Master of mix & match Baxter bamboozles all before him
ULULATIONS, salutations and congratulations. That’s the vocabulary of the champagne-popping congregation that worships at the altar of all things Kaizer Chiefs.
Who can begrudge the Zizi Kodwas and Sthembiso Msomis and Bantu Holomisas and Sibongakonke Shobas and Sandile Simelanes of the Khosi Nation their moment in the sunshine?
The complete command and control with which Amakhosi have reclaimed the Premier Soccer League title from the claws of Mamelodi Sundowns has been a breathtaking, recordbreaking fairy tale.
Winning two league and cup doubles in three years at the club is a further feather in the cap of Stuart Baxter.
More so when you consider that in the past two years he has been up against a strong star- studded Sundowns side and a formidable foe in counterpart Pitso Mosimane.
Comparing the squads at the disposal of Baxter and Mosimane is like comparing Sylvester Stallone to Force Zulu. Force who? Exactly.
At best, Chiefs have a strong starting 11, while Sundowns can field three strong, but different lineups at the drop of a hat.
As a squad, Chiefs are threadbare: three good goalkeepers, a strong experienced defence — in which Mulomowandau Math- oho produced a player of the season performance — a good balance of youth and long-inthe-tooth players. But their strike force is almost nonexistent.
But Baxter worked wonders with what he had. He stubbornly, and correctly, stuck with Kingston Nkhatha in defiance of the boo brigade.
He turned to MALEMA (a play on the surnames of Mandla Masango and the two Georges, Lebese and Maluleka) when his tried and tested trio of Siphiwe Tshabalala, Bernard Parker and Reneilwe Letsholonyane were sidelined by injury and suspension.
Don’t forget that former club captain and goalkeeper Itumeleng Khune was crocked, something that would have created a crisis of Table Mountain proportions for Chiefs in the past. But not this time. His deputy Khuzwayo lived up to his first name, Brilliant, and his brilliance shot him straight to Bafana. And Khuzwayo’s deputy, that humongous human specimen Reyaad “Incredible Hulk” Pieterse, was also no slouch when given glove duties.
The Chiefs coach also showed tactical flexibility because he refused to become a slave to only one system. As a result, what we’ve seen in the last three years is Baxter becoming the master of mix and match and bamboozling all before him.
Transition football was all the rage and a cornerstone of his first league and Nedbank Cup double.
But when the opposition figured ways to block the tran- sition blitzkrieg last season, Stuart added a new flavour to his stew: set pieces were the new craze. I submit that in terms of aesthetics Chiefs played attractive football last season and they won nothing. Silverware returned this season. Why?
The transition passion and the set-piece fashion were infused into a new combination.
When they could turn on the style, Chiefs were prodigious, as seen in their first eight games, which they won, when they went WWWWWWWW. Astounding.
When the going got tough, they became Billy Ocean as the tough got going. They drew deep from their reserves.
Draws were their worst results. Defeat was such a swearword that only Gordon Igesund and Steve Komphela managed to land painful blows on Chiefs.
When they went winless in
The transition passion and the set-piece fashion were infused into a new combination
their first five games of 2015, observers saw signs of déjà vu. They pointed out how Mosimane gave Baxter a sucker punch and pulled the title rug from under Amakhosi’s feet.
Mosimane pulled the popcorn and proclaimed: “I’ve seen this movie before.”
It is a horror movie, retorted Bobby Motaung, when Bloemfontein Celtic crushed Downs 5-0. It was good banter. The spirit continued on Wednesday when the defending champions sportingly formed a guard of honour for the Glamour Boys.
The lesson from Baxter’s approach? A coach must not complain about the absence of a player, must never be one-dimensional, never succumb to fan pressure and never have a style or substance conundrum. And ululations, salutations and congratulations will follow.