Edmilson Dove KAIZER Chiefs defender Edmilson Dove is calling on the whole team to aid their problems in the backline. Photo: BackpagePix
Image: BackpagePix
THEY say the first step to “fixing yourself” is admitting that you have a problem.
And maybe in his “rockstar mentality” way, that is what Kaizer Chiefs defender Edmilson Dove was going for when he addressed the press ahead of their Premiership encounter with TS Galaxy on Saturday (7pm kick-off).
Coming from two consecutive league losses where they conceded a combined four goals against Richards Bay (2-1) and Lamontville Golden Arrows (2-0), Chiefs head to Polokwane this weekend where they will host The Rockets at Peter Mokaba Stadium.
These four goals took Chiefs to 28 goals conceded in 23 games. Only AmaZulu at number seven have conceded more goals with 32 in the current top eight occupants.
Dove admits they have a leaking defence problem, but he also insists it’s not a single department issue.
“Defending doesn’t start at the back. It is a whole unit’s problem,” said Dove.
“There are things that we need to fix, starting from the front to the back, because when we concede goals, it is not only defenders that concede goals, but the whole team.
“So, we need to fix it as a unit and not a department.
“We are coming from two bad results, I think the main thing is to focus on what we have been getting wrong in the two games.
“We have been working really hard to correct that, and obviously keep the good things that we’ve been doing. I don’t think that it’s been all bad.”
Fixing their defence is one of the problems Dove and Co have been working hard on at training... well, at least ahead of Saturday’s game.
“Yes we’ve conceded some silly goals, but we cannot dwell on that. We have to move on and take it one game at a time,” said the Mozambican.
“We have been conceding a lot of goals, so we have been working on trying to minimise the amount of goals we concede.
“We’ve also been working on polishing our final-third entrance, as we have been creating many chances, but we don’t convert them.
“With all departments, it kind of feels like we let ourselves down. Other than that, we’ve been trying to maintain the good things that we’ve been doing.”
Galaxy themselves lost their last match in a humbling 2-1 defeat to Marumo Gallants, but that’s as bad as you can get from their recent run that has put them in the top four.
That top-four spot is a position Chiefs can only dare to dream about at this stage.
“We need to show up. When we are on the field, we need to forget what is out of our control and focus on what we can. Whatever can’t, we need to just deal with it and move on,” said Dove.
But what the Mozambican really meant to say was: “This is not a team (that is meant) to be fighting for the top eight or top four, it deserves to be at the top.
“I do not want to dwell a lot on what happened last season (when they uncharacteristically finished out of the top eight).
“It’s a point even for ourselves to find ourselves with at least one of the cups.
“The gents are working hard, but so is life. You’ll always feel like, ‘it could’ve been better’ and so on. We’ll continue fighting.”