Just like they did last year, Chiefs are bidding to retain both their MTN8 and Absa Premiership titles while also gunning for the Telkom Knockout and Nedbank Cup.
READ: Komphela: Chiefs showed intent
Following last night’s 5-3 MTN8 quarter-final victory over Maritzburg United, Chiefs get their League season off with a long trip to Port Elizabeth to face Chippa United at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
There is no arguing that the principal reason Chiefs finished off as champions last season was down to their ‘take-off’ as they set up a 19-game unbeaten run that had championship bells ringing as early as the sounds of Christmas carols.
“It is always good to start well because it eases the pressure on the players,” says Gaxa about the need for a good start, a foundation they have already set by moving into the semi-finals of the MTN8.
“It is good to start well so that you can identify the things that you are doing super-well and the ones that you lack on. The coach also always wants his players to be confident at all times. Once you start off by losing, you lose confidence so it is always good to start on a high so that by the time other teams wake up you are far off with points, which is what happened last season.
“The new players also settle well when they have confidence and can play football so for me it is always good to start on a high,” he stresses.
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Gaxa believes their desire for a perfect start will not be compromised by the fact that they now have Steve Komphela in charge following the departure of Stuart Baxter.
“Steve has been under Stuart before. The philosophy is not that … there is not so much of a gap in between and he [Komphela] tries to give us what we know mixed with what he knows,” he explains.
“So we try and find the balance between the two and also try to complement the two so that we can produce good performances for the team.”
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