With the new season just days away, the popular opinion is that Kaizer Chiefs just have too much firepower this season for anyone to stop them, including their Soweto rivals Orlando Pirates. While Pirates have an abundance of midfielders, it's scoring goals that will be a problem, but maybe, just maybe, the signing of Kermit Erasmus will change all of that.
Kermit Erasmus' hugely promising cameo against Kaizer Chiefs provided big clues that the intelligent forward could be just the man Orlando Pirates need to help take Bucs to the next level. Until his introduction last Saturday, Pirates' forward play looked largely predictable and unimaginative.
In my opinion, it mirrored last season's struggles in how they tried to get forward. The wide men bomb on and provide good attacking width. The problem is that when they get into wide areas around the final third, crosses are hit wildly into a more often than not heavily defended box. There doesn't seem to be a structured way of playing for Bucs. They don't seem to be able to pass their way through an opposition back four who have locked the door. It's all raw pace down the flanks, wild crosses, and then hope for the best. Is it any wonder the goals aren't coming?
Against Chiefs it was largely Collins Mbesuma (visibly out of shape it needs to be said) who was the only one in there who had any hope of connecting with the erratic service from the likes of Happy Jele, Tlou Segolela, Thabo Matlaba and Sifiso Myeni. The workmanlike Ndumiso Mabena was often too deep as were Oupa Manyisa and Andile Jali. The midfield pair are effective at winning the war in the centre of the park, but getting forward to join in and add numbers in the box and scoring goals isn't something they've really mastered just yet.
It's no wonder Bucs struggled for goals in 2012/13 with this system. There didn't seem to be someone who could give Bucs a different dimension, someone who could get on the ball and dictate the flow of the game from more central positions around the final third. In other words, a true number 10 with the right skill set to link up play and pull the strings. Roger de Sa recently tried Manyisa at number 10 against AC Leopards. The experiment didn't really pay off, and it looked like a forced fit.
Then along came Kermit Erasmus in the second half of the Carling Black Label Cup against Chiefs! All of a sudden there appeared to be a whole new dimension to Bucs' play. His performance suggested here was a natural number 10, a playmaker, a general! Here was potentially someone clever enough on the ball with a clear understanding of how to unlock even the tightest of back fours. Having an out-and-out number nine like Lennox Bacela just in front of him as the battering ram and spearhead also looks very promising in terms of a combination. The introduction of Erasmus brought a refreshing guile to Bucs' play.
From what I saw, Erasmus could potentially bring to Bucs what Bernard Parker brings to Chiefs in the massively influential number 10 role. It's fair to ask then – could Erasmus be Bucs' Parker? Can he play a big role in helping Roger de Sa to get Bucs to play with more flair and cutting edge around the final third?
It's true to say that Chiefs' success last season was massively influenced by Parker. Stuart Baxter saw so much potential in the 'Hond' that he created the 'Parker role' specifically for him. Parker's performances transformed Chiefs. He became the pivotal link man in how Chiefs passed their way through defences, as they attacked in dovetailing groups of four and five.
Gone was Vladimir Vermezovic's dogged insistence that Chiefs attack primarily with overlapping fullbacks. What became clear is that playing incisive passing football to penetrate the final third, using Parker as the brains of the operation to pull the strings at number 10, was the way forward. Chiefs cut teams to shreds by largely playing right through them, down the middle. As a result, they had so many options in attack, they were scoring goals for fun at times! And it ultimately led to a double triumph.
Yes, it's still very early days to jump to any major conclusions about what Kermit's eventual impact might be for Bucs. But you'd have to be blind not to see what Erasmus brought to the table against Chiefs. It's no coincidence this kid has European experience from his days at Feyenoord either. The cream always rises to the top they say – this is testament to his very real pedigree as an elite performer. Maybe, as Baxter so shrewdly did by inventing the 'Parker role', it's time for De Sa to create the 'Erasmus role'. What do you think?
David Minchella
Soccer-Laduma journalist
Follow David on Twitter: @DavidLaduma
