Chippa United have to employ proper structures defensively and improve their goal conversion rate if they are to beat struggling Magesi in their Betway Premiership tussle at the Buffalo City Stadium in East London on Tuesday evening (7.30pm).
This was the word from head coach Vusi Vilakazi, who believes those two aspects were lacking in their 3-0 defeat to AmaZulu at the weekend.
That result means the Eastern Cape team’s backline have leaked 19 goals in 11 league games.
Offensively they have not been great either, as they have only netted seven goals.
Vilakazi admitted these were worrying stats, especially with Chippa being able to dictate matters in terms of ball possession in the game against Usuthu, which was his first in his new stint at the club.
He said they needed to improve their execution to win against Magesi, who are struggling and are smarting from a 3-1 defeat against Orbit College.
Chippa and Magesi are trapped in the relegation zone and are yet to make it into double figures in the points column.
“The AmaZulu game was a lesson for us. That we need a proper structure defensively because we don’t have a problem in keeping ball possession.
“But ball possession does not win you games, you need to convert chances into goals,” Vilakazi said.
“We took positives out of that game, and we will work on the weaknesses we have going into our game against Magesi.
“We will definitely fight and try to redeem ourselves because we are the ones who put ourselves in these situations.
“No-one else can take us out. We need to do that ourselves.
“The boys have to dig deep. We will try to be victorious on Tuesday.”
With only two weeks spent with the team, he said the players were coming to terms with his playing philosophy.
Vilakazi’s coaching style is more focused on a developmental approach, an emphasis on structures and attacking football.
This is in contrast to his predecessor, Luc Eymael, who was more conservative in his methodological approach.
“The players are coming out of their shells. We want the players to express themselves to their fullest.
“You need to give them freedom so they can be able to operate,” Vilakazi said.
“I truly feel the score over the weekend was not a reflection of the game.
“It was just those silly mistakes that we need to fix and work hard on going forward.
“We will soon be out of the relegation.”
The head-to-head between the two teams favours Chippa.
They beat Magesi 4-1 in their last league fixture in February, and before that in November at the same venue in East London, they won 2-0.
The Herald
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.