Kaizer Chiefs head coach Molefi Ntseki risks being misunderstood by the club's fan-base after they posted a very low possession stat against Mamelodi Sundowns in the MTN8 semi-final first-leg.
Amakhosi almost became the first side to beat the Brazilians this season after Edson Castillo broke the deadlock just after the hour-mark but the Tshwane giants found a stoppage time equaliser through Khuliso Mudau to force a 1-1 draw.
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There were suggestions after the game that the Glamour Boys were outplayed and outclassed by Sundowns given that Rulani Mokwena's charges boasted 73% ball possession, compared to Amakhosi's 27% and had 21 shots in total compared to Chiefs, who had only four shots.
However, Ntseki believes the Brazilians had possession in areas that did not hurt them and it's just a pity they did not use their transition moments as effectively as they would have wanted.
"I think the first-half the plan was never to give them possession, when you talk about being outclassed and being outplayed I think it was just possession," Ntseki said in a post-match press conference.
"Possession that did not hurt us that much. I think in the first-half, as much as they had more possession, they only had two shots at goal, as much we did not have shots at goals, which was a very big concern.
"But when you look at the turnovers, we had so many turnovers that we were able to hurt Sundowns going forward but we were rushing those moments, that created a lack of confidence in our players," he said.
The possession statistics have caused a concern for Chiefs fans, who believe they should not be overly dominated by Sundowns in that manner.
Amakhosi had similar possession stats to the likes of Swallows (playing with 10 men in the MTN8 quarter-finals), Golden Arrows and Richards Bay in recent matches against Sundowns and there's a belief that as a big team they should be enjoying much higher possession.
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However, Ntseki's tactics at Chiefs are more focused on transition moments, where they hurt opponents and are not so concerned about dominating possession.
The likes of Real Madrid under Jose Mourinho and Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool, have demonstrated another way of counteracting a possession-based team like Barcelona and Manchester City, by playing a high pressing game, that capitalizes on turnovers and have been successful in breaking the complete dominance of Barca and Man City at times.
Ntseki may not have many admirers with his style of play and his tactics may only start to make sense once and if he manages to knock Sundowns off their perch.
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