Nabi happy with Chiefs’ progress as his ‘process’ begins to take shape

Nasreddine Nabi remains cautiously optimistic about the progress he's making at Kaizer Chiefs this season, but the Tunisian admits his “process” of rebuilding Amakhosi is far from where he wants it to be.

But with Chiefs yet to lose or concede a goal in five matches in 2025-2026, there's a belief that Nabi is slowly but surely getting somewhere, as some of the club's new signings continue to make a difference to a team that conceded 32 goals in 28 league matches to finish in ninth place last campaign.

Nabi was pleased to see a second new player, Flávio Silva, getting a winner in their 1-0 victory over Lamontville Golden Arrows at Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban on Saturday. The other new recruit who has already done the same is Siphesihle Ndlovu, whose sole strike against Polokwane City gave Chiefs three points.

“Maybe you don't like it when I speak about the process,” Nabi said of what he's trying to do at Chiefs. “But it's the reality when it comes to this team. I didn't promise from the beginning to win trophies, but with this process and the methodology we're working on we managed to win the Nedbank Cup last season.

“For this season we're making progress, but there's still much of a job for us to continue with that progress. We're happy about the results but we still need to work more on our game model.”

Chiefs have won four of their first five league games and are yet to be beaten as the only blot on the copybook was the 0-0 draw against Mamelodi Sundowns, three days before they faced Arrows.

It was the effect of that match that Nabi spoke about after the Arrows game, saying the effort of matching the trophy machine Brazilians drained much of his side's energy and that was the reason that at times they looked blunt against Abafana Bes'thende.

“The Sundowns game was mentally tough and physical for the players. It was a strong game, but in the first half [against Arrows] we created a lot of chances to score and we were unlucky,” said Nabi, whose side only broke the deadlock in the 69th minute with Silva scoring less than 10 minutes after his introduction with Gaston Sirino and Mfundo Vilakazi. 

What will be of concern for Nabi going to the international break is the number of goals Chiefs have scored per match. Only in their opening league match against Stellenbosch FC did they managed more than one. 

That's the reason Amakhosi find themselves in second place to leaders Sekhukhune United by a three-goal difference as the two teams lead the Premiership in the early stages. But Nabi was happy Silva, the striker many South African football fans doubted could help Chiefs score goals after seeming a touch ungainly in the preseason friendlies, has opened his account.

“From the beginning Silva received a lot of support from the players and from the fans. We were waiting for the right moment to use him and make it easier for him. Today [Saturday] we're happy for him because he helped the team win this game.”

But there are no complaints from Nabi when it comes to his defence, particularly the goalkeeping department.

“It's positive for the team that we've played five games and we are yet to concede, but I have to say congratulations to all the players. First, specifically, [Brandon] Petersen for his performance and also for the goalkeeper coach [Ilyes Mzoughi] for the work he's doing with Petersen. I trust Petersen and I know his quality and I want to say congratulations to him and his coach.”

Nabi is also positive about the progress made by the new players, but he warned the club's supporters about expecting things to click immediately.

“I have to say congratulations to the management, they did a good job for us,” said Nabi about the club's off-season recruits. “These players give us solutions but building a team with the new players is tough.

“The only thing we need now is time and patience because we need time to combine the new and old players. With passion it will be better.

“For the fans we're also happy about our performance, but I have to say that when you're in a good situation they have to enjoy it because some other times we'll face difficult situations. Now we're good and we're happy, but what we need when the team is struggling is the motivation to stay confident and to help the team.”