Soweto giants Kaizer Chiefs finally tasted defeat in the Betway Premiership this season. Coach Da Cruz’s side succumbed to a 2-1 loss to rivals Orlando Pirates.
The result left Amakhosi 11 points behind the second-placed Buccaneers.
FERNANDO DA CRUZ ON KAIZER CHIEFS’ EXPLAINS THE GAP
The result was a heavy one to take but Da Cruz feels his side showed promising signs. According to the Frenchman, the Glamour Boys have some work before matching the likes of Pirates.
Da Cruz believes Pirates’ experience has played a major role in their consistency, something he wants to see his young Chiefs squad develop.
“The difference between Pirates and us, they have more experienced players and they have more consistency because of that,” he said.
“Our young players need to develop this consistency game by game. It takes time, it’s a process we need to take step by step and for the moment we’re not there. We will work hard to reach this step.”
The Chiefs coach was particularly pleased with his team’s first-half performance against the Buccaneers. However, he stressed that positive spells are not enough to compete at the highest level.
“We must use this type of game to grow up. The players must reach the next steps, but the players must understand we played well, we did good things, but it’s not enough. We must reach the next steps now,” he added.
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The Frenchman also warned against expecting an immediate turnaround, explaining that experience is something players develop over time through training and exposure to different competitions.
“We must continue to work but it takes time, it takes time, it’s not overnight these things can be fixed. We cannot get experience from one day to the next day. It’s training, many games and we must continue to learn, with competitions of different levels,” he added.
In the meantime, Kaizer Chiefs have a cup game to focus on. The Carling Knockout quarter-finals are coming up. The Glamour Boys will be home to Siwelele FC at FNB Stadium this Friday, kick off time to be confirmed.
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