamelodi Sundowns and Bidvest Wits, after which his concoction of changes often left a bitter taste in the mouths of supporters whose thirst for consistency in results continued. In Chiefs’ 22 games in all competitions under Solinas’ watch, the only other time the same starting line-up was used for two matches in a row was in game 16 and 17 against SuperSport United and Black Leopards respectively, with both matches ending in 1-0 wins for Amakhosi. The ever-changing line-ups soon raised questions about the coach’s relationship with his players, and it wasn’t long before suggestions of a simmering dressing room mutiny. With barely half the season completed, all three goalkeepers in Itumeleng Khune, Virgil Vries and Bruce Bvuma had already been used. In defence, Ramahlwe Mphahlele, Mulomowandau Mathoho, Daniel Cardoso, Mario Booysen, Kgotso Moleko, Teenage Hadebe, Godfrey Walusimbi, Siphosakhe Ntiya-Ntiya and Siyabonga Ngezana had all started. The most-affected position in the backline was in central defense where Mathoho, Cardoso, Booysen, Hadebe and Ngezana had all featured. Mphahlele was Solinas’ regular at right-back, though Moleko and strangely Cardoso were also played there. In the middle, Willard Katsande was the only ever-present with Siphelele Ntshangase, George Maluleka, Kabelo Mahlasela, Philani Zulu, Hendrick Ekstein, Dumisani Zuma, Khotso Malope, Bhongolethu Jayiya, Andriamirado Andrianarimanana, Siphiwe Tshabalala, Kabelo Mahlasela, Joseph Molangoane and Wiseman Meyiwa all earning a start at some point. In attack, the Italian’s favourite Khama Billiat was the common denominator along with Leonardo Castro, with Lebogang Manyama, Bernard Parker, Ryan Moon and Gustavo Paez used interchangeably in-between. This stretched the count of players handed starts at that point to 31, annoying many who directed their criticism towards Solinas, with
a large constituency feeling he had been unnecessarily tinkering with the team. “We need more consistency. We also need to play with the same players over more time,” the coach himself responded when bombarded with the question around his ever-changing team selection before he was fired.
Injury blame
However, the Italian tactician felt the changes were not always of his own making. “Sometimes it is my decision, but sometimes the injuries force me to change. The injuries forced me when we didn’t have Lebo, Khama, Castro or Zuma. It was not my choice. It was because the players were out and not available because of injury,” Solinas said as his excuse for all his tinkering, before speaking specifically about the central defense. “In this department, we had Daniel Cardoso who went 10 days without training because he had a gastro problem. He had a virus so he had to stay away from his teammates because it was contagious. He didn’t train for 10 days, and he lost weight as he wasn’t eating well. So it was not possible to play with Daniel. “We then changed Siya because he was injured against Black Leopards. For me it is not a problem between the one or the other: against Free State Stars the combination was Mario and Siya – they played very well and we won the game 2-0, keeping a clean sheet. I agree that sometimes we need to be more consistent with the back four because the understanding gets better by playing more games together. Sometimes we don’t change just for changing, but change because we are forced by injury.” Off-season signing Booysen was part of the series of changes at the back, yet the well-travelled defender feels what the club has at its disposal in central defense was good enough reason for all their alterations. “With the amount of quality we have in the backline, anyone can play,” says the 30-year-old. “We have myself, Danny, Mathoho, Teenage and Siya. We can all step up to the plate, so it is up to the coach to decide who plays. “I think you can’t question the quality we have in the team, especially in the backline. Yes, we have taken a lot of criticism, but it must not hit our confidence because we can’t become bad players overnight. We have to focus on the positives; we do selfintrospection and we know what we have to grow on. You can’t question the quality of the defenders in the team have, so we have to focus on that and just keep growing.”
‘We have to be ready’
Yet for all the quality the former Ajax Cape Town defender is referring to, Chiefs had only kept nine clean sheets in those 22 games which further emphasises the need to establish reliable and effective partnerships in the last line of defense, an aspect fired coach Solinas failed to get right. “In football you want to have consistency, but at the end of the day if the coach decides to rotate the team, we have to respect that and be ready as players,” Booysen says. “I don’t think it is a big adjustment, but we are working on it on the training ground every day and we must have that understanding with everyone because that is what we want. I don’t think chopping and changing is too much of a big thing because if you look at the quality in our backline, we have many international players. So I don’t think that should be a question because I believe in the quality that all our defenders have.” While the modern game has seen most teams adopt a left and right-footed combination in central defense, Booysen, who has gained experience across various PSL clubs including Bloemfontein Celtic, Maritzburg United, SuperSport United and Sundowns, is not particular about that, insisting all defenders in the squad are able to adapt to whatever position they are asked to play. “I play on the left side of central defence and at times you have to adjust,” he says. “I am able to play with both feet and always want to contribute to the team and put the team first. If the coach puts me on the right or the left, I always only think about contributing to the team. It is not about me. In modern football, having left and right-footed centrebacks balances it out, but with the quality that we have in defense, anyone can play on the left or on the right.”
The axe eventually falls
Solinas’ constant fiddling led to a string of inconsistent results which then culminated in his demise as both he and assistant Patrick Mabedi were shown the Naturena door, with manager Bobby Motaung admitting the strained relationship between the coach and players could not continue. “Unfortunately in football we can sit and agree, but the results must come out there on the field,” Motaung said following the Italian’s exit. “The relationship between the players and the coach is key at the end of the day. Unfortunately there was a challenge in that aspect. Players were not responding.” Motaung however insists the club does not regret their initial decision to hire the former Free State Stars coach, but admitted change was needed to protect the Chiefs brand. “We don’t regret, and we don’t think we made a mistake,” he said. “The man obviously ticked the boxes when we interviewed him. It’s also about the coach, about his integrity. We want to make sure his legacy and his career continues properly. It was more to protect the coach and the brand because the pressure was there and we could see it. But we don’t think we made a mistake in any way.”