Zwane Gives Honest Chiefs Rating After Royal AM Defeat
Kaizer Chiefs head coach Arthur Zwane says they were still far from a finished product as he rated them four out of 10 after their defeat to Royal AM on Saturday evening.
Amakhosi branded the 2022/23 season as a ‘revival’ and revolution led by the successor of Stuart Baxter and several new players which include the likes of Ashley Du Preez, Zitha Kwinika, Yusuf Maart, Siyathemba Sithebe, Dillan Solomons – all of whom made their debuts.
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And despite an impressive pre-season and display at packed Chatsworth Stadium, they were unable to prevent an opening day 1-0 loss in the DStv Premiership, which Zwane said is part of the process and they will slip up from time to time as they keep sight of their vision for the club.
“I think we’re still far from where we want to be, as much as we’re building everything from confidence, the style of play, the culture, all those things, it’s not going to be something that’s going to happen overnight, it will take some time, that’s why we’re going to go through stages,” Zwane said at Naturena Village on Sunday afternoon.
“There are phases that you need to complete and be sure, okay this one is okay, everyone now is understanding now and on the same page before you move on to the next one, otherwise you won’t be able to evolve everything at once because it will cause confusion [amongst the players].
“If I had to [rate us] out of 10, I’d say we’re on four, not even halfway because we still have a long way to go, but I’m still what I saw [against Royal AM] gives me so much hope in terms of the way the players responded.
“Playing expansive football is very difficult, it comes with a lot of coaching, tactical understanding, game intelligence. So we’re still far behind but I know we’ll get there, most definitely because we’re trying to kill two birds with one stone but not in a hurry to get to that level. Eventually, we’ll get there, and once we get there, things will be happening.”
Chiefs will now face off against John Maduka’s Maritzburg United for their first home game of the season at FNB Stadium on Tuesday evening (19h30).
