Champion coaches close to finalising their line-up

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With just a few weeks to go to the Carling Black Label Champion Cup, two legendary former strikers from Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs have a few tips for champion coaches on how to go about deciding on their strikers ahead of the clash at FNB Stadium on 30 July.

This off-season cup allows two members of the public, known as champion coaches, to coach each team so they can experience what the head coaches go through on match day, especially in a tough derby like this one.

Former Chiefs and Pirates forward Pollen Ndlanya, and ex-Amakhosi striker Shane MacGregor are both former international strikers who knew their way around the penalty box and scored a mountain of goals in South Africa’s elite league.

Ndlanya, who had two spells at Chiefs and ended his career at Pirates, feels both sides had their challenges last season and that fans will have to put some deep thought into their selections for the cup.

“Chiefs have very good strikers, players like Bernard Parker and Camildine Abraw, but last season we saw that they struggled a bit. They each bring something different to the team and have their own qualities,” Ndlanya said.

“But Chiefs also have players in the midfield who can score goals, Siphiwe Tshabalala, George Lebese and even Willard Katsande. But obviously you rely on your strikers most and you want them to be confident in the box.”

He added that Pirates also had good strikers with the likes of Thamsanqa Gabuza and Tendai Ndoro. “Ndoro found his scoring boot towards the end of the season and he showed his star quality that made Pirates sign him. This speaks volumes on why he is currently the team’s current vote leader,” he said.

MacGregor said the roles of a striker may be different in various teams and that each had their own job, beyond just putting the ball in the back of the net.

“There are obviously different types of strikers, you get a traditional number nine who is more of a box-to-box type of player, and then a number 10 who plays off him,” MacGregor said.

“The number 10 should get the ball to his strike partner, just like Fani Madida did for me when I played at Chiefs. He gets behind the defenders and also attracts them away from the number nine to give him more space to play.”

He added that in his playing days he was a player who shielded the ball and brought other players in. “It’s not necessarily something that comes naturally, you need to work very hard at it.

“Whoever the striker is, you need to play to his strengths and have the players around him who can get him into scoring positions.”