Dan’s got Chippa dancing to his tune
. . . as he infuses an identity that is transforming the PE-based club into a side making waves in the PSL
COACH Dan “Dance” Malesela has given up on correcting his identity.
The Chippa United coach was born 51 years ago in May. His parents named him Masia.
However, his ID says he was born in June and in the green book his name is spelt as Mesia.
“I’ve been trying to fix this thing for a long time. It comes back with the same mistake all the time. I’ve given up.”
But Malesela is instilling a clear identity in his team — a captivating congruence that is capturing the imagination of the nation. All in a matter of nine months.
Before Malesela came on board in December, Chippa were a jumble sale of wrong ideas, an accident in waiting. Coaching changes were as intermittent as the alternating colours of a traffic light.
Not only has he infused an appealing style, he’s given them soul. What did the lay of the land look like when he landed? “There was a lot of fixing to do in terms of playing personnel, the behaviour of the players, approach to training and camps,” says Malesela.
“There was a need to be, I don’t want to say professional, but to take things with more seriousness.”
Uppermost in his mind was for his players to understand who they are and what they can build at Chippa.
“Coaches become the second owners of the club, the whole show runs around you,” he says. “We are close to the chairman [owner Chippa Mpengesi]. We’ve been given space to show what we can do. It’s an everyday journey.”
That journey is about Malesela’s philosophy. It’s as simple as ABC. “I teach players to live by the instructions they get from the position of the ball, the opponent and their teammates,” he says.
“I don’t want to try to design a match in my head and tell them this is how you need to play. What happens when you get to the match and find something different?
“It’s about what you see, and you adjust. If a game requires you to pass, you pass, if you have to mark, you mark.
“If a game says make a back pass, pass forward, square the ball, you must conform to that.”
His signature is fluid, forward-moving football. It was evident when his United FC enjoyed a sensational run in the 2013 Nedbank Cup, where they succumbed in the semifinals.
It was a hallmark of his Cape Town All Stars side that was on a neck and neck run for promotion with Baroka FC before he was fired in December.
Malesela advocates a policy that is against abusing the ball.
“You have to respect the ball. Don’t hurt it. When you kick it and it goes boom, it sounds nice on TV, but you’re hurting it. I want you to be nice and gentle with the ball.”
The MTN8 semifinalists, who drew goalless with the much-vaunted Mamelodi Sundowns in the semifinal first leg last Sunday, want to go a step further.
“The immediate target is to see if we can go to the final and win it. Now that we find ourselves here we might just as well go all the way. We can’t go out without having tried to challenge. CAN‘T STOP ME: Romelu Lukaku celebrates scoring Everton’s third goal I’m not being unreasonable. I’m realistic with what we have,” says Malesela.
He takes pride in his background of working with young players: “I have a lot of players I have trained who are now in the PSL. Keagan Dolly, Jabulani Shongwe, Buhle Mkhwanazi, Mahlatsi Makudubela.
“We seem to be going around the same circles of so-called established or big-name players. We forget that these names started somewhere before they became big.”
True to his word, his squad of 32 is teeming with names who are delivering the goods. He has tapped into the talent at former employers Cape Town All Stars.
Midfielders Sizwe Mdlinzo, 25, Zephaniah Mbokoma, 23, Tshwarelo Bereng, 25, are now all Chilli Boys. Six months after reuniting at Chippa, magnificent midfielder and consummate passer Xola Mlambo moved to Bidvest Wits in August.
“It’s the fear of losing jobs. My colleagues think when you come with new guys you will have a challenge when you don’t get results.
“But I don’t care about that. I say are you ready, let me help you out. I’m a big fan of unearthing young players. I don’t care what age, as long as you can do a job for us.
“I’ll give an example. Mbulelo Mwambi is a regular at the club. He’s 29, played a bit at Jomo Cosmos, but he missed out a lot. He should have played professional football a long time ago.”
He wants to improve on last season’s position-six finish. It is a dream that will not be deferred by the absence of his top striker Rhulani Manzini, who broke his metatarsal in his right foot against Sundowns.
“We have Lerato Manzini and David Zulu. I want quite a number of players to be able to score and not put a heavy load on one individual. Scoring is a team responsibility.”
Malesela draws inspiration from the struggles he has gone through to keep his passion for the game going.
“Every challenge I’ve been through in my football life was a lesson. Winners Park fired me through an SMS, All Stars fired me via an e-mail.
“But Benoni United was the highlight of my life. I was fired after two weeks. I got to training and the chairman was training the club. He said I was too soft on his team.
“The other lesson is that money is very important, make no mistake, but it is not the ultimate. I worked a number of years at the School of Excellence on a paltry salary with no contract, working as an apprentice. STUDENT OF THE GAME: Dan Malesela is instilling a clear identity in his team, Chippa United
Before Malesela came on board, Chippa were a jumble sale of wrong ideas, an accident in waiting. Coaching changes were as intermittent as the alternating colours of a traffic light
KEVIN de Bruyne, Raheem Sterling and Kelechi Iheanacho shone as Manchester City crushed Bournemouth 4-0 yesterday to go five points clear in the Premier League before Everton won their fourth match in a row, beating Middlesbrough 3 -1 to cut the lead to two points.
League débutant Ilkay Gundogan also found the net for Pep Guardiola’s City, who have made their best-ever start to a season with eight consecutive wins in all competitions.
“Our high pressing was not perfect today [yesterday]. We had problems with controlling the Bournemouth build-up, but we created a lot of counterattacks,” said manager Guardiola. “We are so lucky that we have Kevin de Bruyne with us. It was a fantastic performance.”
Guardiola made four changes to the team that had outclassed Borussia Mönchengladbach in the Champions League on Wednesday, with Bacary Sagna, Gael Clichy, Nolito and Iheanacho coming in.
Jack Wilshire, on loan from Arsenal, made his first Bournemouth start, but it was to prove an afternoon to forget for the England international.
Wilshire gave away the free kick that led to City’s 15th-minute opener, De Bruyne cleverly