Kaizer Chiefs are still dangerous, warns Tembo
'It is still too early and their team is coached by a very good coach who is very experienced and has won a lot of trophies,' added the SuperSport head coach.
SuperSport United coach Kaitano Tembo. Pic: Gallo Images
The current Kaizer Chiefs team is struggling to get going under Gavin Hunt much like an old skorokoro, loosely translated to raggedy old car.
But Kaitano Tembo believes that Amakhosi can still rely on some of their “good” players to kick-start their season.
Tonight, Hunt will have another chance to experiment with some combinations when his team goes up against SuperSport United in a DStv Premiership clash at the Lucas Moripe Stadium in Pretoria.
However, the United mentor Tembo is of the view that the Glamour Boys cannot be written off, even though they have been struggling to find their feet under Hunt.
“They are struggling like everyone else, we have only played about five games into the season, it is still too early and their team is coached by a very good coach who is very experienced and has won a lot of trophies,” said Tembo, who went on to add that Hunt can always bank on individual brilliance as he has three former Footballers of the Season in his team.
“For us, we don’t have to look at their current form, we have to really prepare because they have got really good individual players like Khama Billiat, Lebogang Manyama, Samir Nurkovic and Leonardo Castro, those are quality players and they can hurt you on any given day, you cannot take them for granted. All of the games that we have played against Chiefs have been tough,” he added.
Tembo, who will be missing midfielder Teboho Mokoena through suspension, says he picked up some level of improvement in Amakhosi’s last game against Black Leopards, where they rescued a point after going 2-0 down.
“When I looked at their game against Leopards, my analysis started in the second-half because that was the Chiefs that we all know. They had the fighting spirit and that is probably the Chiefs that we are going to meet. Chiefs are a big team and big teams are always capable of pulling something out of nowhere and that’s what they did against Leopards. We need to have a good start and make sure that we manage the game properly and get all three points,” said Tembo.
He added: “They are a team that is looking for form and consistency and they will show that against us so it is very important that they find us ready and we don’t give them that opportunity to come out of the difficult situation that they are in (at our expense). We have to try and keep them in that situation because we have to get the three points, we need them.”
For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.
For more news your way
Download our app and read this and other great stories on the move. Available for Android and iOS.