Kaze leaves decision to management following Soweto derby humiliation

Speaking after what was Chiefs’ worst result in the derby in 25 years, following the 3-0 loss to arch-rivals Orlando Pirates at FNB stadium yesterday, Kaze says the recent results don’t erase some good performances they have had.

Chiefs have now lost four of their last five matches, and this result dents their league title aspirations.

"I will not answer that because it's not up to me, but I believe that coaches are here because they are trusted by management. It's true that we have been in a series of bad results, but I believe there are things that have worked in the past few months and we need to remind ourselves what has worked for us before.

"For example, we need to go back to the basics of football, how we defend well and not concede, because that is the only way we can go forward again."

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For the second time in four days, Kaze, just like his co-coach Khalil Ben Youssef had done earlier in the week, apologised to the fans after this humiliation.

"On my behalf and on behalf of the players, I want to apologise to the fans because they deserved better today. We were not up to the task.

"We emphasised the importance of the first fifteen minutes, that we need to be alive and on the front foot, but unfortunately we conceded a short corner, which we prepared for. After that we lost a lot of duels and misplaced a lot of passes."

This was the biggest defeat Chiefs suffered in the derby against Pirates since December 2001, when the late Lesley Manyathela brace and Benedict “Tso” Vilakazi’s goals made the difference.

Kaze protected his players after this loss and says as the technical staff, they take full responsibility for this result.

The result leaves Chiefs still stuck on fourth, with 30 points from 17 matches. They have conceded 10 goals in the last five matches across all competitions.

With an 11-point gap between them and log leaders Pirates, it’s a tall order for Amakhosi and Kaze says hunger and desire was missing from their players on the day.

Meanwhile, Kaze also took a dig at Pirates for what he called organised tactics to delay and manage the game, with their players falling down to frustrate the opponent.

He says this shows their opponent's experience...

"As I congratulate Orlando Pirates for the three points, I also congratulate them for the tricks they did in the first fifteen minutes, when players were falling down every time. The keeper fell down like five times, but he didn't get subbed. I have to congratulate them as well for that because it's experience."