‘You need quality players’: Gamondi on Chiefs as Nabi papers over cracks

As Nasreddine Nabi papered over the cracks after a disjointed performance, Young Africans coach Miguel Gamondi offered a brutal assessment of the strength, or lack thereof, of Kaizer Chiefs. 

Young Africans, known popularly as Yanga, dished out a 4-0 football lesson in the preseason Toyota Cup friendly at Free State Stadium on Sunday, exposing many of Amakhosi’s shortcomings. 

Chiefs fans packed the Bloemfontein venue to usher in Nabi’s era — the Tunisian taking his job under pressure after nine seasons without silverware at Naturena — and hoping to get a glimpse of how their team will shape up in the coming season. They were witness to a lethargic and concerning performance. 

Gamondi was clear in his opinion about Chiefs' lacking quality and said the expectations of the ailing Soweto giants’ supporters need to be managed. 

“In my opinion expectations are too high because I always say in football you need quality players,” the Argentinian former Mamelodi Sundowns and Platinum Stars coach said. 

“Even Pep Guardiola, his success at Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Man City is about quality players he worked with. You have to be realistic, and from a tactical point of view, today we gave them a lesson on how to play an international game. 

“You need to have experience and today they played about five young players. You cannot expect to win high level matches with young players.

“I am not criticising the level of Kaizer Chiefs, but for a big club it is important to manage players and the expectations of fans.” 

Gamondi, who will lead Yanga in the 2024-25 Champions League where they will be hoping to get past the quarterfinal stage they reached last season, exiting at the hands of Sundowns, said Nabi has his work cut out at Chiefs.

“If you give the expectation, you must perform on the pitch and there is no excuse. I spoke to the coach [Nabi] and I encouraged him because there is a lot of work to be done going forward. 

“If he wants to compete in the league against teams like Mamelodi Sundowns, Orlando Pirates, Cape Town City, Stellenbosch and SuperSport United, Chiefs need to improve a lot.

“Coaches can coach during the week but if you don’t have quality players, it is difficult. What I saw from Kaizer Chiefs, and this is good criticism, they didn’t create chances. 

“This is a situation that is concerning [for them] because we created chances, we created moments on transition, we had ball possession. They have a lot of work to do. I wish coach Nabi and the management can manage this situation for the team to improve. 

“Last season was bad for Chiefs and it is difficult to change the team. They must go step by step. The most important thing is to manage the expectations of the fans. They must be clever as to how they pass the message and they must also be realistic.” 

Gamondi suggested Chiefs use the 2024-25 Betway Championship to build a team that will be competitive in the future.

“Probably this season is the one for transition for Chiefs and this is the most logical thing to happen because I am realistic. You cannot go close to 10 years without success and you want to be a champion.” 

Nabi said it is preseason and they take lessons from the chastening experience in his first high-profile match in charge of Chiefs. 

“It is unpleasant to lose at home, but this was a friendly match and we didn’t lose any points. We take it as a learning curve. It was another opportunity to know the team when it comes to their weaknesses and strengths.

“It was a good opportunity to evaluate the players individually and as a team. We would like to congratulate Young Africans for an excellent performance and they gave us an accurate picture of our team.” 

Nabi didn’t want to be drawn on the deficiencies he sees in his squad.

“I don’t want to talk about which position we need to strengthen because I respect my players, but we need quality,” he said.