Too many it can be said that the striking department of Kaizer Chiefs has been shadowed by the departure of Kingston Nkhatha; Nkhatha a victim to the boo-boys of some Kaizer Chiefs’ fan, had his move to SuperSport activated early than expected as he had just signed a Pre-contract to join them in July in January 2015. After a great start to the season by Amakhosi some have found praises for Nkhatha as they believe he has been their impact player for Chiefs despite not being clinical in front of goal. He had 20 starts for Amakhosi with 3 goals scored and 3 assists to his name. His presence in the Chiefs team has been vital, his movement off the ball speaks volume, his ability to make space for the midfielders and opening up the defence of many teams has seen Chiefs’ midfielders score quite a few goals for themselves in the opening of the season. Since the departure of Nkhatha Chiefs has now failed to score in 4 of their opening 5 league matches of the second round.
Is the absence of Nkhatha felt? Tactically he was valuable to Baxter’s Formation, now that he is gone who will step in?
In the First half of the season Chiefs saw:
Siphelele Mthembu start one game and made 16 appearances from the bench scoring 2 goals and no assist.
Matthew Rusike in the first round made two appearances and did not salvage a goal or an assist.
Bernard Parker had a quiet start to the season but with a positive number of 15 appearances on which 11 were starts and he used those appearances to score 4 goals and make 3 assists
Katlego Mphela featured only once in the Amakhosi team in the first round and that was enough to see himself part of the scorers for Amakhosi in the first round with only 1 goal to his name.
In totally the 4 remaining strikers excluding David Zulu have scored 7 goals in 35 appearances all together, this means that a single goal is scored in every 5th match between these strikers.
Coming to the opening of 2015 and its matches, Mandla Masango remains the only goalscorer for Chiefs in the Second round, scoring a vital goal against Ajax Cape Town.
Chiefs are now left with 5 strikers, Bernard Parker, Siphelele Mthembu, Katlego Mphela, David Zulu and Matthew Ruisike. Now question is who Coach Stuart Baxter will turn to for the goals. With Parker being favoured more as a Number #10 and not being a natural No.9 the options are trimmed down to 4. And with 4 options to look at, there can only be two options for Coach Baxter, its either they replace Nkhatha with a similar player, and with that option being considered, their best option would be fellow countryman of Nkhatha; Matthew Ruisike, a player who is now much developed in structure compared to his days at Jomo Cosmos, can be a nuisance to the opposing defence, but then he too is not favoured as clinical. If time would be taken to allow him to learn and emulate what Nkhatha did for the Phefeni Glamour Boys in the first round Chiefs might see their midfielders backing in goal scoring form and head to clinch the league as they are leading but then time is not on their side.
Their second option would be bringing back MaLeMa into their system. The MaLeMa: (Masango-Lebese-Maluleka) combination saw Chiefs not feeling the absence of injured experienced duo Simphiwe Tshabalala and Bernard Parker on the opening occasions of the season. The MaLeMa threat provided Chiefs with a much more impressive dimension to their game and also having an impact on players like Letsholonyane and Katsande who were also vital in the Chiefs build-up going forward and re-tracking in defence. MaLeMa was instrumental and it saw Chiefs bear wonderful fruits, goals and assist all in all. They produced an impressive total of 14 goals with just 60 appearances all together as a midfield combination.
George Maluleka - 3 Goals and 3 Assists in 18 appearances
George Lebese - 5 Goals and 5 Assists in 19 appearances
Mandla Masango – 6 Goals and Assists in 23 appearances
*Stats based on the impressive first round of Chiefs Season
A health start to the season and with a healthy lead now being cut short game by game and with the season reaching the high road which saw Chiefs stumble and give away the league to Sundowns last season, with pressure mounting up for their strike force concerns, for their lack of goals in numerous games filled with brilliant performances, the question asked is, what plan?, what route? And which striker will the mastermind tactician Coach Stuart Baxter resort to?
Is the absence of Nkhatha felt? Tactically he was valuable to Baxter’s Formation, now that he is gone who will step in?
In the First half of the season Chiefs saw:
Siphelele Mthembu start one game and made 16 appearances from the bench scoring 2 goals and no assist.
Matthew Rusike in the first round made two appearances and did not salvage a goal or an assist.
Bernard Parker had a quiet start to the season but with a positive number of 15 appearances on which 11 were starts and he used those appearances to score 4 goals and make 3 assists
Katlego Mphela featured only once in the Amakhosi team in the first round and that was enough to see himself part of the scorers for Amakhosi in the first round with only 1 goal to his name.
In totally the 4 remaining strikers excluding David Zulu have scored 7 goals in 35 appearances all together, this means that a single goal is scored in every 5th match between these strikers.
Coming to the opening of 2015 and its matches, Mandla Masango remains the only goalscorer for Chiefs in the Second round, scoring a vital goal against Ajax Cape Town.
Chiefs are now left with 5 strikers, Bernard Parker, Siphelele Mthembu, Katlego Mphela, David Zulu and Matthew Ruisike. Now question is who Coach Stuart Baxter will turn to for the goals. With Parker being favoured more as a Number #10 and not being a natural No.9 the options are trimmed down to 4. And with 4 options to look at, there can only be two options for Coach Baxter, its either they replace Nkhatha with a similar player, and with that option being considered, their best option would be fellow countryman of Nkhatha; Matthew Ruisike, a player who is now much developed in structure compared to his days at Jomo Cosmos, can be a nuisance to the opposing defence, but then he too is not favoured as clinical. If time would be taken to allow him to learn and emulate what Nkhatha did for the Phefeni Glamour Boys in the first round Chiefs might see their midfielders backing in goal scoring form and head to clinch the league as they are leading but then time is not on their side.
Their second option would be bringing back MaLeMa into their system. The MaLeMa: (Masango-Lebese-Maluleka) combination saw Chiefs not feeling the absence of injured experienced duo Simphiwe Tshabalala and Bernard Parker on the opening occasions of the season. The MaLeMa threat provided Chiefs with a much more impressive dimension to their game and also having an impact on players like Letsholonyane and Katsande who were also vital in the Chiefs build-up going forward and re-tracking in defence. MaLeMa was instrumental and it saw Chiefs bear wonderful fruits, goals and assist all in all. They produced an impressive total of 14 goals with just 60 appearances all together as a midfield combination.
George Maluleka - 3 Goals and 3 Assists in 18 appearances
George Lebese - 5 Goals and 5 Assists in 19 appearances
Mandla Masango – 6 Goals and Assists in 23 appearances
*Stats based on the impressive first round of Chiefs Season
A health start to the season and with a healthy lead now being cut short game by game and with the season reaching the high road which saw Chiefs stumble and give away the league to Sundowns last season, with pressure mounting up for their strike force concerns, for their lack of goals in numerous games filled with brilliant performances, the question asked is, what plan?, what route? And which striker will the mastermind tactician Coach Stuart Baxter resort to?
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