Chiefs coach Da Cruz questions his players’ personality
· Citizen
Fernando da Cruz has questioned Kaizer Chiefs’ mentality despite seeing his side claim a 3-2 victory over Siwelele FC in the Betway Premiership at Dobsonville Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
Amakhosi appeared to be cruising towards a comfortable victory after taking a 1-0 lead into half-time before doubling their advantage shortly after the hour mark.
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However, Siwelele’s fightback left Da Cruz concerned about his team’s ability to manage games. Mfundo Vilakazi opened the scoring with a 30th-minute strike before Wandile Duba doubled Chiefs’ lead after the hour mark.
Siwelele pulled one back soon afterwards, but an own goal by Samukelo Xulu with 14 minutes remaining restored Chiefs’ two-goal cushion. The visitors refused to give up, though, as new signing Michael N’Guessan scored in injury time to set up a nervy finish.
Chiefs held on to secure all three points and move up to third in the Betway Premiership standings, behind Orlando Pirates and log leaders Mamelodi Sundowns.
While Da Cruz was pleased with the result, he was far from satisfied with his team’s performance, particularly their defensive display after taking control of the match.
“We scored our second goal, but directly afterwards, Siwelele scored their first. And we were worried after that and the defensive part was not good,” Da Cruz reflected.
“We scored again and they also scored their second but after the first goal of Siwelele, we began to be worried and we were afraid on the field and at the moment I can’t explain it.
“But we have a lack of personality on the field. To conclude, we deserved all three points if you analyse the game, but our regret is that our opponent came into our box two times and they scored on both occasions so they have 100% success.”
The French coach believes Chiefs should have put the game beyond Siwelele’s reach before half-time after creating several opportunities.
“In the first half, we were very good in possession and we created a lot of chances but we didn’t have the killer instinct inside the box,” Da Cruz added.
“At the start of the second half we didn’t play well, we started to play long and but we needed to continue to play the way we played in the first half.”
Da Cruz will now hope his players respond when Chiefs travel to face Polokwane City in their next Betway Premiership encounter.
The coach says the team’s shortcomings cannot simply be addressed through tactical adjustments, insisting the players’ mentality and attitude must also improve.
“The first step is to do our match analysis and correct the tactical side but it’s not only that. It also depends on the spirt and mentality of the players on the field,” he concluded.