Ertugral Defends Under-Fire Petersen After Three Chiefs Errors
Former Kaizer Chiefs coach Muhsin Ertugral has come out strongly in defence of Amakhosi captain and goalkeeper Brandon Petersen.
He is insisting that the experienced shot-stopper should not have his entire career judged on a difficult start to the season.
Petersen has been under intense scrutiny after making costly mistakes in three matches this campaign. He made one against Golden Arrows in the MTN8 quarter-final, and against Mamelodi Sundowns and Richards Bay in the Betway Premiership.
Against Arrows, he was caught off his line by Khulekani Shezi, while Cassius Mailula capitalised on another error in the 1-1 draw with Sundowns. At Richards Bay, Nqaba Xulu punished a poor attempt to clear a back-pass.
The mistakes have led to growing calls by supporters for Petersen to be dropped, but Ertugral believes those calls ignore the bigger picture.
“The easiest job in football is to be an expert after mistakes,” wrote Ertugral on his Instagram.
“Brandon had some inconsistency. Yes, it’s a fair discussion. Yes, he has made some mistakes. Every goalkeeper does.
“But now the phenomenons have great solution: ‘drop him’. But it’s not acceptable how quickly people can rewrite a player’s whole performance because of few bad moments.
“Let me explain to those phenomena. Form is temporary! Quality, character and work ethic is built over years.
“If you want to criticise Brandon, do it fairly. Analyse the full picture. Look into the good games, the difficult games, the pressure he has, the structure in front of him and it helps, to look into the responsibility he carries.
“Criticise Brandon when he deserves criticism, absolutely. But do not rewrite his career because of a difficult time he goes through.
“Form can always change. Quality won’t disappear overnight. I think the technical team is well aware of the challenge they have.
“They will definitely be working on it. And as I know Brandon, he has an extremely strong mentality to respond. And he will!.”
Ertugral’s comments come as Petersen faces arguably his toughest period since establishing himself as a the main goalkeeper last season.
The former Chiefs coach has a personal connection with Petersen, having worked with him when the goalkeeper was still a youngster at the now-defunct Ajax Cape Town.
Despite the recent mistakes, Ertugral believes Petersen’s experience, character and mentality remain valuable to Chiefs.
