Pressure is still on Kaizer Chiefs, according to Steve Komphela

Kaizer Chiefs coach Steve Komphela just can’t seem to catch a break despite earning four out of a possible six points against Premier Soccer League (PSL) giants Mamelodi Sundowns and Orlando Pirates.

While Komphela’s most recent goalless draw In the Soweto Derby was enough to keep him at Naturena for at least another week, the 49-year-old could face the music should Chiefs fail to beat AmaZulu in the Telkom Knockout Cup. Worryingly for the Glamour Boys coach, is that Usuthu are full of confidence going into the encounter considering their come from behind victory over Masandawana away from home.

Nonetheless, Komphela refused to get carried away even though he managed to come out of arguably Chiefs’ most difficult period unscathed as he is fully aware of the pressure he is still under.

“We will have to go back and compare the two matches so that we can analyse properly,” Komphela said.

“But there are some things that I thought we did well against Sundowns, like players’ tactical variation. Do they adjust quickly and do they understand? We are always trying to manipulate the game and when we debrief those are some of the things we will look at. I thought we could have won the Pirates game on set-play, only if we were concentrating,” he continued.

Komphela has been forced to rearrange his backline due to a recent spate of injuries, which has proven effective and Komphela stated that he will only make changes to his line-up should his injury woes lighten.

“I think it depends who we get back if we want to change things,” the coach said. “In the absence of getting people back on time, then you depend on confidence. We take confidence in the fact that Philani (Zulu) and (Joseph) Molangoane were able to push higher up in the second half against Pirates and improve the game, but if we are thinkers we should do something about it in our next game,” he concluded.