Middendorp gets Chiefs recipe right
There is now light at the end of the tunnel for Kaizer Chiefs as coach Ernst Middendorp has got the team to show their potential and they are now playing some inspiring football.
Ernst Middendorp, coach of Kaizer Chiefs (Samuel Shivambu/BackpagePix)
However, he is not getting carried away just yet despite the good performances in the 2-1 defeat to Mamelodi Sundowns last weekend and the 2-0 win at Bidvest Wits on Wednesday night.
Middendorp said it is the result that is always a worry but he believes things are slowly falling into place.
“It’s always difficult to come out from a game like Saturday’s (against Sundowns) and play the top team in the league. I am absolutely happy with the way we handled it today. We were not too emotional and had a clear structure. We scored at the right times,” he said.
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Against Sundowns, Amakhosi were unlucky not to have pocketed the full points as they did almost everything right except score the goals. On Wednesday they dominated the Students and deservedly got the three points which sent them up to fifth in the Absa Premiership.
“I am happy with what I saw knowing that the package (a game) comes every third day. I am happy with the players who came on. Everyone has to be ready to come in and do a job,” he said.
The 60-year-old was impressed with how they managed to contain Wits’ speedy attackers, forcing them to resort to harmless shots from range as they kept things tidy at the back.
“They didn’t have a real chance to score. I don’t think you can we had a defensive structure – it was set up in the right way to position and close down the channels and the second ball.
“As long as we are capable of producing chances, the rest will come. We have players who can score goals,” said Middendorp.
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Amakhosi’s next assignment is a Caf Confederation Cup match against Zesco United in Zambia on Sunday – a match Middendorp, said he knows will be a cracker.
He will also be glad to have his workhorse Willard Katsande, who missed Wednesday’s match as a precautionary measure after limping off last weekend.
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