Kaizer Chiefs coach Nasreddine Nabi shared his thoughts on the club’s new signings and the just-ended pre-season training camp in the Netherlands.
Amakhosi returned to South Africa on Saturday night and are now focusing on their upcoming match against Asante Kotoko in the Toyota Cup final next Saturday.
The second edition of the Toyota Cup will be hosted at the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban, where Nabi will have the opportunity to evaluate players such as Siphesihle Ndlovu.
Ndlovu was unable to join the team in the Netherlands as his transfer from SuperSport United was finalised after the team had departed.
Besides Ndlovu, the Soweto giants signed Nkanyiso Shinga, Ethan Chislett, Thabiso Monyane and Flavio Silva.
Chislett, Shinga, Monyane and Silva all played a part during the five games Chiefs played in the Netherlands.
WHAT DOES NABI THINK ABOUT KAIZER CHIEFS’ NEW SIGNINGS
“They need to fully jell with the group,” Nabi told the Chiefs website. “However, they are all adapting nicely, and they start to understand what I expect from them. Our objective was to sign new players that will bring us to a higher level compared to last season.”
The Tunisian mentor also had the chance to look at three youngsters promoted from the DStv Diski Challenge team. Thulani ‘Touch’ Mabaso, Kabelo ‘Festival’ Nkgwesa and striker Naledi Hlongwane all played a part during the friendly matches.
Hlongwane scored the solitary goal in the match against PEC Zwolle, handing Amakhosi their only win of the pre-season.
Nabi revealed that he will not rush the young players, as he intends to manage their transition carefully. “We don’t want to rush them. However, I am always willing to give maximum opportunities to young talents. If you are good enough, you are old enough to play. That’s my philosophy.”
He pointed out a lot of positives picked up during the European tour. “We saw a lot of positives in our training matches against very strong Dutch opponents. The players have started to understand the way I want them to play, and they jell well as a strong unit,” the former Young Africans coach said.
Nabi also commended the club’s management for organising a camp amidst beautiful surroundings. The Monastir-born coach mentioned that the training fields were in excellent condition, and the opponents were quite formidable.
“We didn’t only want quality opponents, we also wanted quantity. Parallel with this, we did some tough physical work at training, even doing double sessions on the day before a match.”
DR HENNING GERICKE RECEIVES NABI’S PRAISE
He explained that this was implemented so players could “play games while feeling extremely fatigued.” Nabi believes this will prepare them for the challenges of juggling domestic fixtures and CAF Confederation Cup matches, which often require long hours of travel.
“We even had two sessions the day after one of the friendlies, with the objective of getting the players mentally ready. That’s also why we organised back-to-back matches twice, playing a friendly two days in a row. It allowed us as well to give maximum opportunities to all the players to get minutes.”
He further credits Chiefs’ sports psychologist, Dr Henning Gericke, for helping to foster team unity and build a strong collective. “I feel absolutely optimistic about the upcoming season,” the former AS FAR coach concluded.
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