Fifa break has come at a very opportune time for Chiefs
Coach Ernst Middendorp said his team have not had time to reflect and give other players outside of the match-day squad attention to bring them up to speed with the rest.
Kearyn Baccus of Kaizer Chiefs and his Chiefs teammates celebrate his winning goal during the Absa Premiership 2019/20 game between Cape Town City and Kaizer Chiefs at Newlands Stadium. (Ryan Wilkisky/BackpagePix)
For Kaizer Chiefs the Fifa break has come at the right time as the coaches needed some time to pay special attention to the players who have been struggling with fitness like Kyrean Baccus, Ramahlwe Mphahlele and Reeve Frosler.
READ: Mphahlele facing uncertain future at Chiefs
Coach Ernst Middendorp said his team have not had time to reflect and give other players outside of the match-day squad attention to bring them up to speed with the rest.
“We will be looking to bring some players back like Baccus and Frosler who can for now deliver 65 or 70% from the physical side. It is not a secret, and I will say it again and again, if you have a number of players inside the first 11 coming from outside or from a six or seven month injury layoff it is something where I know that not everything can go in the right direction.
“You will have moments in the game where you are thinking ‘what happened here now, what is going on? We could do better and you expect it to be better already. But you sit down and process it and then you go through what it is with a player like Frosler for example.
“He is coming from a four week injury lay-off and having been sidelined for 10 or 11 months at (Bidvest) Wits before coming into our setup. Yagan Sasman played in the NFD in the last year and was not with us in the beginning, I have to consider all that. It is our duty to pay attention individually to these players to bring them to the same level and start all together on the 17th when all the players are back into full training,” said Middendorp.
READ: Middendorp responds to Mokwena’s ‘thuggish behaviour’ claims
He said he would give his players a few days off to cool off so that they are fresher to continue with their Telkom Knockout campaign where they play Maritzburg United at Mbombela Stadium on November 24th.
“We will give the players some rest – we started early in the middle of June and haven’t had a break. In October when there was a break we had the Helix Cup and Macufe Cup. It’s always something but we are in the moment and know that for the next game against Maritzburg, Daniel Akpeyi also cannot play. That means we have to go into it very clear with Mathoho also unavailable.
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