What Middendorp got wrong
No Plan B
This was clearly the case as many teams wised up to Chiefs’ long ball and set-piece prowess and packed their side with height in defence to deal with it. Many sides started using three central defenders against Nurkovic and Castro to fight aggressively against them in the aerial duels and Middendorp never really found another solution within his squad. It took an injury to Castro for Billiat to start getting games as a striker again and when he did, he ended the season with two goals in two games. However, whilst Chiefs certainly did try to play more football in their final three league matches, they reverted to type in the second half of the games against Chippa and Baroka and looked completely out of ideas in attacking areas.
For most of the season, Middendorp was good at changing his formation at half-time and getting Dumisani Zuma into the action to give an extra attacking weapon. However, this became very predictable for opposition coaches and it stopped having much effect. However, when Zuma got a rare chance to start against Chippa in round 10, he scored a brace, but promptly lost his place again in the starting line-up.
Sidelining Khune
There can be no doubt that Akpeyi had a good season for Chiefs. He kept a large number of clean sheets, had amongst the best save percentage in the league and saved two penalties. Even when the team returned after the lockdown and were conceding goals, he was not directly to blame. However, it did not make sense that Khune started the last two matches when he had not even made the substitutes bench for the previous six games. At the very least, he would have been able to come on against Wits in the game where Akpeyi got a head injury. Khune’s presence on the bench would even have been useful to guide his teammates and with the pressure mounting in the title race, his organisational abilities could have come in handy. Having said all that, Khune is now certainly in decline, had numerous injuries and weight issues and Akpeyi kept the jersey on merit. Middendorp should have avoided the Khune sideshow and put him on the bench at least, not in the stands, but having the bravery to keep selecting Akpeyi can also be interpreted as a positive for the coach.
Faith in veterans
Arguably, Middendorp showed too much faith in some of the veterans in the squad. Parker started most of the games after the restart and was not particularly impressive in either a central midfield role, as a leftsided forward (against Sundowns) or as a left wingback (against Celtic). His poor finishing and wild shooting from outside the box and his lack of passing ability as a midfielder were constantly bemoaned by the supporters and they had every right to feel that way. The coach also never considered dropping Mathoho when he was being exposed by speedy players because he brought too much importance for attacking corners and freekicks. That is also a reason why Parker played: his delivery from dead balls. Such was the side’s reliance on set-plays that they had to include a player purely for those scenarios even though he did not contribute enough in other areas. On the flip side, Middendorp certainly made a mistake by starting Keletso Sifama against Sundowns. It was too big an occasion and using him as a right winger led to a very disappointing full debut for the teenager.
Misusing Billiat
The side’s best player, at least one paper, is Billiat. However, he had one league goal in the first 28 rounds of matches and even though he scored in each of the final two games, his all-round performances were really not good. Even the player was not motivated enough or he was used in the wrong positions and playing style, or both. Whilst there is no doubt that individual players like Billiat, Parker or Kambole have to put their hands up for barely contributing all season, Middendorp is the coach and the buck usually stops with the man in charge.
Being who he is
Most Chiefs fans were not happy with his appointment and therefore the coach was on a hiding to nothing. His lack of pandering to the media is also openly held against him and sometimes his lack of transparency regarding why players were not playing, such as Ntshangase, Khune and Billiat, just gave the fans another stick to beat him with. By the end, Amakhosi faithful had adopted a slogan of “Chiefs have no coach”, which was completely over the top as the German mentor was still trying to turn games with his subs and adjust his tactics for different opponents when selecting his starting line-ups.