Blom is key to Maart’s best role
This season has shown that it’s not always easy to find the role and position that suits the player best. He has quite a unique profile in the local game in that he is a deep-lying playmaker who isn’t a defensive midfielder. Whilst someone like Andile Jali has always been known for his defensive nous and tackling, Maart isn’t in that mould. Nor did he start off as a central defender like Rivaldo Coetzee, who is capable
of dropping into the box to defend crosses in the air.
Maart is probably more comparable to European players like Jorginho or Marco Verratti. He is highly effective in getting the ball off the back four
and launching attacks, but when the opponents are attacking, he isn’t someone to hold down the fort defensively in the engine room all by himself. When coach Arthur Zwane took charge at Chiefs, he made it clear that he wanted a passer in the deepest midfield role and not someone who just breaks up play, saying, “Your number six should be a playmaker. We want a ball player because we want to build from the back, we want to play with flair and we want to dominate, we want our people to come and enjoy football.” Maart suits that role, yet in recent weeks, it’s been Njabulo Blom as the number six.
Perhaps Zwane has realised that Maart needs a bit more attacking licence and to play as a number eight
– as Dominic Isaacs mentioned – with a solid destructive midfielder behind him. If Amakhosi had not conceded an 89th-minute own goal to lose 2-1 to Chippa United, they would be on an eight-match unbeaten run going into the World Cup break. A big reason for that could be that the midfield is much more balanced with Blom holding the fort and Maart pulling the strings.
The player himself appears unperturbed about his role, saying he is happy to play anywhere. Speaking in September, he said, “The coach needs me wherever he needs me… as a six, an eight or a 10. I have a defensive mindset and an attacking mindset, so it’s not difficult for me.”
Asked about his deeper role as something of a ‘regista’, a deep-lying playmaker, he explained, “It’s also not easy, you need to be patient – you need to be calm on the ball, you need to have the vision to be there. I think I have that, which is why the
coaches are playing me there. I can protect (the back four), I can (create) for the players in front of me, I can give them the ball, so it’s not that difficult.”
For every Toni Kroos or Luka Modric, you need a Casemiro type to do the dirty work. The fact that Blom has somewhat “unlocked” Maart is
an added reason why Kaizer Chiefs simply must tie Blom down to a new contract and not lose him on a free transfer. The side is more balanced and harder to beat with that duo together and it also allows the third player to be a more attacking selection, such as Nkosingiphile Ngcobo or using Keagan Dolly centrally.