Kaizer Chiefs coach Khalil Ben Youssef is unbothered by his side’s recent lack of winning results.
Amakhosi started the season hot, remaining unbeaten in the Betway Premiership until losing 3-1 to Sekhukhune United at the FNB Stadium last Tuesday. Chiefs have failed to win their two subsequent games, going down to Kabuscorp 1-0 in the first leg of their CAF Confederations Cup first preliminary round tie at the weekend and settling for a 1-1 draw with Marumo Gallants at home on Wednesday.
Acting in head coach Nasreddine Nabi’s absence, Youssef believes his side deserved the win against Marumo Gallants despite being held to a draw.
“It’s a good performance. The performance was there, but the result was not good. I think regarding what we did in the 90 minutes, we deserve to win this game. We deserve these three points,” said Youssef, speaking after the fixture.
The temporary Chiefs boss explained his change in tactical shape, shifting from Amakhosi’s usual 4-2-3-1 to prevent Gallants from using their usual play style.
“The idea today was we played in 3-4-3. We played higher. We tried to make our block, high block, to press Gallants. We know that Gallants this season, they try to play short passes […] So for that we tried to press them higher and to recover the ball. We recovered a lot of balls and we got a lot of opportunities to score.”
Youssef praised Khanyisa Mayo’s performance as the 27-year-old scored the opening goal, putting Chiefs ahead on his debut.
“He performed very well. He gave us a lot of opportunities and also he scored the first goal. We
need more from Mayo because we know his quality and we know what he can do for the team, what he can bring for the team also,” he said.
Chief’s focus now shifts to their Confederations Cup second leg clash with Kabuscorp at FNB Stadium on Saturday. Amakhosi will have to turn around a one goal deficit to advance to the second preliminary round oif the tournament.
“It’s a very important game, Saturday’s game. I hope now the result was not good, but this
Saturday we will be there and we will win to qualify for the next round,” said Youssef.
The Tunisian tactician explained that his side’s approach to every game is to treat it like a knockout fixture and fight for all three points.
“For us this season, every game is a cup game. We have to play to win every game. Then the result, inshallah, will be better.”
