Edmilson Dove has spoken publicly about former Kaizer Chiefs coach Nasreddine Nabi, outlining the specific habits and standards he believes distinguished his tenure at Naturena.
The former Chiefs defender played under Nabi in the 2024/25 Betway Premiership season, forming an integral part of the Tunisian mentor’s team before being slowed down by injuries.
Dove displayed solid performances in defence whenever he was given a chance to play under Nabi, contributing immensely to the team that ended the long-standing trophy drought at Amakhosi.
The Mozambican international played a major role in the back line when Chiefs clinched the 2025 Nedbank Cup against rivals Orlando Pirates in the previous campaign.
Last season, Dove featured in 13 appearances across all competitions before leaving the club upon the expiry of his contract in June 2025. The versatile defender spent three seasons at Chiefs after signing with the club on a free transfer in August 2022.
After working under Nabi in his last season at Chiefs, Dove has revealed that the highly-rated coach is a perfectionist and they sometimes trained three times a day to sharpen their tactics.
Despite Nabi steadying the ship and delivering the club’s first piece of silverware in a decade, the Glamour Boys opted to part ways with the Tunisian early this season.
WHAT DOVE SAID ABOUT NASREDDINE NABI’S IMPACT AT CHIEFS
The former Young Africans SC tactician has since been replaced by Cedric Kaze and Khalil Ben Youssef after the duo served as his assistant coaches.
“I feel like I’ve had so many coaches until I met him [Nabi]. That guy is just a perfectionist, he is obsessed with perfection, and at training for him, everything has to be perfect,” Dove said on Soccer Beat.
“He is passionate about everything he does, you understand? He’s very demanding, and I think for the first time in my career, the only time we trained, I think three times, was under coach Nabi. He was just obsessed with things flowing in the right way; he’s the type of coach that doesn’t choose who he’s coming at if you’re doing something wrong.
“I can compare him with coach Benni McCarthy because when I was at Cape Town City FC, he was that type of a guy, if after the first half you’re having a bad game, he doesn’t have to wait for the game to finish and analyse videos, he will tell you straight. So that’s where they are similar.”
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