‘He’s not Henry or Lewandowski’ – Kaizer Chiefs coach highlights what makes Flavio Silva tick

Kaizer Chiefs assistant coach Cedric Kaze has highlighted the unique qualities of striker Flavio Silva that attracted the club to him.

Silva is among the seven new signings made by Chiefs so far but is yet to make his official debut after being excluded from the squad that beat Stellenbosch FC 2-0 in their season-opener on Sunday.

The Guinea-Bissau-born Portuguese striker is in line to feature on Wednesday when Chiefs host Polokwane City at the FNB Stadium but there has been criticism leveled on the player with some fans and observers not convinced by him.

However, Kaze says the forward was signed for his qualities in the box and he cannot be compared to legendary strikers like Thierry Henry or Robert Lewandowski who offer much more like runs in behind and dribbling apart from scoring goals.

What attracted Chiefs to Flavio Silva?

“I don’t really want to go long into this, with personal matters of players, we’re here to talk about the game tomorrow, but I will give you some facts [on Flavio],” Kaze said ahead of Wednesday’s clash as quoted by iDiski Times.

“It’s a player that trains very well, scores goals in training and a player that… you know people think all strikers need to be like Thierry Henry or Robert Lewandowski, or have skills to dribble – but he’s a different profile, a player in the box.

“When there’s crosses, you will find him there, when there’s a shot, you will find him there for rebounds, he has tremendous presence in the box and we need players like this.”

Silva was used by Chiefs in their pre-season games but did not find the target, leading to the criticism by fans, but he has a chance to prove is doubters wrong when he officially dons the famous black and gold shirt.