Young Africans give new Chiefs coach Nabi a headache

When Clement Mzize put the ball past a stranded Brandon Petersen just before the hour mark to make it 3-0, Kaizer Chiefs coach Nasreddine Nabi put his hands on his hips, looked down and shook his head.

The top Tanzanian team Young Africans (Yanga) were in control and there were still 30 minutes on the clock in this Toyota Cup friendly in Bloemfontein that exposed Chiefs’ old problems of lack of quality.

You sensed it was at this moment that he realised the magnitude of the work that needs to be done at Naturena for the club to regain the glory because he is overseeing a team that is bereft of star quality.

It is still preseason, and there will be arguments they are still dusting off the cobwebs and are still undercooked, but the reality is that Amakhosi were no match for the vastly experienced Young Africans who won 4-0.

There has been a feel-good factor at Chiefs over the past few weeks since the arrival of Nabi but this result will bring the fans back to the reality that the team will have to improve quickly if they are to be competitive in the Betway Championship next season.

Yanga, who have been in the country for about three weeks in which they played against TS Galaxy and German side FC Augsburg in the Mpumalanga Premier’s Cup in Mbombela, were the better side by a mile.

Coach Miguel Gamondi fielded his strongest possible side, which included Ibrahim Abdullah, Dickson Job, Khalid Aucho, Clement Mzize, Prince Dube and Duke Abuya. They gave Chiefs all sorts of problems.

In Nabi’s first high-profile match in charge of Chiefs, they were outclassed by the Yanga side that reached the knockout stages of the Champions League last season in which they were knocked out by Mamelodi Sundowns.

Best partnership

Chiefs fans who packed the Free State Stadium came into the match wanting to get a glimpse of how their team will shape up in the coming season but they got a lethargic, worrying performance.

In central defence, Nabi went with what may be his best partnership, Thatayaone Dothlokwe and Given Msimango. They were supported by the experienced Reeve Frosler on the right.

The surprise in the defence was that Nabi started with Nkosana Mbuthu, son of former Chiefs superstar Patrick, at leftback. The 19-year-old looked out of sorts.

Nabi also refreshed the midfield as he started with a combination of Yusuf Maart, who captained the side, Samkelo Zwane, Mduduzi Shabalala, Mfundo Vilakazi, Ashley du Preez and Ranga Chivaviro leading the attack.

Zwane, 22, Shabalala, 20, and Vilakazi, 18, did not get enough game time last season under Arthur Zwane, Molefi Ntseki and Cavin Johnson. But they need to improve if they are going to play an important role for the team in the coming season in which they will be desperate to avoid another campaign without silverware.

Yanga opened the scoring after 24 minutes through Dube who pounced on a ball that bounced off Msimango following a melee in the box where Chiefs failed to clear the danger.

They increased their lead shortly before the break when Aziz Ki beat Chiefs goalkeeper Petersen after Mbuthu needlessly gave the ball away in a dangerous position.

Just before the hour mark, Mzize took the match away from Chiefs when he put the ball beyond Petersen after the Chiefs defence was caught napping. Ki registered his double after 63 minutes.

When the final whistle sounded, Nabi put up a brave face and applauded his players, but there is no doubt he knows there is much work to be done to turn the fortunes of this once-mighty club around.