Kaizer Chiefs’ new assistant coach Cedric Kaze has some staggering stats to be proud of so far in his young career.
The perfect assistant for Kaizer Chiefs?
Cedric Kaze was unbeaten with Yanga for 21 matches, including 17 in the league and four outings in the Mapinduzi Cup. The new man in the Chiefs dugout knows what it takes to take the reins at a big club after serving as head coach of Young Africans for five months. Kaze steered them to their first Mapinduzi Cup win in three years. Ex-Yanga striker Yusuph Athuman has highlighted Kaze’s ability to keep clean sheets as a major strength.
“He excels at organising defences and would be a valuable asset in that role. As head coach of Yanga, his teams consistently maintained clean sheets and were known to be strong defensively,” Athuman told FarPost.
“Even when he was coaching Namungo after leaving Yanga, the Yanga of last season that would easily score five goals in one game toiled to get a win over him. They scored a last-gasp winner and won 1-0 in that fixture.”
49 unbeaten, just like a legendary Arsenal side
Kaze and Nasreddine Nabi have won six trophies together. In 2021-2022, Yanga conceded a miserly tally of eight goals in the league. In the following campaign, they went on an unbeaten streak which stretched their record to 49 matches without a defeat. The Tanzanian Invincibles. Tanzanian analyst Salum Pelembo reiterated Kaze’s defensive prowess:
“Kaze’s Yanga were very strong defensively and difficult to break down,” Pelembo said.
“That’s why they went 17 games unbeaten under Kaze. I’m sure Nabi will assign him to work on the defence, and he’ll definitely improve them.”
Nabi bemoans the lack of VAR
Chiefs trailed 2-0 to Magesi before a quick-fire Mduduzi Shabalala brace salvaged a point for the visiting Glamour Boys. Amakhosi boss Nabi lamented the official’s failure to award his side a spot-kick when Wandile Duba appeared to be fouled in the box. Via The Citizen:
“Obviously we are very disappointed, but we have to talk about how the officials are officiating the game,” Nabi told SuperSport TV after the match.
“We believe it is more than time that VAR comes into this beautiful league. We strongly believe it was a penalty on Duba. Everyone has seen the images.
“The second goal they scored, it was a free kick for us, but it becomes a free kick for them and gives them their second goal.”
“I don’t want to put pressure on the referees, they are human and they make mistakes. But I urge the body of the league to bring in VAR to help the referees. We feel we are being punished in every game.”
Is Kaze going to be a huge success at Naturena?
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