Khune demands consistency from Kaizer Chiefs

Kaizer Chiefs captain and goalkeeper Itumeleng Khune has revealed that their objective is to strive for consistency and win as many games as possible in the second half of the season. 

The Soweto giants are one point behind log leaders SuperSport United, and Khune feels they should have been far ahead in terms of points had they not dropped points unnecessarily in the first round. 

Chiefs collected a mere 24 points from their first 15 league games, and Khune admitted that it wasn't the start they were looking for. 

“We want to start the season the way we ended 2016. So, it’s very vital that every match we’re going to play‚ we play to win‚” Khune told the media.

“In the first round we really struggled to win matches we should have. We kept on drawing. We could have been much further with points‚ but we dropped points unnecessarily, but now‚ I think with the six-week break, we’ve had a chance to work on a lot of things; things like finishing – something we were lacking,” he said. 

“But our strikers came back with the right frame of mind‚ and you can see they’re eager and hungry to score more goals, because if you look at the scoring charts‚ none of our strikers are there. Our top scorers are a defender - Lorenzo Gordinho and [winger] George Lebese. So, we really need to pull up our socks going into the second half of the season,” he said.

Khune weighed in on the arrival of new signing Gustavo Paez, who was unveiled at the club's headquarters on Thursday.

He believes the Venezuelan forward will help solve Amakhosi's goalscoring problems going into the second round of the season despite his questionable record from his previous teams. 

Khune added that the 26-year-old frontman will not only bring a new dimension to the current setup, but also keep other strikers within the team on their toes. 

“I’m very impressed. Everyone is impressed with him. He’s very mobile‚ he’s very hungry in front of goal‚” Khune said of Paez.

“He’s been scoring a lot of goals for us in friendly matches‚ hence the club rewarded him with a contract.”

“It’s a new dimension into the team. He will really help us in scoring, but he will also push other strikers into scoring. So, I think Gustavo upfront‚ Lewis Macha‚ Bernard Parker – who was doing well before we closed as well – will really help us with all the combinations of our strikers,” Khune added.