On Monday, Kaizer Chiefs head coach Arthur Zwane opened up on his decision to give Kamohelo Mahlatsi the benefit of the doubt in the line-up.
Mahlatsi was signed from Swallows in the off-season, but had a difficult start as he battled with injuries. Despite this, Zwane has included Mahlatsi in the line-up for his first start against Golden Arrows and his second successive start in the loss against Sekhukhune United.
In a press conference, Zwane expressed his desire to give players opportunities to prove themselves, so he can know how far is their squad depth. He said, “When it comes to Mahlatsi, we want to give all the players the opportunity because this is a massive team and we want to see which players can deal with the pressure and which players cannot deal with the pressure.”
The coach also acknowledged that Mahlatsi was bound to quickly get tired in the second-half, but praised his performance. He said, “And he was bound to quickly get tired you know, second-half he was a little bit tired but again (against Sekhukhune) for the fact that we created the chance…more or less the goal they scored against us he was in a good position but his first touch let him down.”
Zwane further added that he understands that a player has to be given a fair chance to prove his worth, but it’s up to Mahlatsi to grab his opportunity.
He said, “So I’m happy with him, I was a player myself, so a player does not need only one chance, second chance to prove himself. Unfortunately at some point the competition is stiff, if other players are available… This is a game of opportunities. If you’re given the opportunity you have to grab it with both hands.”
