Kaizer Chiefs head coach Arthur Zwane has admitted he saw Bonfils-Caleb Bimenyimana being affected by fans asking for his substitution, but insisted his decision to start with two strikers caught Richards Bay by surprise.
The Amakhosi collected their second successive 1-0 win after downing 10-men Richards Bay on Saturday to overtake them on the log.
While his strikers were drawing blanks, Siyabonga Ngezana scored the only goal of the day, with the club’s leading goalscorer Bimenyimana experiencing somewhat of a drought.
Despite scoring seven goals for Chiefs this season, Bimenyimana is yet to score in 2023, with fans calling for him to be subbed at the King Goodwill Zwelithini Stadium on Saturday.
“To be quite honest Caleb wasn’t bad, he had some shots at goal that the keeper saved so it tells you he did well in terms of a striker. But you will always feel the pressure as a Kaizer Chiefs player as I said,” Zwane said when asked about the jeers for his striker.
“As coaches you always want your players in the right frame of mind and you look at him how he responds.
“Does that [fans chanting] maybe give him a boost to say ‘you know what I’m going to give my best until I get a goal or I’ll help the team’.
“But once you see the body language a little bit sloppy obviously that’s a sign, I have to save him, that’s my job.
“Then back to the drawing board again or back to training, then we work on him again [because] he’s a good player. He’ll do something, he’ll help us going forward, I have no doubt about that.
Zwane also discussed his tactical change to start both Bimenyimana and Christian Saile Basomboli for the first time together – saying their system surprised the hosts.
“When you look back at how we started the season and we still in that situation where we blowing hot and cold,” he added.
“But when you look at the two guys that we had up front, we caught them by surprise, they didn’t expect us to come with two.
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“But we had say now Caleb, it’s either you coming to turn where there’s space when they come to you, occupy the space, then Mdu [Shabalala] will always be free. It gave Mdu the free role and caused that confusion.”
Chiefs now sit in fourth place, level on points with Soweto rivals Orlando Pirates and just two behind SuperSport United, who play Golden Arrows on Sunday.
