WeeklySA_AdminPRE-SEASON: Kaizer Chiefs in the Netherlands to try to find winning formula
By Jo-Mangaliso Mdhlela
Why should anyone at the Kaizer Chiefs’ Naturena camp bother? Amakhosi are all set for a much-improved season, and their first training match, seems to point in that direction, even if this possibility was marred by a defeat this week.
Yes, the residents of the Kaizer Chiefs village might wish to kick themselves on the gut for their 2-1 loss to Vitesse at the RKSV Stadium in The Netherlands, early this week, but this this can be attributed to an own goal, and sloppiness in defence against a well-respected outfit.
But sloppiness is a curse, and should never become an attribute associated with a football club that seeks to redeem itself from a catastrophe of failing to make a Top Eight slot in the Betway Premiership League competition.
In the past season that ended around May, Chiefs took a lamentable ninth position on the log, missing the lucrative Top Eight berth by a whisker.
Surely, in his heart of hearts, head coach Nasreddine Nabi will be upset, for any loss of concentration, or something of such nature, nauseates and becomes a letdown as it also has the net effect of making any head coach seethe with anger.
But, as a man of steel and grit and light that Nabi is, he may have taken the week-day defeat on the chin, hoping for a better luck next time.
He is reported in the club’s website to have simply threw hands up, shrugged his shoulders, and with a wink, nodded that there was no need for mourning, reminding those who mourn the 2-1 defeat that the world has not ended and adding, “I am happy with what I saw on the pitch”.
“I will be happy if we meet our objectives.”
Surely, one of the unspecified objectives is to win the league, something Amakhosi has not achieved in donkey’s years.
The hordes of fans that follow Chiefs not only love Chiefs, as it means a lot to their lives, that they could swear by its name.
Additionally, the team’s supporters have learnt to develop patience and resilience and endurance of the biblical figure of Job, as they wait for a turn of fortunes.
Will all this bear fruit? Will the intensive training that comes through practice matches, and far away from the shore of their Motherland, in The Netherlands, be useful?
The season will be a slog. Mamelodi Sundowns, within a foreseeable future, appears to be the team of the moment. In its present fiery form and mood, not many people will see it easily relenting and letting glory slip through their fingers.
Form book simply suggests Amakhosi must prepare for this eventuality, and if they hope for glory as their objective, they have to be willing to do everything possible to be better than the high-riding Sundowns if they hope to have glory within their grasp. league.
By the look of things, this seems an insurmountable proposition. Yet, hope springs perpetual. Amakhosi are mindful of the juggernaut that Sundowns have become.
They have become a young and mighty Mike Tyson who spelt, in the boxing ring, during his prime, doom for his opponents.
That is what Sundowns have become. They spell doom for any opposition. They are a relentless and mean machine that knows nothing except to grind victory after victory.
“It’s all about the objectives we have set out. We have trained very hard in the last few days, which was physically tough for the players. So, I am not really worried about the result of this pre-season training match,” says Nabi.
Amakhosi supporters wait in hope. The team has signed a number of players, some with international pedigree, and there are expectations these may have an impact in bringing many bacons home during the 2025/26 season.
Whether the Tunisian-born coach Nabi will weld the team into a winning machine, only time will tell.
