After Kaizer Chiefs head coach Nasreddine Nabi recently slammed his players for lacking "professionalism", the side's former midfielder Willard Katsande has offered his view.
Chiefs not only squandered a two-goal lead to draw 2-2 with Royal AM in a recent Betway Premiership encounter, but while they were leading, they missed a number of chances to put the game to bed.
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Post-match, Nabi criticized his charges for not respecting the game by being too casual in front of goal, going on to stress that they needed to change their mentality.
The Tunisian, however, was partly blamed as well by a section of supporters and football pundits for lacking the game management skills, especially with his substitutions in the second stanza when the Soweto giants were in the lead.
Katsande, who was part of a Chiefs outfit that won two league titles under the stewardship of Stuart Baxter, believes the side lacks international players, who would manage the game without being told by the coach.
"In our era, we had international players. [Some] had just played the World Cup. We were surrounded by internationals. It's not like the players are bad but maybe that they are lacking experience, where you need it in these kind of games," Katsande said on SoccerBeat YouTube Channel.
"Not every time you're winning 2-0, you want to attack and play good football. Sometimes in our days we used to put a third centre-back. From there, we play what they say it's "boring" football, but you look at the scoreboard... They need to learn quicker.
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"It goes to the leadership of the team, where they have to take charge. If you look at the past two games [before this past weekend], that's what they needed, maximum points to get moving. The second round is difficult. You can't let a lead slip like that.
"You can see that the hunger is there, but can we play with our heads? It's not like you need to dominate 90 minutes, because that would be unfair in football," the Zimbabwean added.
Chiefs suffered more agony as they went down 2-0 to a determined Polokwane City on Sunday, a result that sees them slip down to ninth place on the table.