Chiefs shot themselves in the foot by letting Maluleka leave 

Maluleka was one of the key players in that Amakhosi squad playing over 20 games before the season was suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic in March.

He was a vital player in central midfield for Chiefs and helped the club sustain their position at the top of the table.

But, just because Maluleka decided to sign a pre-contract with Mamelodi Sundowns, the club decided to let him go before the resumption of the league, with his contract ending in June, leaving a huge gap.

As the season resumed in August and with Chiefs looking to extend their lead at the top of the log. Ernst Middendorp ended up playing to a 4-3-3 with Willard Katsande playing as the lone central midfielder, while youngster Nkosingiphile Ngcobo and Lebogang Manyama played on the sides against Bidvest Wits and they ended up playing to a 1-1 draw.

Against Polokwane City, Chiefs managed to stage a fine comeback and win the tie 3-2. But it wasn’t easy for Amakhosi as the gap left by Maluleka was still visible, leaving Middendorp to play with Anthony Akumu and Kearyn Baccus as central holding midfielders this time around.

Then came a clash against Bloemfontein Celtic, where Amakhosi lost the tie 3-1 with Manyama and Katsande playing as a central pairing just in front of the team’s two centre backs.

The writing was on the wall after this gamel for the Naturena based outfit while injuries and suspensions made things worse.

From what I heard, Maluleka was prepared to stay at the club and fight in until the end of the season to help the team win the league title.

But, Chiefs management being Chiefs management thought to themselves they are bigger than a player and felt betrayed by Maluleka signing with Downs, and were not prepared to keep him until the end of the season.

I think the club shot themselves in the foot by this decision and it was really an irrational decision taken by the team.

They could have done things differently and thought about the betterment of their quest to win the league and asked themselves these questions – What is Maluleka bringing to the team? Was he adding value to the championship title race and if they were going to lose anything by keeping him until the season ended?

So, Chiefs losing the title to Sundowns on the last day of the campaign after leading the table for over a year is just something they inflicted upon themselves, which ended up with the club disappointing their loyal fans with an egg on their faces, having had so much hope of finally getting something to celebrate about, following a long trophy drought which dates back to 2015.

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