Kaze Defends Chiefs Record Amid Growing Criticism
Kaizer Chiefs co-coach Cedric Kaze has defended his team’s performances amid growing criticism, insisting they have improved compared to previous seasons and that he would leave the club with his head held high if the time comes to move on.
Chiefs have come under heavy scrutiny in recent weeks following their exits from the CAF Confederation Cup and the Nedbank Cup.
To make matters worse, Chiefs have lost their last three matches in the Betway Premiership, conceding six goals and scoring just twice during that run.
Supporters have voiced their frustration with the team’s performances, with fans marching to the club’s headquarters last week demanding that the club dismiss Kaze and his fellow co-coach Khalil Ben Youssef.
The pressure intensified after Chiefs suffered a heavy 3-0 defeat to their Soweto rivals Orlando Pirates two weeks ago — the first time in 25 years that they have lost a league Soweto Derby by such a margin.
Speaking at a press conference on Thursday ahead of Sunday’s clash with in-form Durban City at FNB Stadium, Kaze insisted the situation is not as bad as critics suggest.
“There have been a lot of things said around the team, but I would like to take a moment to speak about football, not about the noise outside,” said Kaze.
“I’m a coach and my job is on the field. First, I want to evaluate the 18 league games we have played and put them into context by comparing them with the last two seasons after 18 matches.
“In the 2023/24 season, after 18 games the club had conceded 12 goals, lost seven matches and had 25 points, sitting in 10th position.
“In 2024/25, after 18 games, the team had conceded 24 goals, lost eight matches and were ninth with 24 points.
“Today we have four losses and 30 points.”
Kaze also pointed to several statistical indicators that he believes show improvement in the team’s performances.
“Ball possession is 59.4% — only Mamelodi Sundowns are ahead of us, so we are second.
“In accurate passes per game we are second with 415. In total shots per game we are first with an average of 15.5.
“Shots on target per game — 5.2 on average — we are also first.
“Successful dribbles per game, 9.5 — we are first, ahead of Golden Arrows.
“Accurate crosses per game we are third with an average of 4.5, and in clean sheets we are second.
“Those are football statistics.”
Despite those numbers, Chiefs have struggled to turn their dominance into convincing victories. In their 13 wins across competitions this season, they have only scored three or more goals once — a 3-1 victory over DR Congo side Simba in the Confederation Cup second qualifying round, and a 4-1 league win against bottom-placed Orbit College FC.
Kaze also pointed to injuries and squad disruptions as key factors behind their recent struggles, particularly in their defeat to Richards Bay.
“In the last game against Richards Bay, it was played on a difficult pitch,” he said.
“We made an individual mistake and conceded a goal. I don’t think we played badly in that match. They were not very dangerous, but again we lost three points.
“Since the beginning of the season, the strength of this team has been defensive solidity — not conceding goals. Since January there have been two factors that explain the drop in that solidity.
“There have been many injuries and suspensions. In the game against Richards Bay we had a back four that had never even trained together because nobody expected them to play together.
“In the way we think about football, we do not want to play two left-footed centre-backs, but we started with Bradley Cross and Aden McCarthy.
“Inacio Miguel got injured on the eve of the game and that changed many things. Cross had to play even though he was not at his best physically because he was coming back from injury. Everything had to change.”
Kaze concluded by saying that the criticism surrounding the team does not always reflect the reality of their performances this season.
“Those are the facts of the 18 games,” he said. “After that, there are people with different agendas saying that we do not deserve to be here or that the board is too big.
“But this team has been in a consistent position since the beginning of the season.”
