‘We’ve lost our way of playing,’ Nabi admits as Chiefs tumble ahead of huge derbies

Such are the low depths Kaizer Chiefs are now scaling that even their supporters look to have given up and accepted their club's downfall.

You would have expected Chiefs fans to have some reaction after their club gave away a lead to lose 2-1 to Marumo Gallants at FNB Stadium on Saturday.

The defeat was their 11th of the season in the Betway Premiership and continued Chiefs' winless streak that has now gone to six league games, in which they have drawn three and lost three to be stuck on 30 points and lose their top eight position. Amakhosi, who were locked in eighth place for weeks, slipped to ninth from the weekend's defeat.

Coach Nasreddine Nabi was equally perplexed and lost for words as he struggled to explain how his side will dig themselves out of the dark hole in their last three league matches that include a Soweto Derby against rivals Orlando Pirates on Saturday.

The coach is hoping the next two weekends' back-to-back derbies can go a long way to rescuing what, apart from reaching the Nedbank Cup final, has been a gloomy end to the 2024-25 campaign at Naturena. The final, at Moses Mabhida Stadium on May 10, is the second of those derbies. That means, intriguingly, old enemies Pirates stand in the way not just perhaps of a top eight finish and Amakhosi's aim of ending better than last season's worst-ever 10th, but also of their last opportunity to avoid the ignominy of going to a decade without silverware in the Nedbank. 

Chiefs, though, look a demoralised combination and it will take some effort for them to earn one win, let along two, against a Buccaneers still in the hunt to unseat seven-time successive champions Mamelodi Sundowns in the Premiership and determined to maintain outgoing coach Jose Riveiro's proud cup trophy record. Pirates have won five out of seven domestic cups in the Spaniard's three seasons and can follow up becoming the first side to lift the MTN8 three times in a row with the same feat in the Nedbank, if they beat Chiefs.

Nabi highlighted injuries as part of the reason his side are battling for results. Against Gallants the Amakhosi defence looked vulnerable as Nabi was forced to play normal left-back Bradley Cross alongside Zitha Kwinika at centreback and midfielder Happy Mashiane at left-back, with Dillan Solomons on the right.

Chiefs managed to take the lead in the 12th minute via an outstanding strike by Glody Lilepo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo winger who was among some decent signings in January that Nabi and Amakhosi hoped would have led to a stronger rather than weaker finish to the season. However, in an all too familiar lapse in concentration, poor goalkeeping by Bruce Bvuma allowed Gallants to come back.

For the 41st-minute equaliser scored by Trevor Mathiane it was Bvuma who exposed his team when he failed to parry a shot away, instead directing it into the area where it was tapped in by the Gallants defender. Just when it appeared Chiefs would hold on for a draw, Bvuma made another error, misreading Daniel Msendami's free-kick and allowing the ball to bounce in front of him before the Marumo player hit the back of the net in the 80th. 

While the win boosted Gallants' chances of avoiding the promotion-relegation playoffs as it got them level with Chiefs on 30 points with two matches remaining, for Chiefs it is an embarrassing scenario ahead of the clashes against Pirates.

Nabi was asked how frustrating it has been to coach a Chiefs battling with results against low-ranked clubs like Gallants. Instead of giving a substantial answer as he usually does, the Chiefs coach just smiled and replied: “Absolutely.”

He did much better when he was asked about the club's league position and attempts to finish inside the top eight, admitting his side are looking dishevelled in the level of organisation and gameplan he has tried to instil.

“Our situation is very bad and there’s no excuse about that,” said the Tunisian, who was expected to improve Chiefs when he was appointed before the start of the 2024-2025 season. “But the most worrying [factor] is not the result — we've even lost our way of playing. That is even more concerning.

After today's game you could see everybody is hurt and down and there's a lack of confidence. Sometimes you feel like some of them are giving up. What I told them is that there's no time to blame anyone. There's no time to blame each other and regret what has happened because today's result cannot be changed. 

—  Nasreddine Nabi

“About the statistics of those previous games, we can't say a lot about it, but the only thing we can say about today is that we're in a very bad situation.

“For example, in today's game we didn't create enough, and we didn't show enough. Probably we were affected by the absence of so many players and probably those who played didn't have a lot of games in their feet and most players didn't play together a lot and that affected the tempo of the game. But it was not good and the situation is not good and there's no excuse.”

Nabi took longer than usual to arrive at the post-match press conference, but he apologised to the media saying he had a lot to say to his players after Saturday's match.

“After today's game you could see everybody is hurt and down and there's a lack of confidence. Sometimes you feel like some of them are giving up. What I told them is that there's no time to blame anyone. There's no time to blame each other and regret what has happened because today's result cannot be changed.

“We have in front of us two very important games that can still save our season. The derby is coming next weekend and there's a final of Nedbank. Everyone needs to assess himself with honesty and look at himself and how he does at training and during games.

“Then we need to stick together and go into this coming week's preparation with our heads up.”