After the touchdown of Fernando Da Cruz, who is said to be laying groundwork for Nasreddine Nabi at Kaizer Chiefs, Kickoff unpacks a new playing style the duo could be bringing to the club.
Da Cruz has long been interested in joining Chiefs and so Nabi being open to working with the French-Portuguese tactician should be a dream for Amakhosi's hierarchy.
The willingness of the Tunisian to work together with a coach he succeeded at FAR Rabat and trust him enough to start putting structures in place should indicate that they believe in a similar playing philosophy.The duo share a preferred formation of 4-2-3-1, with Da Cruz infusing it with a 4-2-2-2 formation en route to the Black Army winning the Botola Pro in the 2022/23 season and Nabi working around similar principles, as he lost the 2023/24 league title by one point to Josef Zinnbauer's Raja Casablanca.
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The general profiling of FAR under Da Cruz and to an extend under Nabi, was that they play with a hybrid shape consisting, as a matter of principle, a back-four, a double-pivot midfield dropping deep, wingers in wide positions running the opposition full-backs and centre-forwards (or a nine and a ten, depending on the opposition) who operate in half spaces.
The reason for using a double pivot midfield in deep areas, is to emphasize dominating possession and then drawing the opposition out of their own half.
With wingers out wide occupying full-backs and two deep lying midfielders close to centre-backs, this creates a lot of spaces in the centre of the pitch for two centre-forwards (or a nine and a ten) to rove and play with much freedom.
This playing style is normally expressed via the 4-2-3-1 (which can change into a 4-2-2-2) formations and made famous in world football by former Brighton and Hove Albion manager Roberto De Zerbi, who explained in an interview with Sky Sports on his tactics that he needs "six players in a build up playing deeper always".
De Zerbi was one of a few managers in the Premier League brave enough to compete with Manchester City and Liverpool for possession with a similar style, that got Pep Guardiola to remark: "There is no team playing the way they play. I had the feeling he [De Zerbi] would have an impact and it would be great but I didn't expect them to do it in such a short space of time. It's so nice to watch."
Before leaving the Reds, Jurgen Klopp, after facing Brighton in March this year said, "I told De Zerbi to keep turning the football upside down. I will watch from some distance. I respect so much what he's doing."
Mamelodi Sundowns have long been playing their Piano and Shoeshine but head coach Rulani Mokwena is heavily influenced by Guardiola in his side's playing style.
With new Amakhosi coaches, as per reports, seemingly influenced by a playing philosophy championed by De Zerbi, the rivalry between the two sides, including old foes Orlando Pirates, could get more exciting in the new season.