Malatsi: Chiefs need 11 signings like Phili to turn season around

Former Kaizer Chiefs midfielder Thabiso Malatsi believes Langelihle Phili is the only new arrival to have significantly improved the club’s squad and says Amakhosi would need 11 players of his quality to compete effectively.

Chiefs’ squad depth was tested before their Betway Premiership meeting with Stellenbosch when Lebohang Maboe, Siphesihle Ndlovu and Adolf Bitegeko were all ruled out through injury.

Reeve Frosler was used in midfield as a result, but Chiefs were held to a 1-1 draw.

The club made limited moves in the previous transfer window, with Phili their only marquee signing. Thabo Moloisane, goalkeeper Renaldo Leaner and Bitegeko were also brought in.

Malatsi considers Phili’s injury a particularly damaging setback and feels the other additions have not yet raised the standard of the team.

“Truly speaking, the new signings who were promising are Phili only. You can be a good player coming from other teams but when you arrive at Chiefs, you find that your play does not suit them and you struggle,” Malatsi told KickOff.

“Phili is the only signing that they managed to find, if we can get 11 signings like Phili, then Chiefs can be good. It’s not like I’m criticizing, but what they are playing is not on.

“There are no players there, it is only Phili. Maybe including (Lebohang) Maboe, those are the only two players who looked like they were fighting and they know that Chiefs is not just any team, it’s a big team.

“You must know that ‘I play for the badge and I play for the supporters’. So they are playing for themselves, that is why the results are bad,” Malatsi said.

The former Amakhosi midfielder, who was known as ‘Skapie’, also questioned whether head coach Fernando Da Cruz was the right person to lead the team.

Da Cruz previously worked as Nabi’s assistant, and Malatsi believes Chiefs have not experienced enough of a change in approach since the coaching transition.

“I said it previously that this coach (Fernando Da Cruz) was Nabi’s assistant, so there is not much that was going to change. It’s the same mentality as Nabi, you can see he is running out of ideas, I think they should just release him,” Malatsi said.

Chiefs will face TS Galaxy in the last 16 of the Carling Knockout at FNB Stadium next Tuesday, but Malatsi has little faith in their prospects of progressing.

“My hope is gone, I don’t have any hope,” he said.

“Maybe they can win against TS Galaxy, because TS Galaxy has issues but I don’t trust them anymore, they are really bad.

“I don’t know what’s happening, how can you let go of (Thabo) Cele? Did you see how he has clicked at Sundowns? In two months he already has the best medals. I don’t know what’s happening at Chiefs,” Malatsi added.