Motaungs warned that Kaizer Chiefs are 'bound to have problems' because of Cedric Kaze and Khalil Ben Youssef as Mfundo Vilakazi & Mduduzi Shabalala will 'learn the hard way'

Former Kaizer Chiefs goalkeeper Brian Baloyi has claimed a co-coaching structure will not work for the Premier Soccer League heavyweights, who are under the leadership of the Motaung family.

To Baloyi, Kaze and Ben Youssef, being equal in the coaching structure will only breed confusion, which is not good for players, especially the young ones.

“For me, it is evident [lack of leadership]; you can see early in the game one coach is in charge, and then later on another one takes over,” Baloyi said on the Soccer Beat podcast.

“This affects the players. For me, the club needs to make a decision on who is in charge. Even between the two of them, decide who is the head and who is the assistant. As long as you have this co-coaching thing, there are different messages going to the players. 

"When you understand leadership, you will understand that players, and people in general, no matter the environment, respond differently to a leader. Now, when you have two leaders in an organisation with the same power, you are bound to have problems. The youngsters will learn the hard way.”

Baloyi's assessment of the Chiefs' coaches differs from that of former Mamelodi Sundowns star Phelelani Mpangase, who tipped the two to succeed.

"Let me be honest, after the coach [Nabi] left, Chiefs have been doing well in terms of trying to win games because, if you look, they weren’t winning games before," Mpangase told KickOff.

"Rather, they were drawing games, but now you can see that these other coaches are giving Chiefs players a little bit more freedom, which helps the team win games."

Mpangase listed players who are livelier compared to when Nabi was in charge. 

"Look at Mfundo Vilakazi; he expresses himself when he gets a chance. Mduduzi Shabalala has been doing very well; he has been exceptional. They are playing well now."

"The coaches are giving them that freedom. Look at [Dillan] Solomons; it's the same Solomons we saw at [Moroka] Swallows, who plays up and down and shows a lot of creativity."

"I believe that, slowly but surely, players are coming back. They are gaining their confidence again, and overall, I think they are doing well," he concluded.

As Baloyi and Mpangase differ on which coaching structure is better for Chiefs, the Soweto giants have been ruled out of the PSL race.

Kaze and Ben Youssef's dream is to successfully guide Chiefs to win trophies, including the Confederation Cup, and defend the Nedbank Cup. Top of their agenda is also to go for the PSL title, which will mean they must give Orlando Pirates and Sundowns a run for their money in the title race. 

However, former Bucs captain Happy Jele thinks Sundowns, Pirates, and Sekhukhune United have better chances to win the league title than Chiefs.

"For me, as now, I think there are three teams that contend for the league. Orlando Pirates, Sundowns, and Sekhukhune never take it away because they've been doing well," Jele said.

"Kaizer Chiefs, they are not inconsistent the way they're playing, but Sekhukhune, they catch the points here and there, and they are a team to disturb. But these two teams are the ones that are competing for the league,” the 38-year-old added.

“Sundowns are playing well at this time, even though they are not consistent, but they can grind out points. Pirates are doing well. We're hoping that this consistent Orlando Pirates can make them win the league,” he added.

Amakhosi are fifth on the PSL standings and will play against TS Galaxy on Sunday before the league takes a break ahead of the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) finals.