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News24.com | OPINION | False crisis: Kaizer Chiefs not as bad as many believe



Kaizer Chiefs were hammered 5-0 over two legs in the semi-finals of the MTN8 this past weekend to send shock-waves throughout South African football.

It completed a nightmare start to the season for new coach Gavin Hunt as we catch our breath in the international break.

Hunt’s side has a record of one win, one draw and one loss after three matches played, having scored one goal (an own goal) while conceding three, in the Premiership.

It doesn’t make for good reading as Chiefs have scored just three goals while already conceding nine after six matches played, in all competitions, under Hunt.

By all accounts, it seems as if Chiefs are in a full-blown crisis and Hunt is already coming under scrutiny.

But we need to leek deeper than merely the surface-level issues of a club struggling to find positive results.

Unique times in a global pandemic

There should be a degree of restraint when criticising any team under these unique circumstances. The effects of Covid-19 have been felt the world over and they have devastated many industries and livelihoods.

We should also be grateful that soccer bodies and leagues are even able to stage games.

The embodiment of professional soccer was invented as a form of entertainment. It allows fans to get lost during those 90 minutes when they forget their problems and enjoy 22 men chasing a ball.

So, we should have a sense of gratitude that we’re able to enjoy watching sport again when we may need it most, no matter the standard.

Teams have been forced to play behind closed doors in a congested schedule after a period of more than five months of activity. With that also comes different hurdles to overcome for players and teams.

A quiet understanding of such a long period of competitive action is that players’ standards have dropped considerably.

This isn’t just obvious locally in the PSL but all over Europe in the best leagues in the world.

We have seen defences struggle, shock upsets on a more regular basis, bigger teams struggling to break down lesser teams, teams struggling to score and an increase in injuries to players.

Does this sound familiar? What if I said this directly describes Kaizer Chiefs’ recent struggles and that they tick every category mentioned?

Chiefs have struggled to keep a clean sheet in their opening six matches as rusty defenders continue to look for match sharpness.

Since the back end of last season, in the bio bubble, both title contenders Chiefs and Mamelodi Sundowns limped towards the title.

Chiefs have also struggled to score as they have failed to break down the resolute defending of lesser teams who have sat back and made themselves hard to beat.

Chiefs have been hit with several injuries, with veteran defender Tower Mothoho only recently returning to action. The biggest blow to Hunt, though, has been the absence of top scorer Samir Nurkovic.

This has dramatically affected the team’s ability to score and helps explain its failure to win matches.

In a previous column, I cited the words of SuperSport analyst and former Kaizer Chiefs player Siyabonga Nkosi.

“The good thing about Gavin Hunt is he has a solid template as a coach and has shown that previously with other teams,” Nkosi told SuperSport TV.

“He won the league with SuperSport United with the first of his three consecutive titles happening in his first season at the club and only took within two seasons to win the league at Bidvest Wits.

“So, he’s the type of coach to come in and influence the entire team immediately because the first thing he does is influence the attitude of the players.

“He’s also brave enough to select players who deserve to be in the line-up like in dropping Itumeleng Khune to the bench after last week’s [3-0 defeat to Mamelodi Sundowns] game. He also left out the experienced Willard Katsande for Njabulo Blom.

“Even without being able to make any more signings, Hunt will still be able to make a season out this campaign with the squad that he has.”

Those words remain true and Hunt could still be the right man at the right time for Kaizer Chiefs during this unique period.

Hunt himself said that he had spent two-and-a-half weeks with his new club during the off-season, with one week of that affected by an international break.

So the 56-year-old had just over a week to work with his squad to try to assemble something that resembles a well-oiled machine.

Assistant coach Dillon Sheppard also touched on the difficulty that the effects of the coronavirus have had on their preparations.

“Normally, we work over a six-week period,” Sheppard told Kaizer Chiefs TV.

“So, the two-week period was just a matter of getting the guys’ fitness levels and conditioning to a good level.

“Then just trying to implement tactically how we would try to set up the team and that was really important.”

Devastating impact of transfer ban

Another critical aspect that has impacted Hunt’s preparations is the two-window transfer ban that was handed to the club.

Even though the squad at his disposal is by no means relegation fodder, it still prevented Hunt from bringing in players he wanted.

What makes this even more painful is that he had a free-run at his former Bidvest Wits squad after the club’s status was dramatically sold. Instead of enjoying the ability to compose a hybrid team consisting of the best players from two title-contending teams, any chance of this was ruined by the transfer ban.

One only has to look at the major improvement to the Pirates squad with the additions of former players such as Thulani Hlathswayo, Thabang Monare and Deon Hotto, to go along with Chiefs being unable to sign players that were training with the team like Brandon Peterson and Sifiso Hlanti.

All these factors need to be taken into consideration when judging the current state of the Chiefs team.

Also as we say in football, things can change very quickly.

Disclaimer: Sport24 encourages freedom of speech and the expression of diverse views. The views of columnists published on Sport24 are therefore their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Sport24.



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