Kaizer Chiefs are taking stock following the 4-0 thrashing they received against Mamelodi Sundowns on Saturday.
With Amakhosi now remaining in two competitions, including the upcoming Nedbank Cup, they are currently sitting in eighth spot on the PSL table, a massive 14 points behind leaders Orlando Pirates. Though, they have two games in hand.
READ: Chiefs In Hot Water With The PSL Again
Sundowns are within touching distance, being six points behind Pirates and if they win their game in hand against Polokwane City on Wednesday night then they could reduce the gap further.
With no games to play until after the international break, Chiefs have bigger concerns to contemplate in the next three weeks. In the past, Amakhosi made it clear that in the January transfer window they primarily need to sign a striker and a winger, as reported by Soccer Laduma.
Siya sources have now indicated that the Sundowns 'lesson' in the Carling Knockout quarter-final has sparked discussions at the club about which other departments may need bolstering.
Insiders at the club added that head coach Nasreddine Nabi and management are believed to be looking for strong right-back and left-back cover. The sources stated that this problem wasn't just against Sundowns but also in the league defeat against SuperSport United.
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"There was a post match meeting on Saturday after the game where the problems were identified and discussed and two of them were at left back and right back where the technical team felt the goals conceded came from those sides, mainly in the first half. That's why they had to make changes when they brought in Dillan Solomons for Reeve Frosler. They are working on it as they feel Bradley Cross is good going forward and they are looking at how they can bring in Bongani Sam as well to help on the left as Bradley is better when attacking. That's the problem they identified in the game against Sundowns," the insider stated.
However, despite identifying these problems in their loss to Sundowns, a second insider believes that Chiefs won't be looking at signing new players in those departments in January.
"It's a problem they are looking to solve with the players in the team already. They won't be signing any new left back or right back. It could just be changing the style and system of play. They believe they will look into that solution during this long break and when they come back then things could look different with the starting line-up. But they first will work on the problem in friendly games during the break and see what works better than how the team performed against Sundowns," the second Siya source stated.
Soccer Laduma contacted Chiefs for comment, but there was no response at the time of preparing this report.
As Chiefs use the long break to address their defensive issues, the focus will be on optimising the current squad rather than signing new players. Fans will be eager to see how these adjustments impact the team's performance when they return to action.
As for Sundowns, they have actually had a good start, having won five out of six PSL matches, with the uncharacteristic result being the 1-0 loss against Polokwane City recently.
Interestingly, this is the very same team the Brazilians are playing in the Betway Premiership on Wednesday, which is quite unusual to play the same opponent in the league in a short space of time when half the PSL fixtures are not close to being reached yet.
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