Parker pinpoints Mosimane’s psychological warfare as Chiefs’ title killer

The infamous collapse of Kaizer Chiefs during the 2019/20 Premier Soccer League (PSL) season—a season where they surrendered a monumental 13-point lead to hand the title to rivals Mamelodi Sundowns—remains one of the most painful footnotes in the club’s recent history.

Now, nearly five years later, former Chiefs star and current TS Galaxy assistant coach Bernard Parker has opened up on the psychological factors he believes led to the implosion, pointing a direct finger at then-Sundowns coach Pitso Mosimane.

The drama culminated after the COVID-19 lockdown, when the league resumed in a tightly controlled bio-bubble. Chiefs, under coach Ernst Middendorp, entered the bubble with a commanding lead, but their form quickly evaporated. They ultimately choked on the final day, drawing with Baroka FC and allowing Sundowns to secure the title by the narrowest of margins.

Parker reveals that it wasn’t just poor form, but a calculated and ruthless campaign of mind games orchestrated by Mosimane that derailed their momentum.

The Maluleka Factor and Mental Fatigue: Chiefs

Speaking on Smash Sports, Parker detailed the systematic destabilisation tactics used by the opposition.

“When we entered the bio-bubble, we were still 11 points clear—a huge gap,” Parker explained. “But Pitso Mosimane was relentless with his mind games. With everything amplified on social media during the COVID-19 period, the psychological pressure was immense.”

The turning point, Parker contends, was Mosimane’s decision to sign key Chiefs midfielder George Maluleka on a pre-contract. This move injected uncertainty right into the heart of the Chiefs dressing room.

“On top of it, coach Pitso signed George Maluleka on a pre-contract, trying to destabilise our camp,” Parker stated.

The management faced a difficult decision: bench a crucial player or risk keeping someone whose loyalty was already elsewhere. Despite senior players being consulted and Middendorp ultimately deciding to keep Maluleka in the squad, the damage was done.

“I believe once your mind is set elsewhere, you no longer perform well… It actually affected our rhythm and momentum,” Parker observed. The internal conflict over Maluleka’s involvement created a ripple effect, disrupting the cohesive unit that had built the massive early-season lead.

Mosimane’s Psychological Victory

Parker admits that Mosimane, who leveraged that title win to kickstart an unprecedented run of eight consecutive league titles for Sundowns, was simply smarter on the mental battlefield.

“Coach Pitso just kept on going. He milked it, he kept on saying, ‘I also want to benefit, why are Chiefs benefitting? Why Chiefs this, why Chiefs that.’ He knew what he was doing at that time, and it worked for him,” Parker confessed.

The former Amakhosi attacker concluded that the loss was a stark lesson in the full spectrum of competitive sport. “Football is not only about the physical part of playing, but also the mental part. Pitso found the gap in terms of using the mental part more, and he ended up winning.”

Mosimane didn’t just win the league; he won the war of attrition, highlighting that in the elite echelons of South African football, the psychological edge can be as decisive as any tactical formation.