Mabedi blames loss on red card, errors
Former Malawi captain Patrick Mabedi, who endured a torrid night on Tuesday when Kaizer Chiefs lost 3-1 to Golden Arrows on his debut as coach, has blamed the loss on errors.
Amakhosi’s fate was sealed after getting to the worst possible start for the Soweto side, who conceded the opener against the current Flames captain Limbikani Mzava’s side, after only four minutes when Lerato Lamola tapped in.
A straight red card for Leonardo Castro in the 16th minute followed, which meant Chiefs had to play about 75 minutes with a man less.
Another goal from Lamola and a late strike from Velemseni Ndwandwe completed Mabedi’s nightmare.
Speaking after the match, the former Big Bullets defender, who replaced Steve Komphela following his resignation as head coach at the weekend, said he was proud of his troops.
“We started off very badly. We slept a little bit and I think what affected us more is the red card. Everything went out after that, we lost control,” Mabedi told SuperSport after the game.
“But I have to give credit to the players. They did well, they fought. They showed character, we have to say we tried our best. If you look at the goals we conceded, it looks like to me that we just gave it cheaply, some individual errors, it is one of those things. You keep on going.
“We were good, we tried, we played and had spirit that they showed today.
“If we continue and work on the mistakes that we made today then I think we will go somewhere.”
Mabedi faces a mammoth task of turning around Amakhosi’s fortunes in a tough season for the Premier Soccer League giants.
The crisis reached a climax at the weekend when Chiefs suffered a 2-0 loss to Free State Stars in Durban in Nedbank Cup semi-final, which resulted in fans storming the field and committing acts of violence and head coach Komphela resignation.
Commenting on Tuesday’s results, soccer analyst Charles Nyirenda said Mabedi needs some time.
“You cannot expect him to turn around the team’s fortunes overnight,” he said. n
