After another tough loss in the DStv Premiership against Stellenbosch FC on Tuesday night, Kaizer Chiefs interim coach Cavin Johnson didn’t sugarcoat his thoughts on his team’s performance.
Chiefs fell 1-0 to Stellies at FNB Stadium in Johannesburg, a venue that should be a fortress for The AmaKhosi. Devin Titus scored the lone goal just before halftime, and despite having the entire second half to equalize, Chiefs couldn’t find the back of the net.
It’s not typical for an interim coach to publicly criticize players, but that’s exactly what Johnson did. “I thought the performance tonight was not even half of what we put in on Saturday. What can I say? We have to go back, try again, put different players on the pitch, and see what happens,” said Johnson.
“In saying that, we just didn’t get it right tonight. I’m not happy with the performance from a lot of the players. We have to fix them up.”
The result dropped Chiefs to seventh place with just 30 points from 22 matches. It was also their eighth defeat of the campaign, leaving them 19 points behind leaders Mamelodi Sundowns, who have played one game less.
Johnson also touched on the technical aspects of his players’ game. “We need to be smarter and play the ball better. The most important thing is that the players need to play proper technical football. They need to be better technically in many moments. They need to pass the ball better. There are times when we don’t pass the ball better than the opposition. We’re not showing that we can pass the ball better
“When we go 1-0 down, we have 45 minutes to come back, be confident in who you are as Chiefs players, and play the right way. Don’t just kick the ball. That was very concerning for me today.”
Chiefs will now head to East London to face Chippa United on Saturday, a team third from bottom in the table.
“We have another game on Saturday against Chippa. We have to give it our all. We need the points more than any other team in the PSL right now, and we need to fight.”
Main image: IOL
