On current form, Kaizer Chiefs could be fighting for top eight positions instead of continental places. What has gone wrong? Kickoff picks out five issues.
Does Johnson know his best XI?
When a coach is new at a team, he normally takes time experimenting before he finally settles on a regular line-up. However, having spent five months in the job, Cavin Johnson is seemingly yet to find a regular line-up he can trust.
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Players have been in and out of the team, with frequent changes and surprises in the line-up. The head coach has recently brought back the likes of Dillan Solomons, Siyethemba Sithebe and Wandile Duba from the fringes at Chiefs and discarded previously key stars such as Reeve Frosler.
Lack of fighting spirit or lack of fitness?
The Soweto giants have come back from behind to rescue a draw or win in a game only once under the current mentor, in a 1-1 draw against Sekhukhune United, where Ranga Chivaviro scored late to salvage a 1-1 stalemate.
They also struggle to get into second gear to score late, as they could not rescue a win against Royal AM, Milford (after 120 minutes), Moroka Swallows (all goalless draws) and showed promise against Cape Town City (goalless) but lost to Stellenbosch FC.
Except the equaliser against Babina Noko, since then, all Chiefs goals have come in the first stanza, including in a 3-2 defeat against Orlando Pirates.
Striker crisis?
Amakhosi seemingly do not have a leading marksman they trust u pfront for goals, as Ashley Du Preez has been used in different positions in attack and the likes of Christian Saile and Chivaviro are struggling to make the line-up.
Johnson's decision to rather start with youngsters Mduduzi Shabalala and Duba instead of Saile and Chivaviro speaks volumes about the quality at his disposal.
Du Preez, Saile, Chivaviro and Pule Mmodi have only scored a total of 12 goals in the league so far, just two more than the strikes netted by Mamelodi Sundowns man Lucas Ribeiro Costa alone.
Do Chiefs have match winners?
Every big club has their talisman, a trusted source of inspiration. In recent times, the Naturena-based side tended to look up to Khama Billiat and Keagan Dolly to lift up the team when the chips were down.
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However, currently, when the going gets tough, who is that player or players who can carry the responsibility to create something out of nothing?
What happened to Castillo?
Speaking of players with match-winning heroics in them, Edson Castillo showed big promise to become Chiefs' match winner in his first few months at the club.
However, since his first call-up to the Venezuelan national team for the first time since 2021 in October last year, he is yet to score a goal since his return and there is a big question mark on whether his long travels have affected his playing chances at the club, as he has been in and out of line-ups.
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