Bafana Bafana legend Teko Modise feels coach Nasreddine Nabi is not the problem at Kaizer Chiefs but that his job has been made more difficult by the lack of a quality squad.
Nabi was seen as the man to turn around the fortunes of Chiefs when he arrived after successful stints in Tanzania and Morocco but like his predecessors, he has faced the same problems with inconsistent performances that leave them in ninth position in the league.
Modise feels it is unfair to blame Nabi when he inherited a squad that cannot compete with both Mamelodi Sundowns and Orlando Pirates, the two other big clubs in the country.
“As much as we say that coach Nabi possibly doesn't have time, but does he have the quality though? Because nobody wants to speak of the quality of Kaizer Chiefs players, it's always the coaches,” Modise said as quoted by SABC.
“Why the coaches keep rotating, but the players are still the same? Then, who is the problem? Because when you want to win, you must look at Kaizer Chiefs and be honest about who they are supposed to be competing with.
Why is Nabi still struggling with his starting XI?
“They are supposed to be competing with Mamelodi Sundowns or Orlando Pirates and I'm not talking about competition in terms of trophies and all that, from a player to player.”
Modise wonders how Chiefs have left Nabi still struggling to come up with his best team even with season entering its final month yet they still hope to compete with Pirates and Sundowns who have settled squads.
“The entire existence of Kaizer Chiefs, it always has superstars and quality but now you start questioning yourself that, okay, if we are saying the coach now is still trying to figure out the synergy and the combination with four games to go, that's concerning because you had preseason to do that, you had friendlies in between,” he added.
“At Pirates, you always know who's gonna play and even though you know that lineup, when you look at it, it's a lineup that is tried and tested and was believed in, and is kept on going and winning and always had that belief.”
The former Orlando Pirates and Mamelodi Sundowns midfielder also has sympathy for Nabi who has had to deal with injuries, further disrupting his matchday plans.
Modise wonders why Chiefs still lack quality
“You won't have trophies if there's inconsistency in your lineup. Yes, you might win cups but not the league, not the biggest cups, you can't because you need consistency because when things are tough, I need to know that Itu [Itumeleng Khune] behaves how without even having to speak,” said Modise.
“It will be 40 to 60,000 capacity at Moses Mabhida, do you think there's time for Itu to tell me that there's men coming? I won't even hear him but that's the synergy that you build from off-season, that's the synergy that you build during the game in difficult situations, understanding the behaviour.
“Knowing your teammate, that when it's not his day, this is how he behaves, and I strongly believe that coach Nabi, at some point, he found that, but he's been so unlucky because he never really has the strongest team to be able to field, it's always injuries.
“He's always struggling with those types of injuries when the team is starting to click, and yes, we might say maybe the goalscoring department but guys, why are we still having wingers that are playing 40 games or 50 games with two goals and then we are saying they are playing well, where?”
Nabi has a chance to end the season in a positive way as his team take on Pirates in the Nedbank Cup final on Saturday.
