NABI SATISFIED Kaizer Chiefs coach Nasreddine Nabi is a man under pressure going into Saturday's Soweto derby against Orlando Pirates.
Image: Itumeleng English / Independent Newspapers
Kaizer Chiefs coach Nasreddine Nabi is going into his first Soweto derby against Orlando Pirates looking for back-to-back league wins for the first time since their opening two matches of the campaign.
After the first two matches Amakhosi fans boldly pronounced that their team is back, following a 2-1 Betway Premiership win over Marumo Gallants and 3-1 over AmZulu. But since then they just haven’t been able to string two wins together to build some sort of momentum to spark their campaign.
It’s been the story of Nabi’s tenure, Chiefs blowing hot this week and then cold the next. Their last five matches show that inconsistency with every victory followed up by defeat.
If the trend continues this weekend, they will suffer defeat against their bitter rivals Pirates after beating 10-man Sekhukhune United in their previous league outing on January 19.
Over the weekend they did manage to beat ABC Motsepe League team Free Agents FC with a convincing 4-0 scoreline. But all that has done is paint over the current cracks.
Defeat against Pirates would see Chiefs suffer their sixth defeat of the campaign from their first 15 matches this season, to go with their six wins and three draws.
While Chiefs are fifth in the standings, they are six points behind the second-placed Pirates despite playing three matches more than the Buccaneers. Chiefs are also 12 points behind leaders Sundowns, who have played two games less than Amakhosi.
Chiefs are struggling at both ends of the park, with their forward line lacking cutting edge, while their defence has let in more than a goal per fixture thus far this season.
Chiefs have scored just 17 and conceded 16 in their first 14 matches under Nabi, leaving them with the worst goal-difference among the top five teams in the league. In fact, only Cape Town City (-8) have a worse goal-difference among the teams in the top eight.
Nabi outlined three things that may be contributing to their inconsistency, saying the combination of blooding young players, injuries and the intense scrutiny that Chiefs are under have contributed to this rollercoaster ride.
“At the beginning of the league, the quality was better than the last three games but there’s an explanation for that when you play young players, the inconsistency is normal,” Nabi said.
“The second thing is we have been having a lot of injuries that have been affecting our performances on the field as well as our results which has brought on so much pressure on the players, coaches and the club and sometimes you can see it because they play with the handbrake up, with the fear to not lose rather than playing to win games.”
Chiefs have been without Gaston Sirino, Edson Castillo, Teboho Potsane, Dillan Solomons and Bradley Cross at one time or another, which would make life tough for any coach.
However, at the halfway mark of the league campaign, Nabi’s bosses cannot be happy with the lack of proper progress of this Chiefs outfit. Nabi’s only saving grace at this point is that the teams around them are just as inconsistent.
By now Nabi’s ideas should be ingrained in the team, especially after the long pre-season they enjoyed to build a platform to attack the new campaign. But at the moment Nabi is failing the test.
A win against Pirates, however, could go a long way in bringing up Nabi’s examination score at the halfway mark. Because, at the moment, he is struggling to pass.
@JohnGoliath82