‘Kaizer Chiefs are a different team’ – Tinkler

Cape Town City have not won since the end of December and this weekend welcome Kaizer Chiefs in the DStv Premiership, a side they have enjoyed plenty of success against recently.

City coach Eric Tinkler shares his views ahead of Saturday’s clash.

You are winless in 2024 and now face Kaizer Chiefs. Has the Fifa break come at the right time for you?

“Our start has not been great this second half of the season, so it was an opportunity to fix certain areas of our game that I think are extremely important. There were a lot of injuries and suspensions, and players leaving, so I don’t think the focus and concentration was there. The Fifa break came at a good time as we needed to work on certain areas of our game and try to get certain players back fit that were key to us prior to the break. And for the new signings, to make them more aware of our expectations and the way we play. It is a game against Chiefs and players should be highly motivated about that.”

You are still only two points off second place and Caf Champions League football next season …

“We set ourselves targets and goals and we have not achieved that, so that is a disappointment for me. But the fact that we are still in it means we are fortunate. We have to take advantage of that good fortune. We have to keep pushing, go game-by-game, collect three points and top that 40-point mark as soon as we can. That has to be the target. We see ourselves as a top eight or top six team, so we have to try and reach those targets and objectives, the sooner we can do it the better.”

How important therefore is it to win this weekend?

“The world of sport … you can have three draws and then you lose and people say, ‘you haven’t won in four games’. Or you win, and it is ‘you haven’t lost in four games’. That is how quickly football can change and the way the media interpret things. It is important for us to get back to winning ways and no better team to do it against than Kaizer Chiefs. They are a different team to the one we played at the beginning of the season and it is not going to be easy, it will be tough.”

The match will be played at the Athlone Stadium due to the Stormers’ URC clash at the Cape Town Stadium. Is this an issue for you?

“Unfortunately we have to go to Athlone because the Cape Town Stadium is not available. We would have preferred to stay at the Cape Town Stadium, but it is what it is. Hopefully, the pitch (at Athlone) will be in good condition, last time I checked it was not in a great state, but they have had four weeks to get it ready.”

Do you have any of your injured players back?

“Tshego Nyama is still going to be a while. We sent him for a second assessment and that doctor says he will have to be out for longer. We think he will only be available towards the end of April. That is a big loss. At least Darwin (Gonzalez) is back now, he has been training full for the last two weeks. He is looking in good shape and that gives us one more option we didn’t have before. Thabiso Kutumela, Keanu Cupido and Marc van Heerden are carrying niggles, but at least they have had the chance to have a bit of a break.”

What do you make of Cavin Johnson’s Kaizer Chiefs versus the side you faced earlier in the season?

“They are still a team that is extremely dangerous on the counterattack. They have a lot of speed up front and they try to utilize that. But there are areas of their game where they still have issues. We have to look to exploit those. But the threat up front is a massive one. At the start of the season, they were looking to play more counterattack football, but now they look to play through the phases and are a team that can also go pretty direct with balls in behind. We have to make sure we deal with that.”