With Kaizer Chiefs looking to bring in Nasreddine Nabi as their coach, some insight has been given into who he is and the type of players he wants to have, including a goalkeeper who is comfortable with having the ball at his feet.
As revealed by the Siya crew, Amakhosi are looking at the possibility of bringing in the Tunisian born coach as a replacement for head coach Arthur Zwane, who struggled in his first season as head coach of the Soweto giants.
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According to Salum Pelembo, a sports analyst for Magic FM and Channel 10 in Tanzania, Nabi is a no-nonsense coach who likes possession football.
"Nabi is possession based. He plays passes from the back. That's why whenever he comes to a team, his first option is to have a ball playing goalkeeper. He needs a goalkeeper who can start play from the back and is confident on the ball. He plays with short passes, but he is also committed to having players who are able to run into spaces," Pelembo said to the Siya crew.
"At Young Africans, he played a lot with a 4-2-3-1, with a double pivot, having a box-to-box midfielder. He had three creative midfielders and Fiston Mayele used to play upfront. But he is versatile. He used to change, according to the game plan and nature of the game, so sometimes he opted play with three central defenders, especially in continental football, where he met teams that needed him to adjust. You can say he is a coach who can change his game plan on what his team needs."
Nabi is a typical North African coach who likes to have an organised defence.
"He can create a good defensive line-up. At Young Africans, they conceded very few goals if you tally the two seasons. He likes players with a lot of work rate. He can suit the modern style. In midfield, he likes to have someone who is a tempo controller. At Young Africans, he used Khalid Aucho. He is a player who joins the central defence when building up. He picks up the ball and passes it to the number eight. He needs a midfielder who is comfortable and is able to press when the opponents attack. He wants a midfielder who is hard working."
A player Nabi could enjoy working with is Ranga Chivaviro, who has been linked with Amakhosi. Pelembo has explained why Nabi would probably work well with Chivaviro.
"He likes strikers who can do link-ups. If you look at Fiston (Mayele), he is not static. He moves around the pitch and can join other players in the midfield and link up with them. He scores goals from different positions. If you want me to give you a good example, then Ranga Chivaviro is the type of striker he wants. If you look at the profile of Ranga and Fiston, they do not differ much. He wants a guy who can bully defenders.
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According to Pelembo, Nabi is a no-nonsense coach who is not afraid to have a go at his players in the media, if they have not performed well.
"He is a no-nonsense coach. He is very straight forward. He does not worry about giving his opinion and he might get into quarrels with South Africans. When he says no, it's a no. He is able to confront players in front of the press. He can tell you why he took off a player early. But he can talk to players well. He is a father. You need to look at the messages of the players on social media and you can see that he is a father. Another thing about him is that he likes youth. They need to give him time and adapt to his style and way of doing things. He is not a guy who likes it when the leaders of the team sign players (without consulting him). I've seen stories that they (Chiefs) have already signed some players."
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