For their trip just over a fortnight ago to Sisa Dukashe Stadium in East London, Kaizer Chiefs coach Cavin Johnson made seven changes to his starting line-up. In isolation, that sort of heavy rotation is not a problem. After all, Mamelodi Sundowns changed their entire team not long ago and still beat Richards Bay FC. We saw many of the teams in the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals rotate heavily between the first and second legs and still win their league fixtures. The difference is that those clubs have a clear idea of their ‘best XI’ or at least a regular 13 or 14 players who fight to start. In addition, Johnson may have made seven personnel changes but there were eight changes if we include positional alterations. Against Richards Bay last weekend, it was a further five changes to the starting XI. Both Rhulani Mokwena and Jose Riveiro have spoken recently about the importance of continuity in their starting XI wherever possible. For Chiefs, they’re only in one competition and should be closer to a clear “Best XI” by now. In this feature, Soccer Laduma asks what Amakhosi’s team selection criteria is and whether they should already be building for next season, and how many of their players would get into the Sundowns team.
Johnson rejigs in Chippa loss
After Kaizer Chiefs’ 1-0 home loss to Stellenbosch FC, Cavin Johnson was very displeased about the performance of his side. He said at full-time: “We have to go back, try again, put different players on the pitch and let’s see what happens. We just didn’t get it right tonight, I’m not happy with the performance of a lot of the players.” In response, the caretaker coach made seven changes for the trip to the Chilli Boys a few days later. The four survivors were Bruce Bvuma, Given Msimango, Edmilson Dove and Pule Mmodi. That meant a lot of disruption to every department of the team except goalkeeper.
