Kaizer Chiefs return home having won one of their five pre-season games in the Netherlands.
Head coach Nasreddine Nabi gave his thoughts on how his new signing have fitted in, saying, “They need to fully gel with the group,” Nabi said. “However, they are all adapting nicely, and they start to understand what I expect from them. Our objective was to sign new players that will bring us to a higher level compared to last season.
“We saw a lot of positives in our training matches against very strong Dutch opponents. The players have started to understand the way I want them to play, and they jell well as a strong unit.”
“We didn’t only want quality opponents, we also wanted quantity. Parallel with this, we did some tough physical work at training, even doing double sessions on the day before a match… We even had two sessions the day after one of the friendlies, with the objective of getting the players mentally ready,” the Kaizer Chiefs boss concluded.
Meanwhile, AmaKhosi remain persistent for Mamelodi Sundowns striker Etoisa Ighodaro, who has one-year left on his contract.
“At the moment Chiefs are waiting on Sundowns,” a source confirmed.” Ighodaro has one year remaining on his contract with Sundowns and only if they can release him first as a free agent or if they can buy him from the remaining months on his contract.”
“Kaizer Chiefs are interested in him and depending on what Sundowns’ decision is then Chiefs would still sign him before the start of the season.”
Shinga disappoints
Although Nabi is pleased with his new signings, former Kaizer Chiefs defender Tsepo Masilela has been vocal about his displeasure with left-back Nkhanyiso Shinga in pre-season.
“To be honest, when I look at Shinga, interesting player, but defensively, there’s been question marks, in my opinion,” he said. “Even the second goal (conceded against Twente), there’s a couple of times (even) in the previous games, he got beaten in one-v-one situations.”
“Your primary job as a defender is to win those duels, to be on top of the winger – that’s how you gain confidence. Listen, he’s comfortable on the ball, that we can’t argue.”
“But again, him inverting most of the time, I found it that it was dragging (Makabi) Lilepo to receive the ball too deep, more like a left-back. I couldn’t understand what’s the idea of him inverting that much.”
EARLY PREDICTION: Where will Kaizer Chiefs finish next season?
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