Kaizer Chiefs head coach Arthur Zwane has defended his decision to give youngsters an opportunity to shine, despite the team’s current struggles. The Glamour Boys have suffered back-to-back losses against Sekhukhune United and AmaZulu, and ahead of their big game against Mamelodi Sundowns this weekend, Zwane says he still believes it is the right time to play the youngsters as they plan for the future.
The team lost a key member in defensive midfield when Njabulo Blom was sold to Major League Soccer outfit St. Louis City SC in December last month, and to fill the void, Zwane has slotted in youngster Samkelo Zwane, one of the many academy graduates thrown in at the deep end, including Mduduzi Shabalala and Wandile Duba.
“Football is a game of opportunities you know, we’ve got our senior players who are not available for this game, who have not been available due to injuries and unforeseen circumstances,” Zwane said in a press conference. “And we had to obviously give the young guns the opportunity to express themselves and show their talents and some of them they did grab the opportunity with both hands.”
The coach added that it is inevitable that they will pay the price for fielding youngsters, as they are prone to making mistakes. “You pay the price in terms of the mistakes they commit and obviously the game is the teacher and most of them as you can see they are improving and the more they play, the more they gain experience,” he said.
“We’re in a rebuilding phase, we’re trying to build a way of playing as much as the results are fluctuating but I’ve seen a lot of positive things come out from what we have been doing since the beginning of the season.”
