Kaizer Chiefs started the season brightly, with their forwards converting chances and instilling hope for an improved campaign.
However, as the season moved on, the team has struggled to score, often missing clear-cut opportunities in critical games.
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Sources close to the club have indicated that mounting pressure from poor results has significantly affected the confidence and form of Chiefs' strikers and midfielders. Both management and the technical team have analysed the situation and identified this as a key factor behind the dip in performances.
"It is pressure. That's what I can tell you. There is a lot of pressure which takes confidence away. At the start of the season they started well and they were confident that they can do it. But when the team started losing games the main pressure was on the strikers and midfielders and that affected their confidence and their performances in games went down. That's the main problem. Pressure and lack of confidence," the Siya source stated.
A second insider stated that the issue has been addressed internally, with the focus on providing support to the forwards in particular.
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"It's a problem that everyone at the club saw and they had to address it. They saw that the strikers are losing confidence with each passing game and that's because of the pressure they have. You see if the strikers would score all the chances we create then we would not be where we are. The defence concedes, yes, but the opposition has less chances than us. So if we were having that confidence in front of goal we could be winning even by 4-1, or so, even if we concede. The problem is a lack of confidence because of the pressure which comes from losing games which we could have easily won," the second insider told the Siya crew.
Chiefs now turn their attention to their high-profile match in the Nedbank Cup semi-finals on Sunday, against a formidable Mamelodi Sundowns side, who have already defeated Amakhosi three times this season—once in the Carling Knockout and twice in the league.
