Nabi unfazed by Kaizer Chiefs’ pre-season loss to Vitesse in Dutch tour opener

Kaizer Chiefs coach Nasreddine Nabi is not concerned about the results in their training matches on their tour of The Netherlands, as long as they meet their objectives.

Chiefs began their training matches in Gelderland, in the east of the country, with a 2-1 defeat to Vitesse at a sold-out RKSV Driel Stadion on Tuesday night. Amakhosi had taken the lead through Reeve Frosler in the first half, but an own goal from Dillan Solomons and a late strike by Andy Visser resulted in the loss.

Nabi, however, speaking to Chiefs’ official website, said he was unfazed by the result, adding that he was “happy with what I saw on the pitch”.

Chiefs are currently on their Dutch tour as they prepare for what is expected to be a challenging season, with the club eager to atone for last season’s shortcomings. Amakhosi lifted the Nedbank Cup but missed out on the Carling Knockout and finished ninth in the Betway Premiership.

As such, they must improve across all fronts next season and aim to challenge for every available trophy — including the CAF Confederation Cup.

“It’s all about the objectives we have set out for our pre-season,” said Nabi of what the team hopes to achieve in the Netherlands.

“We trained very hard in the last few days, which was physically tough for the players. So, I am not really worried about the result of this pre-season training match.”

Nabi was also impressed by the composition of the Vitesse team, particularly their approach in the second half — a useful reference point for the type of football Chiefs may encounter on the continent.

“Vitesse played very aggressively in the second half,” he said. “Too aggressively, I felt.

“However, that was also a good lesson for our players — learning how to deal with this kind of aggressive display from an opponent.”

Chiefs will certainly need to take such lessons on board as they prepare to juggle domestic and continental commitments in the new season. To that end, Nabi has left nothing to chance, bringing most of his squad to camp, including several youngsters and new arrivals.

The notable new signings in camp include Ethan Chislett, Nkanyiso Shinga, Flávio Silva and Thabiso Monyane. Siphesihle Ndlovu and Paseka Mako are notable absentees — the former having only recently joined the club, while the latter is sidelined with an injury.

“It’s more about seeing all the players in action and trying out different formations,” explained the Tunisia-born coach. “We controlled the game in the first half and could even perhaps have scored one or two more goals.”

Nabi will hope his charges are more clinical when they face FC Utrecht in their second pre-season match on Friday (kick-off 4pm), at a venue yet to be confirmed. The 59-year-old coach must surely admire Frosler’s ability to take his chances when pushing forward, with the full-back scoring a thunderbolt in the first half.

Frosler is expected to play an integral role in Chiefs’ structure next season, having been sorely missed towards the end of the last campaign after dislocating his shoulder. The Gqeberha-born footballer spent much of the off-season regaining full fitness at the club’s High Performance Centre at Chiefs Village and is clearly thrilled to be back on the pitch.

Reflecting on his goal against Vitesse, Frosler said: “I got the ball, someone said, ‘shoot’, and I thought, ‘okay, let’s do it’.”