As if he did not have enough problems on his mind, Kaizer Chiefs coach Ernst Middendorp approaches Saturday’s Coca-Cola Cup clash against Classic in Rustenburg with six players having picked up two yellow cards — with a third booking meaning an automatic suspension.
And it is not so much losing players for the second confrontation with Classic in a Premier League game on Wednesday that has the German coach pondering over the possibility of putting players in quarantine.
What is gnawing at Middendorp’s mind is the possibility of having to field a depleted team for the derby showdown against log leaders Orlando Pirates next Saturday.
The six players who are perched on what seem to the Chiefs coach is a ”soccer death row” are Jimmy Tau, Fabian McCarthy, Thabo Mooki, Scara Ngobese, Tinashe Nengomasha and Derrick Spencer.
”Should any of them not be cautioned on Saturday, but in the game on Wednesday,” said Middendorp, wrestling with his problem, ”they will miss the Pirates game — and that is something that has to be avoided at all cost[s]”.
So what does the Amakhosi coach do to prevent it? Leave out the wayward six for both games against Classic?
This would certainly solve Middendorp’s problem, but then it could mean Chiefs faltering in one or both games against Classic — and it is not a solution the coach is likely to contemplate.
”I will have to find a way of using these players with yellow cards against Classic,” said the Chiefs coach, ”and, at the same, time not risk losing them for the all-important game against Pirates”.
The solution, it would seem, is relatively simple. All Middendorp has to do is teach his players how to play 180 minutes of soccer without receiving a yellow card. – Sapa