Cape Town - Kaizer Chiefs coach Arthur Zwane has yet to fully convince Amakhosi fans that he is the right man for the job.
Chiefs are out of the Premiership title race as they are 19 points adrift of leaders Mamelodi Sundowns, having played a game more. Some fans have gone as far as to call for Zwane to be sacked following the club’s 4-0 thrashing against AmaZulu last week.
The following are five reasons why Zwane could be losing the trust of Chiefs supporters.
A lack of clear insight
Rather than state the obvious which is that his club played badly following their defeat to AmaZulu, Zwane issued a response which if anything annoyed supporters even further and made him the butt of jokes.
“The performance wasn’t bad, to be quite honest. We were in control of the game,” Zwane said.
A failure to bring about consistency
Chiefs were not expected to win the league title this season, given that they are in a rebuilding phase, but they should at least be in the continental qualification positions, which they are not, given their financial superiority to most clubs in the division.
Chiefs have lost their last two games against AmaZulu and Sekhukhune United, which they will feel that they should have won. A goal difference of -2 is also unacceptable.
No improvement in defence
A fragile defence is frustrating to fans. Chiefs should not have goal difference of -2, nor should they be conceding four goals against AmaZulu whose attack is far from the most threatening.
Veteran goalkeeper Itumeleng Khune and defender Zitha Kwinika were also guilty of needlessly giving away goals against AmaZulu.
If Zwane wants to keep his job, he must aim to tighten their defence as soon as possible.
Lack of impact in the final third
In addition to their defensive struggles, Chiefs are also not scoring on a regular basis. The club has just three players who have scored at least three goals in the league this season. By contrast, Sundowns have seven players who have scored at least three goals in the league this season.
This once again proves that there is a gulf in class between Chiefs and Sundowns and the gap between the two teams has not been reduced from last season.
A failure to utilise players properly
Both Kwinika and Ashley Du Preez were important in helping Stellenbosch FC finish fourth last season. This season, they haven’t shown the same level of consistency. This indicates that something is not being done at Chiefs that Steve Barker did to get the most out of the duo.
While only three Chiefs players who started against AmaZulu were under 25-years-old (Nkosgiphile Ngcobo, Mduduzi Shabalala and Samkelo Zwane), another criticism levelled towards Zwane from fans is that “he thinks this is the MDC (Diski Challenge) league”. While these comments are unjustified given that the bulk of his players are not exactly young, they could allude more to the fact that the players are not gelling efficiently enough which is a fair criticism.
@EshlinV