Chiefs’ prospects brighter, but crossroads still loom, future uncertain

Win or lose the Soweto derby on Saturday, and even if Kaizer Chiefs wrap up third place by late May, they seem, despite real improvement in 2025-26, set to be confronted with yet another crossroads on the arduous path out of a deep hole of underachievement come the end of the season.

Young co-coaches Khalil Ben Youssef, 37, and Cedric Kaze, 46, have outdone themselves since graduating from their assistant roles after the departure of Nasreddine Nabi in September.

Nabi, the 60-year-old Tunisian compatriot of Ben Youssef — Kaze is Burundian — to his credit took a huge weight off Naturena by bringing the club’s first trophy in 2024-25, lifting the Nedbank Cup with a 2-1 final win that came, satisfyingly for Amakhosi, against Orlando Pirates.

He never got Chiefs flowing, though, evidenced by their ninth-place finish — one better than the previous campaign’s 10^th — in the Betway Premiership at the end of Nabi’s first season.

Ben Youssef and Kaze have to a far greater degree, in terms of the team’s freedom to play and ability to rack up consistent results on the field. That is why — having even led the league at some stage in the opening half, though any outside title chance dissipated when the bottom fell out with three league defeats in a row in February — they are in third spot with six games to play.

Helped by the quality of academy products having improved amid the revamp of recent years, the club’s ambition in signings improving since Kaizer Motaung Jr became sporting director in 2021, the co-coaches have restored Chiefs, for now, to at least resembling a ‘big three’ club.

Chiefs had no real place sustaining a league title challenge. Eight-time successive champions Sundowns’ stratospheric ambitions, ruling domestically and competing internationally, have only been properly challenged by Pirates this season. It came after years of ambitious signings by Bucs, painstakingly putting together a squad that could genuinely challenge mega-wealthy Downs and finishing runners-up, but by large margins, in the last two campaigns.

In contrast, Amakhosi have spent most of the last decade endlessly rebuilding, signing some good players but too many who weren’t, the same with coaches, and tearing up squads when they failed.

Ben Youssef and Kaze remain officially caretaker-coaches. Neither has won a trophy. Come the end of the season, even if they clinch third place, which would be Chiefs’ best finish since ending runners-up under Ernst Middendorp in 2019-20, Amakhosi have to decide which way to go on their bench this off-season.

Do they allow another building season under the inexperienced duo? Do they capitalise on the platform laid and splash out on a genuinely big name who might truly be able to restore Chiefs as a force?

Ben Youssef, who put the slump in February down to major injuries, ahead of Sunday’s derby at FNB Stadium (3.30pm) was at pains to point to the progress made, first under Nabi and now the co-coaches, and the benefits that could be reaped from continuing the process. Selflessly, by show or genuine intent, he expressed satisfaction that even if a new coach comes, a stronger foundation has been laid.

“Orlando Pirates have been fighting for the PSL title for four or five seasons. It was them pushing Sundowns, even if the gap was a bit big in the last few years, but we see this where now they are leading the league,” the Tunisian said.

“For us, I think that the project we come from, from last season where we said we were building the team, it’s not magic. It’s not one day you come and you change everything. We are building.

“The first thing we discussed last season was to win a trophy, to come back to Africa, and we did it [reaching the Confederation Cup by winning the Nedbank]. The second thing was we had to build a team that in a season or two seasons could come back to fighting for the PSL. I think this season, coming from 10th [in 2023-24] or ninth position to third, is a huge improvement.

“And there are stats — if you compare the goals we conceded with the goals we scored, the number of games won and lost, from last season to this season it’s a huge improvement. I think we have made it easier now for the team for next season, whether we are there or not there.

“The team is there, the structure is there. And I think from next season the team will start to fight to win the league. For us, we think only about our performance, we don’t have any pressure. Every press conference we repeat the same thing: that we are managing each game, whether it’s a cup game [or league game], we have to win.

“When we are in the best moments [and condition] where the players are ready, we know we will win the game. The most important thing is our players must be ready, mentally, physically and technically and tactically for Sunday to win the game [the derby].

“If we are ready we don’t care about the opponent’s team. Yes, we respect all the teams but to be honest we think only about ourselves.”

Ultimately, the decision on who takes Chiefs forward might be made partly by aiming to be sensible. Playing the long game seems best when Amakhosi have fallen so far, even fans are impatient for more trophies soon. Ben Youssef and Kaze might be given another year to solidify their combination, preferably with more signings to address depth issues such as those in February.

It might also be financial. Chiefs have, for better or worse, generally tended to opt for the more affordable option in coaching staff rather than attract Africa’s biggest names, or a younger coach with real potential from Europe.

It’s a tricky crossroads. For such an illustrious institution in South African sport, one can only hope, whichever choice is made continues the desperately needed upward trend at Naturena.