Ex-Kaizer Chiefs coach Cavin Johnson has explained why he is not convinced his former team can mount a serious challenge for the Betway Premiership title, insisting it’s a two-horse race between Mamelodi Sundowns and Orlando Pirates.
Currently sitting fourth on the table, Amakhosi have yet to taste defeat in the league, but their campaign has been inconsistent, with three draws in their six games. The share of the spoils amounts to six points dropped, leaving them with eight points fewer than leaders Sundowns, who have, however, played two more games.
Second-placed Pirates have four points more than Chiefs, with the Soweto giants having played the same number of games. It is a season in which Amakhosi are pushing for their first league title since the 2014/15 season.
But Sundowns have shown serious intent to reclaim the Betway Premiership after failing to win a single domestic trophy last season, in which they bagged the CAF Champions League crown. On the other side, Pirates are the league defending champions and are firmly on course for a second successive campaign.
WHY JOHNSON SAYS ‘IT’S VERY DIFFICULT FOR CHIEFS’
In an interview with FARPost, the veteran looks at Chiefs coach Fernando da Cruz’s team selection, adaptation to South African football and the costly mistakes Amakhosi have been making.
“When you look at it now, it’s a two-horse race. I think it’s six games now. It’s Sundowns and Pirates,” Johnson told FARPost.
“There are a lot of things you have to take into consideration now, but I say it’s Sundowns and Pirates, and then, of course, AmaZulu, who look steady at the beginning of the season.
“It’s very difficult [for Chiefs] because they change their line-up quite often. He [Da Cruz] changes one or two players; sometimes he changes three players.
“It’s a very difficult scenario because he is also new to South African football. So, he has to learn, and you know we have 11 different cultures, and he comes from one culture.
“He worked in Morocco; we all understand football, and football is the same all over the world. It’s played XI vs XI, and if the quality of players you have on the pitch. But besides the quality we have on the pitch, we also have different dimensions and hierarchy on the pitch.
JOHNSON FURTHER HIGHLIGHTS THE CULTURE FACTOR IN DA CRUZ’S WORK
The culture dynamics are something the former Chiefs coach insists on when assessing Da Cruz’s bid to steer Chiefs to Betway Premiership success.
“If you know the Zulu culture, then it’s a different culture. Then the Xhosa culture is a different one. Then you have the players who I call the coloured players, who are the black players from Cape Town and coloured players from Johannesburg,” explained Johnson, who has previously coached AmaZulu FC.
“Those are different dynamics that you, as a coach, have to understand. How have they [Chiefs] been playing now? Yes, they made some very big errors in games that they should have won.
“They have had some good scoring opportunities in games that they have been good in certain moments of the match. But then, as we all have seen, it’s the big mistakes that they have been making in different departments.”
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