Kaizer Chiefs head coach Molefi Ntseki admits they will offer in-form midfielder Edson Castillo more freedom after the arrival of Sibongiseni Mthethwa.
Castillo, 29, was roped into the club as a traditional six but in his final months in Venezuela, he showed a new goal-scoring side to his game.
This has continued upon his arrival at Amakhosi with four goals in his first 11 appearances in all competitions with Yusuf Maart now developing into the holding role, while their signing of Mthethwa from Stellenbosch, further adds midfield steel to protect him.
“I think in our profiling of Castillo we were fully aware that he’s more of an eight and six because he scored a few games playing for his team back home in Venezuela, it’s the player we needed, why the profile was done [on him], it’s why we ended up bringing him to Kaizer Chiefs,” Ntseki said when asked by iDiski Times if he will be given license to attack now.
“I think he’s proved us right with the qualities he possesses as an individual – for the past four games we’ve been playing Castillo as an eight. We realised playing him as a six he has to cover two big distances to get to the goal and score.
“But now that he’s more of an eight, he knows he has cover whenever he loses the ball or goes into transition – I think Yusuf has been doing very well in the number six role of which I think was a very good discovery from our side to say he can be a conductor of this orchestra – playing him as a six.
“Congratulations, well done to Yusuf for handling himself. But reinforcement is always important to have in a team of Chiefs’ calibre, that’s why we brought Ox to the club and we’ll have a strong team going forward understanding the demands of each position and the demands of playing every game to win.”
Chiefs return to FNB Stadium on Tuesday as they play hosts to Cape Town City (19h30).
