Saddle up for the three-horse race
BUCKLE up for the final weeks of the Absa Premiership, say two of South Africa’s top coaches.
But Steve Komphela and Cavin Johnson are divided regarding which crucial matches title contenders should prioritise, with at least seven games still remaining.
Kaizer Chiefs, Mamelodi Sundowns and Bidvest Wits are all in a three-horse race for the ultimate prize in May and still have to attempt to beat each other in matches that could take the chase right down to the wire.
According to Komphela, who is expected to play the role of Messiah for relegation-threatened Maritzburg United, despite tough matches against Wits and Sundowns, the timing of these encounters couldn’t have been worse.
Before yesterday’s matches, Chiefs led the pack after 22 games, with Sundowns breathing down their necks. Wits — least favoured of the three but with a game in hand — are ready to take advantage of any dropped points.
“When Chiefs play Sundowns [on Saturday], the one coach wants to leave the other for dead and open up an even bigger gap, while the other wants to kill off the opposition and close the gap,” said Komphela.
“By the time Sundowns play us in their last game of the season, that might be insignificant for them. Or maybe it might be a do-or-die for both our destinies. Maybe it’s better for league challengers to get points off each other, because that’s where the battle is anyway. These sides cancel each other out.
“The guys fighting for relegation come out guns blazing, even [bottomplaced] Golden Arrows. But they could be too anxious to get the job done.”
Although SuperSport United coach Johnson uses the same logic, he didn’t quite get to a similar conclusion. For him the job is half done if title challengers work harder for maximum points against teams such as Arrows, Free State Stars and Komphela’s Maritzburg.
“[Chiefs coach] Stuart Baxter just has to sit back and do what he did last year — steal it at the end. I think the pressure comes from the bottom. All teams in the top five have to watch the guy battling relegation — that’s tougher, I think, than trying to keep the door shut on your closest rival for the title.
“They are more dangerous. Title contenders probably cancel each other out tactically, and are aware of each other. But those at the bottom are unpredictable and you never know what type of football they will play . . . long or short passes,” said Johnson, a league runner-up with Platinum Stars last year and a title winner at Sundowns as an assistant to Gordon Igesund in 2007.
He tips Wits coach Gavin Hunt, his predecessor at SuperSport, to come like a thief in the night to shake things up, especially when all eyes are on Baxter and Pitso Mosimane, the Sundowns coach.
Matsatsantsa still have outstanding games against both Wits and their Pretoria rivals, Sundowns.
But Hunt said the “Clever Boys” would have to “win the rest of our games” to have a hope of lifting the trophy.
“Gavin is a very sly coach,” Johnson explained. “Wits are getting points away and at home late in the season. Maybe he can steal it as well. SuperSport are looking at it and saying ‘we hope to push them too’. As it stands, there will be a fair bit of pressure on Chiefs.”
While it is undeniable that fixtures between Amakhosi and Sundowns on Saturday and the Chiefs-Wits clash — postponed to a date yet to be confirmed — are potential title deciders, all three teams still have games against relegation zone teams.
Chiefs have two — Arrows and Free State Stars. Like the title race, dropped points are just as catastrophic for a team trying to avoid relegation.