Magesi FC head coach Clinton Larsen has maintained that his team needs to protect goalkeeper Elvis Chipezeze when they take on Mamelodi Sundowns in the Carling Knockout Cup final this coming weekend.
The Magesi goalminder has been in scintillating form for the rookies and bagged three consecutive Man-of-the-Match awards amounting to a whopping R300,000 on their way to the final.
Ahead of the final against the Brazilians on Saturday, Larsen says the team should work harder to protect their goalkeeper who has had a lot to do especially in the semi-final round.
“I think the fact that Elvis has been Man of the Match says to you that we’ve been dominated by our opponents,” Larsen told reporters in Polokwane in midweek.
“Let’s not, you know, try and sugar-coat this. We’ve been dominated by our opponents, and we’ve got to make sure that in this coming game, we give Elvis a bit more protection than we’ve given him, especially in the last game. That’s a game where he made four or five saves.
“But previously to that, he didn’t make that many saves or he didn’t make very difficult saves in the previous two games. But in this game against Richards Bay, he really had to come up with some big game so as a team, not just as a defence, we’ve got to offer him a little bit more protection.”
Larsen further says that the rookies also need to borrow a leaf from their neighbours Polokwane City who defeated Sundowns a few weeks ago in the league in Limpopo, as he believes it was the Rise and Shine defense that won them that encounter.
“That’s exactly how strong we’ve got to be our defensive unit, which includes our goalkeeper,” added the coach.
“So, our defensive midfield of [Samuel] Darpoh, our back four and our goalkeeper, they really got to be on top of their game in order to keep the Sundowns team out. I think if you go back a few weeks and Polokwane City beat Sundowns that was the case as well.
“You know, the defence of Polokwane won that game for them. So, we’ve got to make sure we try to get a similar shutout in our in our game.”
