Da Cruz Admits Chiefs’ Young Attack Lacks Maturity
Kaizer Chiefs coach Fernando Da Cruz has admitted that his young attack lacks maturity after Amakhosi were held to a goalless draw by Golden Arrows at Mbombela Stadium on Sunday.
Chiefs were unable to convert their chances into goals as they were held to their second consecutive draw in the Betway Premiership, following another stalemate against Polokwane City in their previous league fixture.
The result means Chiefs have now drawn four of their seven league matches this season, winning three. They remain fourth on the league table with 13 points.
Speaking after the match, Da Cruz acknowledged that his attacking players have quality but believes a lack of maturity is currently preventing them from turning their performances into goals and victories.
“Maturity. We are playing with an attack that has a lot of quality, that is young and needs time,” he said on SuperSport TV.
“It has quality, but it lacks maturity. So, that is mainly what we are missing.
“Beyond that, we have to continue on this path because it is the direction we need to take, and at some point, we will start scoring goals and winning matches.
“We are not far away. We have to keep going because I think that today [Sunday], the people who watched this game, even though it was 0-0, must have enjoyed watching a good match.”
The French coach also explained how Lebohang Maboe’s second-half injury affected Chiefs’ control of the midfield.
Maboe was replaced by Adolf Mtasingwa, with Da Cruz admitting that the change affected the team’s dominance in the middle of the pitch.
“For Maboe, I made a like-for-like substitution because he was injured, and I didn’t have a choice,” he added.
“We were less dominant in midfield, whereas we had dominated in the first half, and the injury happened early.
“After the changes, even at 0-0, we made a lot of attacking substitutions because, as I’ve always said, the idea is to try to win the game.
“So, we tried to win it, and unfortunately, we couldn’t, even though we hit the bar and had a few chances. We just couldn’t win the game in the second half.”
Chiefs will now have to wait until October 17 to return to Betway Premiership action when they host Stellenbosch, with Da Cruz and his players looking to get back to winning ways.
For Maboe, the focus will now be on recovering from his injury as quickly as possible. The 32-year-old has been included in the Bafana Bafana squad, with the national team set to go into camp this week ahead of their 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers later this month.
