'It has been a good start to the championship (Premiership), but there is still a lot of work to do, said the Chiefs head coach.
Fernando Da Cruz says you can’t compare Kaizer Chiefs to Mamelodi Sundowns right now. Picture: Samuel Shivambu/BackpagePix
Kaizer Chiefs head coach Fernando Da Cruz says his side still need time to reach the level of Mamelodi Sundowns despite holding them to a 1-1 draw in the Betway Premiership at FNB Stadium on Saturday.
Chiefs’ Da Cruz – ‘You can’t compare’
“If you want to compare Chiefs and Sundowns, you can’t compare,” Da Cruz told reporters at the post match press conference.
“Sundowns players have been playing together for six or seven years, and here we are at Chiefs where we arrived one-and-a-half months ago.
“Let us have time and we will improve step by step. It has been a good start to the championship (Premiership), but there is still a lot of work to do, especially in offence.”
Chiefs have two wins and a draw in Da Cruz’ first three Premiership matches, and new signing Langelihle Phili has made an immediate impact after joining from Stellenbosch.
Phili won Man-of-the-Match in Chiefs’ midweek win over Sekhukhune, and on Saturday his 64th minute goal put Amakhosi in front against Masandawana.
Chiefs could not hold onto the lead as Cassius Mailula came off the bench to score for a second time since he returned to Sundowns ahead of the new season.
Da Cruz was cautious in his praise for Phili after the game.
“The difficulty against an opponent like that, that has a bit more of the ball, when you win the ball back, you expect him to keep it,” said the Chiefs head coach.
“In the first half he lost too many balls. At half time we told him he needed to keep the ball, and he was much better in the second half. But he is still someone finding his bearings in the organisation and we need to give him a bit more time. The further we go, the more important a player he will be for the team.”
‘A high level match’
While Saturday’s game was not always an exciting watch, Da Cruz said it reminded him of matches in the CAF Champions League.
“For me it was a high level match. I have had the opportunity to play Wydad and Raja (when he was coach at AS FAR in Morocco) and today was a match of that level,” said Da Cruz.
“Today for us it was a Champions League match and we played like a team in the Champions League.”
