Football
Nick Said, Special to ESPN 7y

5 Talking points from the PSL second round

The second round of action in the Absa Premiership threw up a number of talking points, not least the continued struggle for Kaizer Chiefs. KweséESPN picks out five of the biggest issues from the midweek round of matches.

Something's gotta give at Chiefs

You know the old saying about repeatedly banging your head against a brick wall and expecting a different result? That's what's happening at Kaizer Chiefs at the moment.

Another shambolic display in their 2-1 defeat against SuperSport United on Wednesday means something has to give - coach Steve Komphela has clearly taken this current squad as far as he can. So either the club needs to find a new coach, or they must back Komphela in the transfer market.

Komphela is a good coach, but not a miracle worker, and it is asking a lot of him to take an average Chiefs squad and make them great.

The side was a man down inside six minutes against SuperSport, and by midway through the first half had changed three out of the four backline players that started the game after Lorenzo Gordinho was replaced by Daniel Cardoso and they switched to a three-man defence when Philani Zulu came on for the injured Tsepo Masilela. No wonder then that a poor attempt at an offside trap led to Bradley Grobler scoring his second.

That said, Komphela must also carry some of the blame in that Chiefs only had a single specialist defender on the bench in Cardoso, along with five attacking midfielders and a goalkeeper.

Chiefs are a team lumbering along to another underwhelming season unless something changes fast.

Teko Modise's still got it

His goal on debut was the simplest of tap-ins, but much more impressive was the manner in which 'The General' Teko Modise commanded the midfield in making his first appearance for Cape Town City on Wednesday.

Modise, who missed the first two games of the season with a groin injury, was a second half substitute in the 3-1 win over Platinum Stars on Wednesday.

And he immediately showed his quality, spraying passes left and right, always hitting the man, and providing an intelligence that was at other times missing in the middle of the park for City.

At 34, Modise will not play every game this season, but if he stays fit he will likely feature in most as McCarthy purred over his performance, describing the midfielder as his "best player".

Sundowns need to find consistency

Mamelodi Sundowns were stunned 2-1 at home by Polokwane City as their former striker Rodney Ramagalela came back to haunt them with a brace.

Sundowns coach Pitso Mosimane says the pitch was too poor and essentially suggested that Ramagalela's fine second goal was a fluke: "He will never score another one like that."

But in truth Sundowns simply wasted too many chances and were slow out the box against a much hungrier, battling Polokwane side.

The Brazilians have shown a tendency of late to blow hot and cold. During their pomp in 2016 there was none of that; their performances were consistently excellent.

Their early exit from the MTN8 does at least mean they have a lot of time to reflect on where they went wrong, with their next fixture some three weeks away.

Players are still rusty ...

There have been eight red cards in the opening 16 matches of the league season, an unusually high proportion of sendings-off.

Most have been for clumsy play rather than malicious tackles, and that points to rustiness from players as they try to pick up the pace of the game in the early season.

The refereeing continues to be a mixed bag as well, with a number of strange decisions in the first two rounds, though in fairness that is nothing new for the PSL.

Ajax Cape Town, Platinum Stars will struggle

Ajax Cape Town and Platinum Stars currently occupy the bottom two places in the league after two rounds, but could still be there at the end of 30 games.

The pair look very low on quality and without the means really to change much. Both are led by decent coaches, but they can only work with the tools at their disposal and they look light on a number of fronts.

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