Petersen arriving? Blom – Katsande’s heir
direct, the goalkeeper is not asked to take big risks when on the ball. Bvuma is probably not good enough right now to take over the number one jersey, but he does have the potential to reach that level. He should at least find himself second choice next season in a real competition for the starting position and getting plenty of cup games when Chiefs rotate their side.
Before Chiefs’ transfer ban was upheld, it looked certain that Hunt would be signing Brandon Petersen, having worked with the goalkeeper at Bidvest Wits. He has been overcoming a serious leg injury and should be ready and raring to go for next season should Amakhosi complete the deal. At 26, he’s the perfect profile for a goalkeeper. The club could sign him to fight with Bvuma for the jersey with one of the two veterans staying on board for one more season as a good solution if the two younger keepers are struggling.
ACTION: Give Bvuma a chance, sign Petersen, keep one of Akpeyi or Khune and release the other. It is time to freshen up what is a very old area of the team.
It is now looking almost certain that Willard Katsande will depart Chiefs at the end of the season after a poor campaign where he has lost his place and really struggled before that when he was selected. At 35, his race looks to be run, whilst the same may be said for Bernard Parker, now a bona fide central midfielder. Do Chiefs have the solutions in the engine room? This has been a real breakout season for the 21-year-old Njabulo Blom. Ernst Middendorp gave him his break in the Chiefs first team as a right back despite other senior fullbacks being fit and available. He did well in his outings but barely played towards the end of the season. Hunt has come in and used him almost exclusively as a defensive midfielder. He’s played 38 matches across all competitions and has appeared in 24 of the 25 DStv Premiership matches although has only started 14 of those, a slight surprise. He has started 56% of the PSL matches and played 69% of the available league minutes. Hunt absolutely loves him as a player and has had him in the starting XI for almost all recent matches. After the Soweto giants secured a place in the CAF Champions League quarter-finals with a 2-2 draw away at Horoya, Hunt lavished praise on his young midfielder. Looking at the player’s stats, there are still some parts of his game that needed to be honed. Aerially, he wins just 40% of his duels and that is an aspect where he can get better by improving his timing and his leap. He is amongst the leaders in the squad for his tackles and interceptions, but he could look to increase his 53% tackle win rate. On the ball, Blom does look to create more chances for teammates, but being more penetrative in his passing whilst his range of distribution is good, he could look to play even more switches of play and balls over the top into space. He also could increase the amount of balls he wins in the opposition half by squeezing up higher to close down with his intensity.
ACTION: Keep Blom as a first choice, use Darrel Matsheke as a useful squad player and sign two quality central midfielders. One must be starting XI quality to partner Blom (for example, Goodman Mosele), whilst a good allrounder could be the other. Phathutshedzo Nange fits that bill perfectly as he can play in various roles and it is football’s worstkeep secret that the 29-year-old will be joining Amakhosi next season.