Five things Baxter needs to get right at SuperSport United
As Stuart Baxter begins his reign as SuperSport United coach today‚ Tshepang Mailwane looks at five things the former Kaizer Chiefs coach needs to get right to guide the club to turn the club’s fortunes around.
Defence
They’ve been poor so far this season at the back‚ making silly errors that have seen the team concede 20 goals in 16 matches. At Chiefs‚ Baxter had a solid back four with Tefu Mashamaite and Erick Mathoho in central defence. He needs to find a solid partnership at the centre so that they stop conceding soft goals like they have been. He can’t buy anyone now‚ so he needs to work with what he has and work on better communication.
Get Thuso Phala firing again
The speedy right winger was by far Matsatsantsa’s best player last season‚ but the former Platinum Stars man has not been as inspirational on the flank this season. They need him to be on top of his game in the second half of the season and Baxter is the right man to reignite the player’s fire‚ having previously given confidence to the likes of Mandla Masango‚ Bernard Parker‚ Tefu Mashamaite and the two Georges‚ Lebese and Maluleka‚ at Amakhosi.
Consistency in results
Under Gordon Igesund this season‚ United have never looked like a side capable of winning anything. Despite having a good squad of players‚ Igesund failed to get the team going. There’ll be no pressure on Baxter to win silverware‚ but he need to get consistent results so that they can finish in the top eight and build some confidence for next season‚ when they will be expected to challenge for trophies by management.
Revive the Nkhatha combination
No matter how many times Chiefs fans wanted Kingston Nkhatha off the pitch‚ Baxter kept playing the Zimbabwean striker and the coach was not pleased at all when the forward left to join the Tshwane outfit halfway through last season. They will be reunited at Matsatsantsa and Nkhatha showed how delighted he is with the news by scoring against Free State Stars at the weekend. Under Baxter‚ Nkhatha will again be a headache for defenders.
Goal-scoring
Fifteen goals in 16 matches is an embarrassing return for a team that has Jeremy Brockie‚ Nkhatha‚ Dove Wome‚ Phumelele Bhengu and Phala as attacking players in the squad. They need to be scoring more goals and Baxter will no doubt be making sure that the team is rattling the back of the net more often than they do right now. He’d also want his defenders to get onto the end of set pieces at the opposite end of the pitch to help ease some of the pressure on strikers.