Ben Youssef Dismisses Notion Of Chiefs’ Success Without Nabi

Kaizer Chiefs’ assistant coach Khalil Ben Youssef has dismissed the idea that the team performs better when head coach Nasreddine Nabi is absent, despite winning their first two matches of the season without him.

Nabi has missed the first two league matches due to a personal matter after his wife was involved in a car accident in Tunisia.

He left the country on the eve of their opening match against Stellenbosch and was also absent for their midweek win over Polokwane City. Notably, Chiefs have yet to concede a goal in these two matches.

On Tuesday, the Amakhosi will host Richards Bay at FNB Stadium, and Nabi will again be absent. However, Ben Youssef stated that Nabi remains involved in the team’s daily plans through regular meetings.

“I think at this point, whether the coach is here or not here, we are a technical staff, all of us are familiar; we work together, we keep in contact every day, every training session,” Ben Youssef said.

The notion of the team performing better without him is not new. Last season, Nabi was sent off in a loss to Golden Arrows late in January.

He subsequently missed the next two matches, which Chiefs won, scoring five goals in total—a 1-0 victory over Sekhukhune United and a 4-0 win over Free Agents in the Nedbank Cup in the round of 32.

When Nabi returned from his suspension for the Soweto Derby against Orlando Pirates, Chiefs lost 1-0.

Despite this history, Ben Youssef insists there is no connection between Nabi’s absence and the team’s success.

“Every training session we discuss, we meet via Zoom, every day meeting with all the technical staff; we discuss about all the plans,” he maintained.

“We prepare the game together. Yes, coach Nabi is not here physically, but he’s with us; we work together; we are a team. We help each other, and we don’t think about who is here and who is not here—all technical staff work together.”