Cape Town - When Kaizer Chiefs and hosts Swallows renew their rivalry tonight (7.30pm kick-off), several players who failed to impress in Sunday’s MTN8 semi-final have a chance to make amends.
Among those who underwhelmed were the Chiefs strikers Ashley du Preez and Burundian Bonfils-Caleb Bimenyimana.
Du Preez came in for harsh criticism on social media after he fluffed an easy chance when one-on-one with AmaZulu keeper Veli Mothwa.
Du Preez’s shot went high over the crossbar.
On the eve of the Swallows clash at Dobsonville, Chiefs coach Arthur Zwane rushed to the striker’s defence.
Du Preez has had a lean spell since joining Chiefs from Stellenbosch, and after eight matches, he has only scored once.
Zwane is confident that Du Preez will bounce back and prove his worth.
“He is a big boy. He has a strong character,” said Zwane.
“He is the one boy that I believe in, we all believe in him. We (the club) know that he is going to get it right at some point.
“As I have been saying, football is the game of mistakes, and there are times when things are not going your way.
“As a coach, the only thing that I must do is to lift him up, to work on him to improve his game. He is easy to work with.
“Ashley is one of those players I believe he is going to get it right. He’s going to score many goals this season. I do believe in him, and he is going to get it right, and he’s going to bounce back very strong.”
Bimenyimana is another player who needs to up his game in front of goal.
He had two scoring chances, but his efforts were way off target. He nevertheless moved into good positions and tried to set up supporting teammates with excellent passes.
Swallows centre-back Wandisile Letlabika is the one likely to be assigned to mark Bimenyimana.
The experienced Letlabika knows a thing or two about man-to-man marking and Bimenyimana will have no space.
Chiefs’ midfield kingpin Yusuf Maart is one that leads from the front, and on Sunday, he showed he can hit the target from range.
His opposite number Mbulelo Wambi is blessed with a fine turn of speed and is an excellent passer of the ball.
After Dylan Kerr’s departure, Swallows are still without a coach, but the club’s CEO Sipho Xulu said an appointment will be made in due course.
“We haven’t yet decided who is going to be our next coach,” said Xulu.
“We haven’t spoken about it yet, due to some delays that popped up. No decision has been made yet, but the management will make an announcement soon. For now, the arrangement is internal, which means the people who were working with Dylan Kerr will oversee the team’s training and planning until a new coach is appointed.
“Those people are Musa Nyatama, who has been acting as an assistant to Dylan Kerr, as well Thela Thela, our goalkeeper coach.”
IOL Sport