Kaizer Chiefs coach Arthur Zwane has highlighted a few lessons to learn after his charges succumbed to a disappointing 2-1 defeat to Chippa United.
The Chilli Boys came from behind to put an end to Chiefs’ recent fine run in the DStv Premiership. A win on Saturday would have seen Amakhosi assume pole position above Mamelodi Sundowns, who have played two games less.
However, a resurgent Chilli Boys taught Zwane’s Chiefs a few lessons for the future.
GUARD AGAINST COMPLACENCY
Zwane repeatedly mentioned the need to guard against complacency for Chiefs.
“I think we won the game before we started. You could see we were a bit sluggish. We thought it was gonna be an easy game. I had to jerk them up at half-time and make them aware,” he told SuperSport in a post-match interview.
The Chiefs mentor says he warned his players against “taking things for granted” at halftime. He is convinced that the first-half goal may have given his players the impression that Chippa would be easy to beat.
THE NEED TO SHOW CHARACTER
He highlighted the need to show character and control games.
“I think we did not dictate terms. We gave them too much space on the ball and allowed them to do whatever they wanted to do.
“We didn’t show character, and we know we could have done better.
Had we applied ourselves correctly, put them under pressure and forced them to make mistakes in the dying minutes [it could have ended differently].
CREATING AND TAKING CHANCES
He further noted that they created chances but could not convert them. “I believe had we taken two of them [chances], we would have won the game. Once you don’t take chances, this is the story.
“We have ourselves to blame, this is one game that could have helped us to lift our confidence sky-high, but we let ourselves down.”
The former Chiefs winger also noted that at some point, they played for 29 minutes. “We played 29 minutes without an attempt which is a worrying factor from a team that has created a lot of chances in the previous games.”