Posted in News on Jul 23, 2006.
I would first like to get back to talking about the Vodacom Challenge, I felt it was very well run tournament and away from the field it was good for the team to have spent those days together in an attempt to create a good spirit amongst the group.
We trained hard during the week we were based in Cape Town and I am pleased with progress being made by the team in general, obviously there are some players who are progressing faster than others. In totality I am happy with the way the team is moving forward and our forward march did come through in this tournament and that was another positive for us.
On the games themselves I don’t think that we should start praising Ernst Middendorp and saying this and that about him, the truth is that we have a responsibility to our fans and sponsors and that is to be competitive in which wherever game or whatever opponent we face.
The victory over Manchester United can not be played down or up we need to be level headed about it and understand that although it is a wonderful achievement we have a lot of work to still do. Against United we had chances and did not effectively make use of them which could have counted against us, they too created numerous opportunities and we could have had a lot of hard work to do had they had found the net in the first half.
At the centre of defence we were strong there were times when we were a bit eccentric on the left, Patrick Mayo was caught out by similar moves in succession and after that he picked up his game, we need to work on losing concentration during the game.
For us the significance of the Vodacom Challenge results is that we have showed that we are able to compete at a high level, to me it is also important to note that we scored two goals in three games. Which is something to be concerned about as we need to be sharper in front of goal and take our opportunities when they fall to us like we did against Pirates, I felt we showed a better goal scoring instinct against Pirates.
We were more fluent when attacking and when ever we went forward it was with good measure and positive outcomes, as we forced Chansa into a number of saves as well as hitting the post.
Another good sign for me was to see the way our midfield was able to hold up in all three games, we have always needed to have a number of players who could hold the ball and take on or two guys before creating space for the forward men.
I do feel that Siyabonga Nkosi has added a new dimension in midfield to the team which has helped make us a threat going forward, other guys the likes of David Mathebula, Gert Schalkwyk, Arthur Zwane, Tinashe Nengomasha and Thabo Mooki have also shown some good form in the pre season thus far.
I must reiterate that we played with all of our hearts against Manchester United and Rowen once again came to the fore when we went to penalties and he did well to stop Chris Eagles spot kicks, again our penalties were of a good quality. Even though Fabian McCarthy missed his kick he was unfortunate as he struck it well and even beat the goalkeeper, it should not worry him much as he should take spot kicks for us again.
In concluding I must say that we have tried a host of new and varied training methods and systems some of which are paying off and is helping our progress.
The most important thing at the moment is for us to continue making progress the way we have been and in Bloemfontein this coming weekend and hopefully during the Telkom Charity Cup the next weekend we will give more players a run out.
We must trust in our entire squad and give every men the opportunity to fight his case for a place in the team, every player in the team is important and he must know that I trust in his abilities to do the right thing for the benefit of the team.
Ersnt Middendorp
Kaizer Chiefs Head Coach
