Kaizer Chiefs Stuart Baxter

Stuart Baxter. Photo: Sydney Mahlangu /BackpagePix

Kaizer Chiefs opponents now know Stuart Baxter’s TRANSITONS says former star

A former Kaizer Chiefs star and popular pundit claims DStv Premiership teams have now figured out Stuart Baxter’s football.

Kaizer Chiefs Stuart Baxter

Stuart Baxter. Photo: Sydney Mahlangu /BackpagePix

It’s just another day in the attempts to find reasons for Kaizer Chiefs’ poor start to 2022. It’s just been a loss and a draw, but coach Stuart Baxter seems to be in the worst pressure situation of his career.

KAIZER CHIEFS’ TRANSITIONS UNDER BAXTER DON’T WORK ANYMORE

As The South African reported last weekend, Amakhosi left supporters fuming after a very dry 0-0 draw at the DHL Stadium against Cape Town City. What made the result worse was that it came days after Kaizer Chiefs’ took a shock 1-0 defeat from minnows TS Galaxy in the Nedbank Cup last 32.

According to Simphiwe Mkhonza, Stuart Baxter’s famous transition method has now been found out.

“The transition style Baxter used initially when he was at the club, the opponents know how to plan for it,” Mkhonza said as quoted by Soccer Laduma

“They know to use rest defense or counter-press, so that means they need a lot of work. But it’s also necessary now to have players like (Kgaogelo) Sekgota to get regular game-time – for a team to do well, you need a good bench. 

“At Chiefs, who do you make subs with? You need subs that make an impact in a game, they don’t have a good bench. They need to sign players that suit Baxter,” he added.

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NO DEPTH COVER FOR KEAGAN DOLLY AND KHAMA BILLIAT

The former central defender, who could also play his football in midfield, added to echo the words of many Kaizer Chiefs supporters: Why did the club not sign new players?

“I look at this in two ways, Chiefs haven’t started well and didn’t go into the market (in January) to refresh their squad – so I don’t think Baxter has the players that suit his philosophy. 

While Dolly and Billiat are the two leading stars, Kaizer Chiefs do not have much depth on the bench like your Mamelodi Sundowns and Orlando Pirates.

“(Keagan) Dolly and (Khama) Billiat, people have started to identify how to deal with that combo, making Chiefs predictable and easy to plan against,” Mkhonza added.

“You know their strengths and weapons. I think against Baroka it’s a chance to show they can take advantage of a bruised side low on confidence and coming from a four-goal thrashing.”

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