CAPE TOWN - As Ajax Cape Town prepare for a daunting road trip to tackle Polokwane City on Saturday afternoon (3.30pm kickoff), they face the same hoary, predictable challenges.
When Roger de Sa was coach, he regularly lamented the team’s inexplicable acquiescence during key moments in a game. They would be doing well and they would then give it all away by making a gratuitous mistake in midfield or defence, which allowed the opposition to take the initiative. Another of the former coach’s constant gripes was the team’s inability to convert promising attacking positions into goals.
After De Sa departed and Stanley Menzo stepped into the hot seat, there was gradual improvement, so much so that Ajax won five of their last six games last year. Now, just two games into the new year, and the second half of the PSL season, the Cape side have lost 5-0 to Wits and 2-0 to neighbours Cape Town City in the Mother City derby.
Based on the two defeats, it’s abundantly evident that the same problems that besieged the Ajax squad during De Sa’s days have now resurfaced under Menzo. The failings appear to have only been glossed over during last year’s good run, but have not been fully eradicated. The former Ajax Amsterdam and Netherlands goalkeeper will certainly need all of his big-game experience in Europe to get the Urban Warriors back on track.
There are four areas of concern that require Menzo’s attention:
Silly errors and a lack of focus
Be it De Sa or Menzo as coach, Ajax have regularly been prone to some naive schoolboy blunders. They dominate possession, everything looks comfortable, they look to be in control, and then they spoil all the good work by recklessly and needlessly giving the ball away. The opposition gleefully accepts the gift, nips in and scores, and Ajax are on the back foot, from which they never recover. If they are to return to the winning form they showed towards the end of last year, then this is a discipline Ajax are going to have to improve upon - and quickly too.
Lack of resolve in the final third
This has been a persistent refrain from Menzo - as it was with De Sa before him - that possession means nothing if the team cannot create and score goals. Whenever Ajax play, invariably they hog the ball for most of the 90 minutes, but they just can’t find any consistency with regards to putting the ball into the net. In Menzo’s own words: “Keeping the ball for a long time won’t make you win games. Out of possession, you have to create chances and score goals.”
Goals win games - it goes without saying - and it’s a sphere of the game where Ajax, at this stage, just seem to lack the decisiveness required. Menzo, after losing to City in the Cape derby, spoke highly of how clinical the opposition were in attack. He highlighted City’s ability to take advantage of “key moments” in the game. That, he said, is the mark of a successful side, and which is why City are at the top of the PSL standings and Ajax in the middle. It’s perhaps time for Ajax to take leaf out of the noisy neighbour’s book.
Fire and brimstone
It was Menzo who placed the spotlight on the word “fire” in the build-up to the derby. The one thing, he said, that was missing from the Ajax players this year was “fire”, something that was in abundance during their great run at the end of last year. By “fire”, he was referring to passion, commitment, determination, desire, hunger and courage While Ajax showed a little of this zeal and intensity during the second half of the Cape derby, there’s still not enough of it. To get things going again, the players need to re-discover the vigour, passion and emotion that drive teams to victory.
Adaptation
In fairness to Ajax’s poor start to the year, they have added a few new faces to the squad. There will be a period of adaptation as the new players fit into the squad. Two of the newbies are Zambian - Rodrick Kabwe and Aubrey Funga - and, with the duo in a new country, a new league and new surroundings, a little patience (just a little, not more than that), is needed. But, with Ajax in 11th position on the PSL log, with 18 points, just six off the bottom, there’s no room for error. A few more defeats and they could be back in the relegation picture. The adaptation will have to be quick, or else