Is Middendorp the right man for Chiefs?

On theh 77thh off December,Db news brokebk thath KaizerKi ChiefsChif hadhd axed Italian coach, Giovanni Solinas, and brought in German mentor, Ernst Middendorp, for a second spell in charge of the club. His appointment was almost universally met with derision

from Amakhosikhi fans, supporters of fotherh clubs and from then football media. This appeared to be based on his job-hopping in recent years in the Absa Premiership, as well as his sacking at the Soweto giants in March 2007 with the side in seventh place on the log. However,

First spell a lifetime ago

Many supporters have pointed to his first spell in charge of the club as the reason why he is wrong for Kaizer Chiefs. He took Ted Dumitru’s winners of a double the previous season to a third place finish, drawing 14 of their 30 league games. He was also the man who regularly benched the fans’ darling player, the late Emmanuel ‘ Scara’ Ngobese, leading them to throw half-eaten apples at the coach. However, he did win two trophies in his 19 months in charge. With Chiefs on a three-and-ahalf-year trophy drought at the moment, they must be yearning for the days when two trophies in two seasons was worthy of sacking the coach.

The fact is, 11 years have passed, and Middendorp and Amakhosi are in different places, so his first reign in charge is less of an indication of what he will bring to Amakhosi than three of his more recent jobs in charge of Bloemfontein Celtic, Free State Stars and Maritzburg United.

Formation flexibility

In Soccer Laduma edition 1102, we looked at five major issues that Giovanni Solinas needed to fix to get the club back on track. One of those was his lack of flexibility in his preferred formation, always going with a flat 4-4-2 and never bulking up his central defence or central midfield when the occasion called for it. In Middendorp, Chiefs have a coach who is very adaptable and will alter his team’s shape from game to game, or even within games, if he spots a weakness to exploit, or a strength to nullify in the opposition.

To get an idea of which shapes he may use at Chiefs, we looked at his most recent jobs in South Africa to see how he set his teams up, and what style of player he preferred.

Bloemfontein Celtic:

In his stint in charge of Siwelele, Middendorp used almost exclusively a 4- 3- 1- 2 formation – in other words, a midfield diamond. This meant that his side used two strikers and a number 10 behind them to create, but had no natural wingers in the line-up. The side would almost always feature two fast strikers, who played in the channels, more as wide forwards. These two players would stay high up the pitch and be targets for counter-attacks. One of the players that the coach brought into the picture was Dumisani Zuma, who he used as a left-sided striker. Behind the front two was Musa Nyatama, charged with creating goals and also getting into the box to score himself. One other major feature from this spell in charge was the promotion of Thapelo Morena to the first team. Having been a speedy winger, Middendorp was the first coach to convert him into an attacking right back, not Pitso Mosimane. When Morena was recalled to the Bafana squad in November this year, he said, “When Ernst Middendorp gave me my breakthrough at Celtic, I played the same position. Middendorp told me that I am a good player and he sees a lot of potential in me, but he felt he needed to strengthen me a bit by playing me from deep as a right-back.”

In midfield, the coach sometimes used defensive players like Wandisile Letlabika or Ruben Cloete on the sides of the diamond, due to the highly demanding defensive duties of those positions. Keagan Buchanan was regularly used

Free State Stars:

as the left “shuttler”, bringing some passing ability in deeper areas. His form in that role appeared to trigger Chiefs’ interest in signing him. Although he had only 10 matches in charge of the club before returning to Maritzburg United for a third stint at that club, he did a strong job at Ea Lla Koto. In his eight league games in charge, the side picked up 12 points. In this job, he mostly used a midfield diamond, bringing Danny Venter into a narrow role on the right, with Lucky Mohomi on the left of the diamond to give protection to Paulus Masehe. However, the coach also used a back three at times within games, and even used a very innovative shape that had a back three, wingbacks and a midfield diamond in front of that, with a lone striker in Andrea Fileccia. This was effectively a 5-diamond-1 out of possession and a 3-6-1 with the ball. It was Middendorp who promoted Justice Chabalala and Sello Japhta to the first team, and brought Mohomi back into favour. Those three players later continued to improve under, ironically, Solinas, before moving on to two of the biggest clubs in the country.

Maritzburg United:

Upon his return to the Team of Choice, Middendorp found a club sitting bottom of the log with just six points from their first 12 games. To keep the club in the league at the end of that season was a miracle, considering just how poor the situation was upon his arrival. Initially, he looked to implement his favoured midfield diamond, using Kurt Lentjies as the number 10. However, after much formation and positional experimentation, he finally found the ideal shape for the players at his disposal – a 3-5-2 formation. In his squad, he had a plethora of strong, physical central defenders, and a number of left-footed players to give balance to the side. On the left flank, Tumelo Mogapi was the utility man, playing in three different positions up that side, whilst the coach found a role to get the best out of Philani Zulu. Having been a wide player or left back before the coach arrived, he was moved into a central midfield role. His passing and strong defensive work both stood out. The coach also was not afraid to put defender David Booysen in front of his back three for extra cover.

What formation will Middendorp use at Chiefs?

To get a clear indication of how Middendorp will set Chiefs up, we can look at his first game in charge. He came into a club that had played a flat 4-4-2 all season, and had suffered constant defensive problems, as highlighted in edition 1103. We analysed all of those defensive mistakes, described cuttingly as “schoolboy errors” by goalkeeper Itumeleng Khune, and found clear issues. The side’s defenders were being constantly exposed – the opposition had several attacks each game where they could run directly at the backline with all of the midfielders eliminated. This was due to Amakhosi using only two central midfield players, and wide players who are not natural defensively in those positions. Solinas allowed the attacking players to get away with not defending, thereby giving the defence no cover. Middendorp came into the club and immediately addressed that issue by playing a narrow, compact midfield diamond. Considering Chiefs’ terrible league and cup record against SuperSport United in recent seasons, and the fact that he had no make do without Khune, Ramahlwe Mphahlele and Willard Katsande, it was a great result to start his reign.

vour Moleko The due side at to lined up with Kgotso fullback, back in fa- Mpphahlele’s knee surgery. Middend dorp has praised him since that display. In the middle of the backline, Mario Booysen and Daniel Cardoso were recalled. When the team was announced on Twitter, there were numerous groans at seeing these two back in the line-up. In midfield, George Maluleka played as the number six, with Siphelele Ntshangase and Zulu to the sides of hhim. They would be tasked with doing the job of a central midfielder, coupled with the defensive duties of a wide midfielder. Maluleka would be asked to try to play early, penetrating passes forward on transition.

This formation change allowed Lebogang Many yama to move into a central roole, having been stationed on the flanks under Solinas. Khama Billiat and Leonardo Castro played as the two wing forwards, often high and wide to give depth to the team and to give quick, early options on counter-attacks. This naturally suited Billiat very well and, although he took a few wrong decisions on the break to finish off Matsatsantsa, his work rate and evident. pace His in role resembled that that position were of Cristiano Ronaldo at Real Madrid last season,who also played a midfield diamond to allow their star man to play more centrally, and to get their creative number 10, Isco, into a number 10 role instead of playing wide. This is similar to what Middendorp has done to get Manyama them and Khama best. into roles that suit

One very unsurprisingly selection was that of old favourite Zulu. Although often derided by the fans, he is the ideal player for the role on the left of a diamond – he is left-footed , can help Godfrey Walusimbi to defend, and he can cover the Ugandan when he bombs forward. Zulu is also an under-rated passser when facing forwards, but he has to work on his ability to play in tight spaces when pressed. On the other side, Middendorp had a problem. Ntshangase was tasked with doing that shuttler role and with time, he can certainly play that position. However, after he lost On ismor Bhasera for SuperSport’s best chance, the coach decided to get Kabelo Mahlasela on. His second half performance was superb, as he attacked constantly (with Manyama often rotating positions with him). Whoever ends up playing on that side – and it could be Maluleka with Katsande returning, or Andriamirado “Dax” Andrianarimanana – will have to learn the defensive side of the role very quickly. One other spaner in the works for this formation is that Castro does not seem that suited to being a wide striker. He will need to work a lot on his movement and timing from a wider role. Zuma may be hoping for a chance to reprise his striker position from under the Ger-