Kaizer Chiefs coach Stuart Baxter appears to be not prepared to dismantle the central defensive pairing of Mulomowandau Mathoho and Daniel Cardoso just yet.
The Mathoho-Cardoso partnership has been suspect in the past three seasons, contributing to Chiefs’ recent struggles. The arrival of two highly-rated center backs — Njabulo Ngcobo, who’s the reigning Defender of the Season, and Austin Dube before the start of the term — was seen by many as the end of the Mathoho-Cardoso combination.
However, Baxter surprised many when he opted to stick with Mathoho and Cardoso in Chiefs’ first game of the season, the 2-1 MTN8 quarterfinal loss to Mamelodi Sundowns last Sunday. Ngcobo was an unused substitution, while Dube didn’t even make the match-day squad.
Chiefs get their DStv Premiership campaign under way by facing TS Galaxy at Mbombela Stadium on Sunday. By the look of things, Baxter will persist in shunning Ngcobo and Dube for Mathoho and Cardoso as he argues the two new arrivals are still trying to find their feet at Naturena.
“It [dismantling the Mathoho-Cardoso partnership] is about the timing. You’ve got two center backs [Ngcobo and Dube] that have arrived who are really trying to settle in quickly...they’re trying to convince everybody that they’re Chiefs players; when I say that I mean mentally and socially...technically they’ve to get on board,’’ said Baxter.
“So that may take them time. I think Tower and Daniel ... they’re experienced players, so they don’t want to be shifted quickly but [the presence of Ngcobo and Dube] does create that competition, so we have to make sure that everyone is giving a good performance so they earn their place in the team.”
The Amakhosi coach also weighed in on having just one natural striker in Samir Nurković, with Leonardo Castro sidelined by an unknown long-term injury. Baxter is confident they’ll cope in Castro’s absence. The Colombian is out for 16 weeks.
“Manyama is coming back...the natural striker, the No.9, is only Samir and that means if he’s not available as well we have to play a different way. Bernard played there [as the target man] and scored against Sundowns,’’ said Baxter.
“We can also play without a No.9 but at the moment I am trying to make sure that the bigger principles are implemented...the smaller details will come a little bit later.”
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