Kaizer Chiefs coach Molefi Nseki has faulted his strikers for squandering many scoring chances during their 0-0 Premier Soccer League (PSL) opening draw against Chippa United at the Moses Mabhida Stadium on Sunday.
Despite handing four new signings – Edson Castillo, Thatayaone Ditlhokwe, Given Msimango, and Ranga Chivaviro – their debuts in the contest watched by over 30, 000 fans, Amakhosi failed to snatch a win.
“Last-third entries are very important if you want to win games, I’m not too happy about how that went,” Nseki after the match as quoted by Chiefs website, adding: “We need to create more chances and bury them. I think having Ranga (Chivaviro) playing for the first time today, he was not 100 percent having come from a medical situation, so I think we can only build on this in terms of the understanding of the front three.”
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Chiefs dominated most of the game but found the Chilli Boys in a defiant mood, and Ntseki knows Amakhosi have to find ways to counter teams that ‘park the bus’ against them.
“We did try to play wide and get crosses in but when we did, they always had numbers in the box to clear. I think the deep block approach worked well for them and from our side we know there will be opponents who will play with a counterattack strategy from a deep block and we have to find ways around that,” added Nseki.
On the display of the new signings, Nseki said: “At the end of last year, we did what you can call a squad audit and we identified players we wanted to bring in. We signed some of them before the end of last season because we wanted to beef up the squad and strengthen it,” adding: “We did careful profiling and the new recruits are quality players. You could see some of them playing today. I think they did very well. I think the combination between Given and TT is very good. Edson Castillo has never played in South Africa before but you could see the quality.”
On Wednesday, Amakhosi will travel to Tshwane to face Mamelodi Sundowns in their second league outing of the campaign at Lucas Moripe Stadium. Sundowns kicked off their title defence with a 2-1 victory against Sekhukhune United.