Kaizer Chiefs head coach Cedric Kaze has opened up on suggestions they are within a genuine title race this season and the conditions of which they achieved their victory over Marumo Gallants.
Kaze says as a ‘big team’, Chiefs can’t complain about the substandard surface they were subjected to playing on at the Dr Petrus Molemela Stadium on Wednesday evening.
Glody Lilepo’s wondergoal after the hour mark moved Chiefs into second place, two points behind Mamelodi Sundowns after 15 games played.
“I would say it’s big win away from home – on a very difficult field, but we didn’t want to complain about the field or feel sorry for ourselves, we are big team, we need to play in every condition we find ourselves in and I would say it’s a big win.
“What I saw today, I’m not quite sure there’s a lot of teams that will win on this field – we go game by game [in terms of the league] at the end of last season we had 32 points after 28 games, today we are 15 games with 30 points, I feel it’s a big improvement.
“But we feel we have big room for improvement, we will go out and comepete for every game and our focus now shifts on the CAF Confederation game against ZESCO and try and make the best out of that game.”
Having rotated the squad that secured a 1-0 win over ZESCO United in Ndola this past weekend, an historic victory for the club, he stated it’s all about understanding when to take out and introduce players to maximise their efficiency in performances.
“It’s sometimes… even when you don’t want to make rotations, it becomes a necessity, that’s why we had to rotate a little bit, without losing our balance,” he said.
“The boys did well, as well as those who came in the second half; Given, Silva, Ndlovu, Baartman. They helped us put our foot on the ball and to play with more control.”