Former Kaizer Chiefs coach Khalil Ben Youssef has spoken out against the concept of co-coaching, admitting that it’s a phenomenon he learnt about in the Betway Premiership.
Ben Youssef was recently part of the co-coaching setup alongside Cedric Kaze at Chiefs during the 2025/26 campaign. The duo took the helm after head coach Nasreddine Nabi parted ways with the Glamour Boys in September 2025, having been with the club since July 2024.
Following Nabi’s exit, Kaze and Ben Youssef—who had both served as his assistants—steered the ship, ultimately leading the Soweto giants to a third-place finish on the league table.
While that finish qualified Chiefs for the upcoming CAF Confederation Cup, it was not enough to secure the long-term futures of Ben Youssef and Kaze, who were let go at the end of the season.
Following his departure from Naturena, Ben Youssef has criticised the co-coaching arrangement, arguing that technical decisions require a single head coach.
Ben Youssef’s comments come against the backdrop of a league that has seen its fair share of co-coaching partnerships in recent years. From Arthur Zwane and Vusumuzi Vilakazi at AmaZulu FC to Papi Zothwane and Ronnie Gabriel at Richards Bay FC, the arrangement has become a familiar experiment. Orlando Pirates also previously paired Mandla Ncikazi with Fadlu Davids, while Mamelodi Sundowns famously utilised Rulani Mokwena and Manqoba Mngqithi. Yet, history shows that few of these setups ultimately proved successful.
WHAT KHALIL BEN YOUSSEF SAID ABOUT THE CO-COACHING CONCEPT
“I’m not familiar with that [co-coaching]; I learned about that in South Africa. I remember the first season when coach Arthur Zwane was in the situation of co-coach at AmaZulu; I was asking people every day in Naturena how they were working,” Ben Youssef said on Metro FM.
“Because at the end of the day, someone has to make the final decision. If I’m co-coaching with another person and I want to play a 4-2-3-1 formation while the other person wants a 4-3-3, what are we going to do?” he asked.
“In our situation at Kaizer Chiefs, we had a meeting on the very first day. Cedric and I already knew each other; I was the first assistant coach, and he was the second assistant coach [under Nabi].
“Cedric said, ‘Look, we know each other. Where we disagree on something, your ideas will take priority.’ Because of that, we didn’t have many major challenges during the season, and we were usually on the same page.
“But sometimes when making substitutions, we weren’t always in total agreement, but we would ultimately settle on my idea and move forward. The point is, we learn football from the highest level—have you ever heard of Real Madrid, PSG, or Barcelona having a co-coach? It’s impossible.”
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