Malesela struggling to make sense of Chippa's spanking by ruthless City

[caption id="attachment_199693" align="alignright" width="300"] Chippa United head coach Dan Malesela speaking at his post-match TV interview during the Nedbank Cup last 32 match against Witbank Spurs at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium on March 15, 2017 in Port Elizabeth, South Africa
Picture: Richard Huggard/Gallo Images[/caption]

Conceding three goals in just over a quarter-hour and going on to be four down at half-time is a match best forgotten‚ said a gobsmacked Chippa United coach Dan Malesela after his side were beaten 4-1 by Premier Soccer League frontrunners Cape Town City on Monday night.

“Sometimes in football you get days like this‚" he said‚ lamenting a loss that left the Eastern Cape side stuck in 10th place in the standings and facing the danger of being sucked down into a relegation battle after failure to win in their last seven league games.

"You get a day when goals just come in against you.

“When you see one and then when you see two (go in the back of the net)‚ your mind has got to quickly switch but it didn’t happen for us.

"We had a horrible time in the first half.

"Both wingbacks suffered at the start of the half and then‚ all of a sudden‚ towards the end of the half it changed to the centrebacks who were suffering.

"It was also horrible in the middle of the second half with the centrebacks.”

Chippa did comeback strongly in the second half but got just a consolation goal for their travails with substitute Rhulani Manzini scoring.

“But moaning about the situation will not help‚" Malesela said.

"It’s what we do from here that counts the most.

"It’s who we correct‚ what we correct.

"Do we need to change personnel?

"Do we need to find somebody in a particular position?

"Who needs helping out?

"You just can’t now hammer the players.

"You need to put an arm around them because to be honest they haven’t played this badly ever before‚” Malesela added.

He said the fact the club was now off to play in the Nedbank Cup on Saturday against Polokwane City would be a relief.

“I think we need some sort of a distraction‚ something to take out minds off this.” - TMG Digital/TMG Sport