Comment by Mihlali Baleka
It’s hard to imagine that there’s any coach, young or old, who didn’t follow the career of Manchester United’s greatest tactician to date, Sir Alex Ferguson.
As such, when the Scottish mentor claimed that “attack wins you games, defence wins you titles”, that philosophy must have spread like wildfire.
New Kaizer Chiefs coach Nasreddine Nabi seems to all but embody that ethos, given how he’s slowly but surely laid his foundation at the club.
Chiefs unveiled defender Inacio Miguel as their fifth signing of the new season on Wednesday after he penned a three-year deal.
The Angolan joins new defenders Rushwin Dortley and Bongani Sam, while goalkeeper Fiacre Ntwari and attacker Gaston Sirino complete the list of signings so far.
The addition of the trio – Miguel, Dortley and Sam – adds new members to an already bloated defensive contingent.
The Amakhosi already have 11 defenders, while a whopping eight from the lot, including the new boys, can play at centre-back.
Amakhosi’s focus on their defensive structure could be unfathomable to the discerning observer, given that the team struggled all round in the past few seasons.
But perhaps it’s worth mentioning that nothing will come right for the team as long as they continue to leak goals due to schoolboy errors at the back.
En route to their lowly 10th-place finish in the Premiership standings last season, Chiefs had the sixth-worst defensive record after finishing the term on a disappointing goal difference of minus-five.
And while Bruce Bvuma and the rest of the Chiefs goalkeepers, including veteran skipper Itumeleng Khune, blew hot and cold last season, it would be unfair to blame them alone for leaking goals.
Their entire defensive group was, in fact, largely to blame. Edmilson Dove was erratic, resulting in suspensions, while Thatayaone Ditlhokwe spent more time in the medical room than on the pitch.
And that’s not all. Then-coach Cavin Johnson chopped and changed his fullbacks due to various reasons such as form, injuries and suspensions, resulting in instability.
Inacio Miguel Joins Kaizer Chiefs
— Kaizer Chiefs (@KaizerChiefs) August 21, 2024
Kaizer Chiefs have secured the services of Angolan international, Inacio Miguel Ferreira dos Santos from Petro de Luanda, one of the biggest Clubs in his homeland.
Welcome to the Kaizer Chiefs Family!#WelcomeMiguel #Amakhosi4Life #AlwaysHome pic.twitter.com/bNH6kdkwgW
With the game now modernised, fullbacks are playing as wing-backs to help in attack. So Nabi will need a solid and stable defensive unit.
That at least eight defenders could play in central defence augurs well for Nabi’s plans, and he’d have used the pre-season camps to work on various combinations.
And if he needs more examples to back up Ferguson’s philosophy, he need not look beyond the class of his predecessor Stuart Baxter between the 2012 and 2015 campaigns.
Chiefs arguably had the best defensive five in the land, from Khune and fullbacks Tsepo Masilela and Siboniso Gaxa, to centre-backs Eric Mathoho and Tefu Mashamaite or Morgan Gould.
Of course, while the quintet were the best in the land and Bafana Bafana regulars, they still needed replacements who could fit in whenever they were not there.
So, Nabi must use the last remaining weeks of pre-season to work on a strong first team and cover, and then release players he won’t need.
After all, there’s still the matter of making space for Miguel in the squad as the club is unable to register him, having exhausted its foreign quota.
Dove and Ditlhokwe are both registered as foreigners and can play centrally and wide – attributes that Miguel, who has a wealth of domestic and continental experience, possesses as well.