Komphela's striker woes

Steve Komphela head coach of Kaizer Chiefs during the Absa Premiership football Match between Chippa United and Kaizer Chiefs at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium on 9 August 2015 © Michael Sheehan/BackpagePix

Steve Komphela head coach of Kaizer Chiefs during the Absa Premiership football Match between Chippa United and Kaizer Chiefs at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium on 9 August 2015 © Michael Sheehan/BackpagePix

Published Aug 14, 2015

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Steve Komphela is a concerned man when it comes to his strikers failing to find the back of the net.

The Kaizer Chiefs coach is currently missing some of his strikers because of a series of injuries, while Camaldine Abraw is not playing due to an unresolved case between the player’s contract disputes between Chiefs and Bloemfontein Celtic, whom they are facing in the first leg of the MTN8 semi-final encounter at Bloemfontein on Sunday.

“We haven’t been freely scoring, for whatever reason. Maybe it is because we don’t have all our strikers available or because we are timid in the final third. The team plays well, but we need to improve on that.

“It is a two-legged affair, but we regard it as one match. The first half is in Bloem and the second half in Joburg.

“But the first half is where you need to score and not concede. The second half as well, which is the match in Joburg. It is the same, when you concede it becomes a serious problem. So scoring and not conceding is the key,” said the Amakhosi coach.

“I think our top goal-scorer last season was Masango (Mandla) with seven. Back home here strikers have to score. The only thing one can say is that they need to have more confidence, courage and composure. Because striking is not only technical, it also has mental aspects. Confidence and courage, they are not technical, they are mental. Composure is not technical, it is mental.

“So there are those mental requirements for a striker we need to trigger, before you go to technical, technique. Like, on demand, does he head the ball, does he control it, does he play the ball first touch? And those are technical. So maybe also look at it from that perspective that, technically, they are failing. But mentally, what is it that triggers such failures? It is a difficult one.”

Komphela is not particularly worried about surpassing the ach-ievements of Stuart Baxter, who won the league and the MTN8 last season. But, he insist, there is plenty of expectation from the team.

“We always welcome and accept pressure. The beauty of it is that we won two trophies last season. This was one of them. And two is not far off when you have gone to one. So, grab this one. It is not going to be easy, not as easy as we say it, we have to dig deep.

“But after getting this one, then it will leave a great hope and it will ease everybody of pressure. There is a pensive mood that, will this team perform? Will they do well? And at the back of not getting anything, irrespective of the performances, there will always be that pensive waiting, which we want to get rid off.”

With Bongani Ndulula back at training, Komphela is likely to start with the former Amazulu player over the weekend, since David Zulu has not been effective enough upfront. - The Star

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