Kaizer Chiefs co-head coach Cedric Kaze admitted Amakhosi ‘played with fear’ in their embarrassing 3-0 loss to Orlando Pirates in…
Kaizer Chiefs co-head coach Cedric Kaze admitted Amakhosi ‘played with fear’ in their embarrassing 3-0 loss to Orlando Pirates in a Betway Premiership Soweto derby on Saturday.
Chiefs now 11 points back
Chiefs were simply nowhere to be seen in front of 90 000 fans at FNB Stadium and slipped 11 points behind Pirates on the Premiership table.
ALSO READ: Pirates rout Chiefs in Soweto derby
Pirates surged into a 2-0 half-time lead with goals from Tshepang Moremi and Oswin Appollis. After the break, it was also Pirates who dominated and they added a third goal through Evidence Makgopa.
“In think in the first half we were not good at all,” said Kaze.
“We played with fear, we were not pressing or defending every 50-50 ball.
“In the first 15 minutes of the second half we were better in our pressing game and in trying to find solutions.”
Kaze also made a rather sarcastic reference to Pirates’ players collapsing to the turf in the second half, especially goalkeeper Sipho Chaine.
“I congratulate Pirates for the three points and for their tricks … falling down all the time,” said Kaze.
“Their ‘keeper fell down five times and didn’t get substituted. It is experience.”
It is hard to see how Chiefs will bounce back from this loss and a dreadful February that has also seen them knocked out of the Caf Confederation Cup and Nedbank Cup.
“The only way to bounce back is to work, we talked to the players and told them now we have a debt to the fans. The way to redeem ourselves is to pick up points and show what happened in the derby was an accident and should not have happened.
Kaze on his future – ‘That is not up to me’
“The only way is to keep our heads up and go to the next games and pick up as many points as we can.”
There will obviously be even more scrutiny now on whether Kaze and fellow co-head coach Khalil Ben Youssef are the right men to be leading Chiefs going forward.
“That is not up to me,” said Kaze on his future.
ALSO READ: Clueless Chiefs’ season collapses in derby humiliation
“I believe the coaches are here because they are trusted by management. It is true we have had a series of bad results. But I believe there are things that have worked in the last few months. We need to remind ourselves of that and the players.”
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