With Kaizer Chiefs yet to find consistency under Nasreddine Nabi, former defender Siboniso Gaxa has expressed three factors Amakhosi lack.
The Glamour Boys have had a bumpy season so far since Nabi took over, with glimpses of brilliance emerging and then quickly disappearing. Chiefs only kept their first clean sheet of the campaign after a narrow 1-0 win over Chippa United on Sunday.
However, it was far from a complete or convincing performance, as admitted by the Tunisian tactician after the match.
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According to Gaxa, who won two league titles with the Soweto giants, what his old side lack is a proper defensive midfielder.
"There is a worry, I'm still looking for a holding midfielder that will protect the two centre-backs. I think they still struggle to get that person, because they need that protection, based on the fact that they conceded so many goals. At the moment they don't have," Gaxa said on SoccerBeat YouTube Channel.
The former Bafana Bafana defender also observed that Chiefs are not playing as a unit and lack players with leadership qualities.
"I don't think they are playing as a unit, it's like they just met yesterday, it's not like they were coached. So there are these imbalances. These are things that are lacking, players get exposed when they are moving forward, no one covers. This thing is (about) trust, sometimes you don't communicate, it's just trust," Gaxa went on.
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"When I had (Eric) Mathoho, I knew the guy would cover, so we developed trust. Sometimes when I watch Chiefs you can see they still lack the trust within the players themselves and leadership is very important, which I don't think they have. No one is shouting anyone, they concede a goal, they just look down, like 'Ah we just conceded another one', no one says 'Wake up!' No one says anything," the Durban native former defender added.
Chiefs will be looking to win back-to-back league matches for the first time since September 2024 when they visit Cape Town City on Sunday evening.