Junior Khanye Names Chiefs Players He Believes Are Not Good Enough

Former Kaizer Chiefs player and iDiski TV analyst Junior Khanye has questioned head coach Fernando Da Cruz’s decision not to start Lebohang Maboe in the club’s CAF Confederation Cup defeat to Red Arrows.

Chiefs were eliminated from the competition after losing 3-2 on penalties in Durban on Friday, following a 1-0 defeat in the first leg in Zambia. Bradley Cross scored for Amakhosi in the second leg, levelling the aggregate score and forcing the tie into a shootout, where the South African side failed to secure qualification.

The result ended Chiefs’ hopes of reaching the group stage and marked their first failure to progress to that phase in two seasons. It also extended their winless run across all competitions to seven matches.

Maboe, who had missed several matches through injury, including the first leg, was introduced as a second-half substitute. He played 17 minutes before missing a penalty in the shootout.

Khanye questioned why Da Cruz included Maboe in the match-day squad but did not select him in the starting line-up, arguing that his availability as a substitute raised questions about whether he could have started.

“I was surprised to see Maboe on the team list why didn’t he start him and [opted to] start Mthethwa?” Khanye said on iDiski TV.

He added that if Maboe was fit enough to feature after the break, the coach should have considered using him from the beginning instead of Sibongiseni ‘Ox’ Mthethwa.

Khanye also raised concerns about other selection decisions, referring to previous experiments involving Reeve Frosler and Thulani Mabaso. He suggested that the team’s performances reflected limitations in the squad.

The analyst was particularly critical of Chiefs’ midfield and attacking options, questioning the contributions of Pule Mmodi and expressing disappointment with Mthethwa, Faiz Abrahams and Inacio Miguel.

“The coach believes in the likes of [Pule] Mmodi who I don’t think gives the team anything,” he said.

Khanye went on to argue that some of the players being relied upon were not good enough for the club, although those comments represent his personal assessment rather than an established judgement of their abilities.

Chiefs now face further pressure to address their poor run of results after their continental campaign ended at the preliminary stage. Da Cruz’s team selection, the squad’s depth and the club’s ability to turn around their form are likely to remain subjects of discussion among supporters and analysts.

Source: https://x.com/idiskitimes/status/2114666404087484916?s=46

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