The new COACH of Kaizer Chiefs, Fernando da Cruz, has come out publicly saying that with the squad he currently has, he will not be able to fight for the title of the Betway Premiership.
Da Cruz said this at a press conference after the Toyota Cup match, which Chiefs won 1-0 thanks to Mfundo “Obrigado” Vilakazi’s goal against Scotland FC of Zimbabwe, on Sunday, at the Royal Bafokeng Stadium, Rustenburg.
“At the moment, no,” said Da Cruz when asked if his team is ready to fight for the league title.
“We still have to strengthen our squad by adding attacking players. Once we do that, we will have a sufficient squad, and that’s when we will be able to see if we will be able to fight for the league title and do well in the Caf Confederation Cup.”
We are working with the management to find those who will strengthen our attacking side and add different ways of playing.”
Even before this Toyota Cup warm-up game for the start of the season, Da Cruz had revealed that the team still needs to strengthen in the front four, andhe wants a striker, two midfielders, and an attacking midfielder.
“At the back we are much better. We have a good structure to cover the back. What we need now is to strengthen the way we attack. This is the side we are still working hard to improve on.
This game (on Sunday) gave us a good opportunity to prepare for our first game of the Betway Premiership season, on Saturday.”
The French coach reveals that he is going to strengthen the attack, this team from Soweto is left with the right wing player, Glody Lilepo, who has released him to try greener pastures overseas.
The striker, Khanyisa Mayo, who recently signed full time as he was loaned to this team by CR Belouizdad from Algeria last season, is still injured.
On the other hand, it seems unclear about the player of the side, Langelihle Phili, who is on the books of Stellenbosch FC and it appears that he is wanted by the Naturena team.
Amakhosi will open the 2026/2027 Betway Premiership season with an away match against the host team Kruger United on Saturday, at Mbombela Stadium, Nelspruit, on Saturday at 8.15pm.