Going getting tough for Stuart Baxter at Chiefs second time around

It seems Stuart Baxter is running out of ideas at Kaizer Chiefs in his second stint as Amakhosi coach.

It was Baxter’s transitional play that saw Amakhosi dominate in his first period as Chiefs coach between 2012 and 2015. And that was the reason the former Bafana Bafana coach was brought back to the hot seat again.

But now the going seems to be tough, with Amakhosi having won only once in five matches this season, drawing two and losing the other two.

Speaking after his side’s disappointing goalless draw with Marumo Gallants at Peter Mokaba Stadium on Sunday, Baxter said his transitional play was under the microscope from fellow Premier Soccer League teams.

“The reason teams are playing long [balls] against us is that we have been so good in transition,” Baxter said. “I think the last three opponents have gone long and started playing from there to miss our press, so we just have to make sure that when we start our press high up it’s more effective.

“When we drop and have a low block, we are compact, so it is up to us to adjust a little bit. People are going to play long.”

Baxter added that they had made it difficult for themselves when they started playing slow, as that allowed Gallants to dominate. “Gallants were playing compact, they were playing deep and they played long,” he said.

“I think we were lively in the first 10 minutes but then we started playing slowly from the back and we didn’t really press from the front, so we got stretched.

“We played slowly, which allowed them to get compact, and when they got compact, they hit us low and the game got stretched and that didn’t suit us

“I think to be fair on Lebogang [Manyama], I gave him a role [false No 9] that was going to demand a lot from him, and when we gave Bernard Parker that role in the second half, he managed there, but he was under pressure.

“We didn’t get what we wanted in the first half, then we changed and I think we dominated.”