Mduduzi Shabalala has revealed what he believes Kaizer Chiefs will have to fix if they are to have a better season as head coach Nasreddine Nabi returns for his second campaign in charge.
Chiefs finished an embarrassing ninth on the log last term, collecting a mere eight wins from 28 fixtures.
Shabalala contributed two goals and two assists in the side's first five league games. However, that steam seemed to blow off as he then struggled to maintain form.
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The former DStv Diski Challenge crowd puller still made 28 more appearances after that but managed only two more goals.
He was not alone in his struggles, as the likes of Ranga Chivaviro, Ashley du Preez and Wandile Duba also faced similar inconsistency.
The arrival of Glody Lilepo in February helped alleviate the pressure as the Congolese scored five times.
Speaking to the club's media, the 21-year-old was candid in his assessment of what did not go according to script.
"I started the season well, but I didn't finish on a high note," admitted Shabalala.
"As a team, we learnt that we need to manage ourselves better and we need to concentrate more on our finishing.
"Doubtlessly, we definitely want to win more of our home games next season to be able to compete for top positions on the league table," he continued.
The dribbling wizard is part of the squad that is currently in the Netherlands on pre-season. This is where they will play five friendly matches before flying back on 19 July.
"So far, so good," he said when asked about preparations for 2025/26.
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"All players are fighting for a position in the first team. It's a fiery but healthy competition.
"However, with regard to the training matches in the Netherlands, we are here to learn. It's not so much about the result.
"We want to take all these learning experiences with us back to South Africa. For sure, we will compete in our training matches, but more importantly, (we want) to get better as a team. That's our objective."
The first of those pre-season matches is against SBV Vitesse on Tuesday (19:00 SA time) and can be streamed liveon the Kaizer Chiefs YouTube channel.
Photo: Daniel Hlongwane/Gallo Images
