Reaction the Chiefs' last-gasp winner

“We showed today that we competed with them and we could have drawn the game but unfortunately it was stolen away from us.” – Zeca Marques

Last week, I highlighted the weaknesses that have contributed to Swallows poor form recently .

However, I was still hopeful that Swallows would be able to, ahem, reclaim the form that they showed in the early part of the 2012/13 season.

In front of a decent crowd at Soccer City, the Swallows team - largely made up of players who used to play for the crowd-pulling clubs in South Africa -  needed no extra motivation for the 90 minutes that were about to follow. But they did, however, need a bit more than just pure motivation to prevent walking away from Soccer City with anything less than a point. The seven minutes of additional time added by referee however, was where the Birds “lost the war” as Zeca Marques angrily stated in his post match reaction -

Here are four things that contributed to the loss last night:

1.       1. Key men missing
Again, as I highlighted in my piece last week, the loss of key men has contributed massively to Swallows being unable to sustain their early season form. Last night, Katlego “Mahoota” Mashego was almost as ineffective as Mpho Maleka was in the previous league match against Chippa United. But Marques, unlike Stuart Baxter, did not have the luxury of being able to replace one struggling striker with a quality striker from the bench. Felix Obada - who again worked his socks off yet - tried hard and almost snatched victory in the dying minutes. But with each passing game, the need for an urgent recovery from injury for  Siyabonga Nomvethe grows.

2.       2. The leftback position
 In my previous blog, I declined from commenting about Swallows’ weakness at leftback. Shere “Skhothane” Lekgothane who had been the weakest link in the Swallows defence in most game this season was not criticised. I refrained from commenting simply because  I had not managed to watch new signing, Lizo Mjempu in action. At times during that first half, Mjempu’s performance made “Skothane” Lekgothane look like he was the black Paolo Maldini. While former Swallows player, Keegan Ritchie, was not enjoying his best game in a Chiefs jersey, the Birds faithful would gladly welcome him back with open arms if he were ever to leave Kaizer Chiefs due to the urgent need of a decent leftback.

3.       3. Zeca “uMajazana” Marques
 From around the 70^th minute, it became clear that Marques was content with a draw as Swallows began sitting back and inviting wave upon wave of Chiefs attacks. On another day, Swallows may have walked away with draw, but then again, on another day (in the previous week) Swallows also failed to defend a one-goal lead against Chippa United when Marques decided to switch from a 4-1-4-1 formation to a 4-2-3-1 formation. Marques is a coach I respect, and thanks to him, Swallows are the only team with a trophy in the cabinet so far this season. However, I do sometimes wished h showed a bit more courage. A brace coach would have battled for  the full three points while also fully utilizing the services of Dikgang Mabalane. Mabalane had to battle for the ball in the air due to all the clearances that somehow came his way and feed off scraps.  Instead of having ball at his feet to display his talent, he was isolated due to the defensive approach of the team in the second half.

4.       4. Poor finishing
 Many will be happy to see Bennet  Chenene on the scoresheet again. However, Chenene wasted two one on one opportunities in the first half, one of which really should have been put away. Black Leopards, Chippa United and now Kaizer Chiefs have punished the Birds for such profligacy.

One wonders how Zeca Marques will change things around for the Birds. But this is where a great coach shows his true colours.

Good luck, Majazana.

Thomas Monyepao

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