Kaizer Chiefs co-coach Cedric Kaze has admitted his side were simply not at the races in the first half as Siwelele FC handed Amakhosi a sobering 2-0 defeat at the Toyota Stadium in Bloemfontein, ending a seven-match unbeaten run.
The defeat came just three days after Chiefs had battled to a hard-fought 1-1 draw against Orlando Pirates in the Soweto Derby, a result that, in hindsight, may have taken more out of the players than the coaching staff had anticipated.
For Kaze, the answer to what went wrong was painfully clear as former Chiefs winger Tebogo Potsane and Sphesihle Jeza netted the goals in the first half that secured three points for the Lehohonolo Seema’s troops.
“It was a game of two halves, we were not there in the first half and everything, starting from the build-up, offensive and defensive ways, and when you’re not there, you will get punished, our reactions were too late,” he said to SuperSport TV after the game.
The result snapped a run of form that had offered a glimpse of what Ben Youssef and Kaze’s side are capable of, and Kaze was candid about the role the Derby hangover played in the loss.
“We need to get over from the Derby and concentrate on this game, that what we said, we knew this would be a tough one and we saw that. We went into the game very late and it’s one of the biggest areas we need to improve. The consistency in our mindset, in our behaviour, going forward.”
With five matches still remaining in the Betway Premiership season, and Chiefs having already secured their place in next season’s MTN8, the co-coaches now find themselves grappling with questions around squad rotation and freshness.
Kaze reflected openly on whether different choices at selection could have made a difference.
“When the game is done there’s a lot of questions you ask yourself that probably you should have made more rotations, with fresh legs, fresh minds, but it’s a job of the coach to anticipate that, we need to focus and be better in our next games,” he acknowledged.
“I believe we came back from half-time with the right mindset, we were unlucky at some points, we missed many opportunities to score but that’s how football is and we will take the positive mindset we took in the second half, going into our next game against Sundowns.
That next assignment, a clash against champions Mamelodi Sundowns – looms as a significant test of Chiefs’ ability to bounce back and, more importantly, of the mental fortitude Kaze is demanding from his charges.
