Kaizer Chiefs assistant coach Cedric Kaze has come to the defence of midfielder Mduduzi Shabalala who has come under criticism in recent weeks.
Shabalala, 21, was primed to become they key figure in the Chiefs set-up and enjoyed an impressive start to the season with four goals and an assist in his first 10 league games this season.
However, since then he’s not directly contributed to a goal in 16 games, with mixed displays, leading towards the Nedbank Cup final this coming weekend while fingers were pointed at one of the goals conceded in the 2-1 loss in the Soweto Derby at FNB Stadium.
“Concerns about Mdu and the youngsters we have, I don’t believe or think, we lost the games because of Mdu or any other player, but we didn’t do enough to win the game, all of us, from those who started and those who came off the bench,” he said.
“We analysed what we did good and what we didn’t do so good this week and we know for example how important Shabalala has been this season, especially in the beginning of the season, how instrumental he was and good he is.
“We believe in difficult moments we need to be there for young players and they’ll learn from what happens on the field going forward.”
Shabalala has featured 78 times for Chiefs since making his first team debut in May 2022, scoring eight goals, with five assists.
