Chiefs looking to build momentum
When things were not going well for Kaizer Chiefs, coach Giovanni Solinas called for some time to work on his team.
Giovanni Solinas, head coach of Kaizer Chiefs (Gavin Barker/BackpagePix)
The recent Fifa break gave him that time and judging by last Saturday’s 4-1 win away at Cape Town City, he put it to good use.
But Solinas is not getting carried away as he feels the team are not yet where he wants them to be despite the impressive display on Saturday.
Amakhosi take on Free State Stars tonight at Goble Park, looking to pick up where they left off in the Mother City.
Khama Billiat was particularly inspired and his partnership with Lebogang Manyama looks full of promise.
“The best of Kaizer Chiefs is still to come,” insisted Solinas. The Italian has not been there for three months yet but he has already felt the pressure, heavily criticised a few weeks ago for his all-out-attack approach, even in instances where he needed to close up shop.
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Even his own player Leonardo Castro questioned Solinas’ tactical acumen after they had let slip a 2-0 lead to draw against Bloemfontein Celtic.
“I feel frustrated because we were leading and we were supposed to read the game and close it out. But sometimes that is the part where the coach needs to help us,” Castro said some three weeks ago.
The 50-year-old was also closely scrutinised after he complained that the number of games was taking a toll on the players although they had played no more than four games. At the time all Solinas kept asking for was some quiet time with his players to work on what he felt they lacked.
“We used the Fifa international break to fix a lot of areas. The boys worked hard,” he said.
It is back to business and the games are again coming thick and fast and Solinas and his boys didn’t have much time to recover or celebrate their weekend result.
Stars have not had a great start with a draw, a win and three defeats in their first five matches. They go into tonight’s encounter a wounded side after a 1-0 defeat to Polokwane City at the weekend.
