Kaizer Chiefs players will need to fight collectively to revive their season, says former defender Ramahlwe Mphahlele Photo: Itumeleng English Independent Media
Image: Itumeleng English Independent Media
Former Kaizer Chiefs defender Ramahlwe Mphahlele believes the answers to the club’s struggles lie within the dressing room, insisting the players themselves hold the power to pull Amakhosi out of the hole they have dug for themselves.
Amakhosi are preparing to face Durban City FC in a crucial Betway Premiership clash at FNB Stadium on Sunday (3.30pm kick-off). The encounter comes with significant pressure for Chiefs, who are aiming to avoid what would be their fourth consecutive defeat.
After a series of tough results, the Soweto giants have played themselves into a tight corner, making Sunday’s match one of their most important fixtures of the season against a Durban City side now chasing a top-three finish this season.
With criticism mounting around the club in recent weeks, the fixture offers Kaizer Chiefs an opportunity to respond. Mphahlele believes that despite the setbacks, the players must step up and show the same fight that helped them begin the season strongly, adding that a lack of experience at this stage of the campaign has been their biggest obstacle.
“Chiefs were coming along nicely, but I think a lack of experience in moments like these — where you have to push even harder to stay with the leading pack — has cost them,” Mphahlele told Independent Newspapers.
“When Chiefs is doing well the league is competitive and buzzing. I feel for them — the boys, the players, the management and the fans — because they love the club, but what I can say to the players is that they must just keep going.
"No one is going to come from nowhere to save the club. It’s the players that are there who will have to pull up their socks and punch harder. They must keep going — giving up is not an option.”
With 12 games still to play, the season is far from over, and Mphahlele added it will be the players’ mindset that will decide whether Amakhosi can rise and finish the campaign strong.
“For me, it’s all mental. It has less to do with how they play. They need to fight for each other and for the badge, and realise that they are in this situation, and the only people who can get themselves out of it are the players themselves. They need to tighten up and work harder, go to training with the mindset to improve, and do better for the club.”
Now playing for Orbit College, the 36-year-old defender who made 127 appearances for Chiefs also warned his former side against relying too heavily on individual brilliance, stressing that they need to become more of a collective unit.
“The season started with coach Nasreddine Nabi, and they fell off along the way. It’s a bit difficult to point out the positives. I think they need to be more of a team rather than waiting for Gaston Sirino or Mfundo Vilakazi to save the day. They must hold each other accountable and say, ‘Guys, we are going in there as 10 players who are going to fight for each other and for the club — all of us.’
“Not one guy, or on a day when you have only three players performing. That’s not enough for Kaizer Chiefs. You need everyone performing on the day. What I see in the team is a lot of individualism. They should be more of a team, and if they can get that right, they can prevail.”