We did not return from the Telkom Charity Cup with the kind of result that we had planned for. Neither did we please our fans or ourselves with our performance in the opening stages of the game against Sundowns.

Our team usually prides ourselves on our ability to effectively and with military precision clear the ball from our penalty areas to safety. In the early part of the game against Sundowns we were just woeful in defence, we gave Sundowns the opportunity to dictate to us and get an early goal mainly because of shoddy marking at the back. Nobody picked Moriri’s run into the box and really we should have dealt with the corner much better and instead of conceding a goal we should have launched a counter attack from the corner.

Sundowns second goal made me more furious as again we were caught flat-footed at the back when we should have been able to have not found ourselves in such a position, Fabian was beaten and they doubled their lead. In the first half of the game against Sundowns we played without any direction and again when we did create chances we were just wasteful.

Once you go two goals down whatever opportunities come your way you have to make them count. It was really a whole new story in the second half, I also believe that we lacked passion in the first half; our performance was not worthy of representing a great team like Chiefs.

We looked more dangerous and potent in attack and our midfielders got more into the game and we stamped our authority and made Sundowns work very hard in the second period. Our second half entrants into the game made all the difference, Arthur Zwane took control of the right wing and was getting down into sent in a number of telling crosses on a number of occasions.

David Mathebula played a big part in us getting back into the game he must be commended on his excellent work rate and the hard work he put in, made him a real handful to deal with. When David opened up Sundowns other guys were able to make runs into other space and we really, had them on the back foot in the second half.

Gert Schalkwyk had a great opportunity to have got us back early on, he squandered what was a real gift - we cannot be creating chances and then missing them like that. We really put ourselves under unnecessary pressure by doing that; it is something that we are working upon rectifying to ensure that we get the goals we want when we create the opportunity.

It was disappointing to lose to Sundowns, with that we have now come to the end of our pre season preparations and we need to pick up all that we have learned and put it into practise. We have a meeting with Golden Arrows this weekend in Johannesburg and I have now reached a point where I have my starting eleven in mind, there will always be time to try something different as the season progresses.

Do we have the beating of Arrows on Saturday? I really do think so - we have had a thorough preparation with our pre season programme. Arrows are usually the kind of team who run at you for ninety minutes and they don’t let up, Arrows have not defeated us in over three years in any competition.

This will be added incentive for them to want to give us a tougher outing on Saturday afternoon, I do feel that we have a number of factors in our favour. We do have home ground advantage which will count for us and also the fact that we have probably played more competitive matches than they have should definitely be a plus for us.

Finally on Sunday I had the opportunity to travel to Katlehong on the East Rand where I watched the game between the South Africa u-20 team against their Zimbabwean counterparts. Our interest in the game revolved around Itumeleng Khune’s involvement in the game, I thought he had a really sound game and made some excellent saves.

Khune is well trained at club level and I think that makes the work for his coach in the national team so much easier, which makes him the outright contender for the starting slot in goal. He was substituted during the game after picking up a knock in a collision with an opposition player; we will wait for to come back before we can judge the extent of the damage. Overall I do feel he once again showed that in the future he could be able to be a major contributor to the South African youth teams.

Till next week I hope that we can once again enjoy your company at the FNB Stadium this Saturday, with Supa8 games and league matches almost in full swing I will return to keeping you informed about the going’s on inside the camp every three weeks.

Help us fly away with the SAA Supa8 Trophy

Yours in flight

Ernst Middendorp