Kaizer Chiefs head coach Nasreddine Nabi admits Edson Castillo is not at his best and he needs to regain his confidence to become a key player at the club.
Castillo, 30, was one of Chiefs’ standout players when he joined the club from Monagas SC, as a goalscoring midfielder but fell out of favour in the second half of the season.
There were question marks around his future in the team with Nabi’s arrival as he looked to rebuild the squad but was eventually retained.
He came off the bench in the opening two league games and then started against Sundowns in place of Njabulo Blom and had an indifferent display.
“Castillo last season started good, but he went down [in his performances] that is the statistics, maybe that situation impacted his morale, his confidence and after the bad time continued,” Nabi said when asked about his confidence by iDiski Times.
“In this moment after the pre-season started, the real Castillo has not come back. He’s a good man, he’s a gentleman, I respect him. I helped him regain confidence in himself, step by step. I think [against Sundowns] he was better than his last game.
“I give him a chance, but there’s not many chances to give, because of the responsibility of the club, I think he’s professional, if he receives his confidence back, he will progress.”
The Veneuzula international has scored five goals in 35 appearances for Chiefs across all competitions.
Story by Lorenz Kohler (@Lorenz_KO).
