Kaizer Chiefs Sporting Director Kaizer Motaung Jr says he’s excited to see what Khalil Ben Youssef and Cedric Kaze can achieve in the CAF Confederation Cup this season.
The duo has assumed the roles to lead the squad after the mutual parting of ways with Nasreddine Nabi – who they worked alongside when they reached the final of the competition at Young Africans in Tanzania.
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They lost to USM Alger, and eventually left the club after two domestic trebles, for ASFAR in Morocco – before the eventual move to Amakhosi.
“Very much so, we will lean on their experience, they have gone all the way to the final, travelled and got the battle scars from the continent,” Motaung Jr said about the current technical team.
“And in this tournament, experience is important, on and off the pitch, we’re privileged to have them, they have walked the journey, just excited to see how they navigate this one, we’re very excited.”
Motaung Jnr went on to express his delight at their new attacking signings, Khanyisa Mayo, Flavio da Silva and Etiosa Ighodaro – who have all opened their respective accounts for the club – as well as the coaching improvements this season on their defence, with captain Brandon Petersen leading a backline with nine clean sheets in all competitions.
“Part of the reason we have the size of the squad we have is for tournaments like this, balancing the domestic and continental duties, if you look at last season we were saying we’re not scoring enough goals, there was a concerted effort to invest in our attacking department.
“If you look who came on board, Mayo scored on debut, Silva scored on debut, Ighodaro scored in his second game, it bodes well – of course everyone needs time to settle in, and I think for them having that start already is a massive plus.
“Even guys like [Siphesihle] Ndlovu coming in and scoring on debut, Paseka [Mako] winning Man of the Match on debut, the environment is healthy, we want to keep it that way, but we need time, they need time to settle in, the group needs time to find it’s best way forward and I think we’re on the right track, a lot of work still to do.
“But if strikers are scoring and off the mark quick, it’s a big plus, we all know we creating many chances, not taking as many as we should, something we need to work on, but a very big plus is the back door has been shut.
“We build with a foundation [of defence], last season we know we conceded quite frequently and we’re pleased to know that essentially, the back line is players who were here last year, apart from our wing-backs, which bodes very well, but everyone needs time, it’s game by game, step by step and we will take as it comes.”
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