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Golden Arrows winning their two opening league fixtures evokes last season's memory, where they bagged an impressive 10 points from the first five games under the tutelage of co-coaches Mabhuti Khenyeza and Vusumuzi Vilakazi.
Arrows' blistering start to the season last time only hit a snag when Vilakazi resigned midway through the season. The side lost 11 games when Khenyeza was left as the sole head coach until they bailed him out by rehiring Steve Komphela, who ended that awful losing streak to help them avoid relegation and finish ninth.
Back in the hot seat again as the sole head coach, after Komphela opted to return to Sundowns, Khenyeza, assisted by his former teammates and Arrows legends – Musa Bilankulu and Kagisho Dikgacoi – has guided Arrows to the summit of the log after two games.
Abafana Bes'thende managed a 2-0 win over Marumo Gallants in their second game of the season at Mpumalanga Stadium at the weekend. Arrows had also won by a similar scoreline away to Stellenbosch last week.
Khenyeza doesn't like to compare their excellent start of the season to what happened last time they had such a promising start.
“We only focus on the future... we forget about the past. In the past, we only learnt lessons. If we dwell on the past, we are going to be fearful of doing new things,'' Khenyeza said after the Marumo win, where Knox Mutizwa and Nduduzo Sibiya were on target.
Meanwhile, Gallants coach Dan Malesela indirectly attacked his two centre-backs Tshepo Rikhotso and Vusi Sibiya after the defeat to Arrows.
Rikhotso was culpablele for Arrows’ first goal, failing to stop a long ball that jumped him before it landed on Mutizwa’s path.
For the second goal, Rikhotso and Sibiya failed to anticipate a free-kick, allowing Sibiya a free header.
“There are certain things I don’t want to say in public. Some things surprise me. Sometimes... maybe because I played centre-back (during his heyday for Orlando Pirates and Mamelodi Sundowns) and I look at the centre-back to be one of the easiest positions to play,” Malesela said.
“When I see people struggling, I get shocked because it’s one of those positions where you can see everything in front of you... all you have to do is read and anticipate, it’s as simple as that, and you don’t have to trouble yourself. Maybe the level of concentration as well counts.”
