Ertuğral: Chiefs should keep Petersen
Former Kaizer Chiefs coach Muhsin Ertuğral sees no reason for the club to drop error-prone goalkeeper Brandon Petersen after a series of costly mistakes.
Petersen, who’s also the club’s captain, has come under a lot of scrutiny after some suspect goalkeeping in recent games, where Amakhosi ended up dropping valuable points.
While many have called for Chiefs coach Fernando da Cruz to drop Petersen going forward, Ertuğral, who ironically gave the Chiefs shot-stopper his professional debut when he was just 18 at Ajax Cape Town nearly 18 years ago, has explained why chopping and changing keepers won’t help the Soweto giants.
“Goalkeepers are the pillars in a team, and changing them has never made real sense. We also look at history; a goalkeeper change also changes the behaviour at the back… you can’t see the goalkeepers alone,” Ertuğral told Sowetan yesterday.
“Chiefs were successful last year as far as defending is concerned [and Petersen was at the centre of that success, keeping 18 clean sheets from 35 games, while conceding 23 in all competitions]; so if you change now, the whole behaviour at the back will change. What if the next one makes a mistake again? Then it’s a crisis, so they [Chiefs] must be careful.”
Ertuğral believes the goal Chiefs conceded from a direct corner-kick in Saturday’s 1-all draw against Polokwane City away wasn’t Petersen’s mistake, chalking it up to poor positioning of the defence.
Ertuğral said he trusted Da Cruz, as his team will find solutions.
“Last weekend’s mistake had more to do with the positioning of the first defender in the first pole. It’s a complex situation, but I can’t stand here and talk on behalf of Chiefs coaches. I respect them, and I know they will find solutions.”
August 9: v Arrows (MTN8 quarterfinals at FNB); misjudged a high ball. Chiefs lost 1-0.
August 15: v Downs (FNB); couldn’t handle a ball, allowing Cassius Mailula to nod the ball to make it 1-all. The game ended 1-all.
August 26: v Bay (Princess Magogo); bounced the ball off pressing Bay striker Nqaba Xulu for the game’s opener. The game finished 2-all.
Last Saturday: v Polokwane (Old Peter Mokaba); conceded from a direct corner-kick at the near post. The game ended 1-all, and Chiefs scored first.