As Kaizer Chiefs continue to grapple with a string of underwhelming results, the club’s former assistant coach, Farouk Khan, has proposed practical solutions to Amakhosi’s current woes.
Despite their storied history, Chiefs have been unable to recapture their winning ways, resulting in a near decade-long trophy drought. This prolonged period without silverware underscores the club’s current struggles to find consistent form and compete against the top teams in the PSL.
The Soweto giants appointed Nasreddine Nabi alongside his full technical team at the start of the current Betway Premiership season in a bid to bring the club back to its glory days.
After 22 league matches, Chiefs find themselves sitting eighth on the log standings with 29 points. They won eight matches, drew five, and suffered nine defeats. The Glamour Boys are winless in their last two matches after playing a goalless draw against Cape Town City FC a week ago. Before that tie, they lost 2-0 against Richards Bay FC this past weekend.
With Chiefs seemingly struggling to move to the top half of the league table, Farouk Khan has advised the Naturena-based side to evaluate their current squad and bring in personnel with a good eye for talent.
He worked as an assistant coach at Chiefs back in the late 90s and early 2000s, winning several trophies, including two league titles and the African Cup Winners’ Cup [now known as the CAF Confederation Cup] with the Soweto giants.
Khan also possesses a strong reputation for discovering and nurturing talent, playing a pivotal role in the rise of Jabu Mahlangu, Gerald Sibeko, Junior Khanye, and Thabiso Malatsi at Amakhosi.
KHAN TELLS KAIZER CHIEFS TO EVALUATE THEIR CURRENT SQUAD
“I’ll tell you this much: I don’t think finding new players is going to work in the long term for Chiefs,” Khan said on the Soccer Beat podcast.
“So I would say if you’re looking for a solution, the solution is to look into your current squad and be very candid; be honest and say, ‘Which [ones] are the Kaizer Chiefs players?’ Because Kaizer Chiefs have a philosophy.
“Somebody would say, what do you mean which Kaizer Chiefs player? This team is known for playing expensive offensive football; they play winning football, you could argue with me and say in the last couple of years, it hasn’t been the case, but if you played for Kaizer Chiefs in the past, you knew this team would give you a run for your money.
“Chiefs need to look at the players because none of those players are underperforming intentionally. You’d find that certain players have certain limitations.”
The owner of the famed Stars of Africa Academy added:Â “You have to find the right players in the right positions; the solutions come due to the fact that there is balance and you have a proper number nine [striker] because we saw against Richards Bay FC, many crosses were put in the box but could not be finished.
“So Chiefs problems go beyond the coaching; you need a technical genius who knows how to sign players, somebody who will look at a player and understand if that player can fit into the philosophy, the style, and the game model.
“Once you find that person, the coach’s job becomes much easier because he doesn’t have to change players [in the starting line-up] as often as we’re seeing currently.”
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