JOHANNESBURG - Kaizer Chiefs coach Steve Komphela was uncharacteristically critical of his players on Saturday evening after the Glamour Boys were made to sweat for their 1-0 victory over Platinum Stars at the Royal Bafokeng Stadium.
“We finished our last game (a 1-0 defeat away to Chippa United on Wednesday) with great energy and I had expected the players to start this way,” Komphela said shortly after a win that pushed them to second place on the Absa Premiership table.
“I was asking them at half-time if the grass was too heavy because we couldn’t just flow. We couldn’t lift a foot. And in the dressing room we had to talk earnestly and honestly, give feedback and truths. It then got a bit better.”
The introduction of veteran midfielder Siphiwe Tshabalala in the second half spurred Chiefs on to end a winless steak that had stretched to five games when he scored with a diving header in the 72nd minute.
“I thought the energy brought on by Shabba (Tshabalala) and (Bernard) Parker was great and everybody should learn from that,” said an agitated looking Komphela. “Listen, when you are at Chiefs, any team that plays against Chiefs brings their A-plus game.
"When I was not at Chiefs and coaching somewhere else, or before I played for Chiefs, I was high on concentration levels before our game against Chiefs. Now, if you face an enemy that’s better prepared and you are relaxed, you are going to suffer.
"Sometimes we tend not to respect the fact that we are at Chiefs and that challenges are immense. We have to rise above and deal with it. I think that is one thing that we are missing, but we will get there.”