Kaizer Chiefs coach Gavin Hunt was once again left disappointed as he feels his players are not stepping up.
Despite reaching the CAF Champions League group stages last week, Chiefs’ horror run in the domestic league continued after they lost 0-2 to Maritzburg United at FNB Stadium on Saturday following a second-half brace from Judas Mosemaedi.
Amakhosi have not won a league game since beating Chippa United in October and have now recorded four defeats in nine matches.
Hunt conceded that his players are not showing any signs of improvement in the domestic competitions.
“There have been quite a few changes. There are some new players and there is a great opportunity for some of these players, and they should be taking it, but obviously, the situation is a little bit different,” Hunt said.
In a season in which they were expected to challenge for honours under Hunt, Chiefs have now dropped into the relegation zone.
Asked if their performance against Maritzburg had anything to do with travelling to Angola for their CAF Champions League game in the midweek, Hunt said they wouldn’t use that as an excuse.
“The travelling was not easy but still [it is] no excuse. We could have done better. We had four days [of rest],” Hunt said.
“What we can’t do was to change the team... that is a big problem. But we cannot use that as an excuse. Players have to step up.
“The best thing for us, I think, is to get away from here as well and play outside because we are a little bit better there, but in saying that, we got to be better at home. Our home record is not good.”
What also disappointed Hunt was how they conceded both goals in the second half as he feels they could have defended better.
“The first goal, it was a great ball in the box, but I think we should have headed that ball clear. The second goal was from the throw-in. We had three people around the ball. We’ve got to take responsibility to defend those situations better. Certainly, we can’t be happy about the defence, that’s for sure.”
'Second-half brace exposed our lax defence'
Hunt says Kaizer Chiefs players need to step it up
Kaizer Chiefs coach Gavin Hunt was once again left disappointed as he feels his players are not stepping up.
Despite reaching the CAF Champions League group stages last week, Chiefs’ horror run in the domestic league continued after they lost 0-2 to Maritzburg United at FNB Stadium on Saturday following a second-half brace from Judas Mosemaedi.
Amakhosi have not won a league game since beating Chippa United in October and have now recorded four defeats in nine matches.
Hunt conceded that his players are not showing any signs of improvement in the domestic competitions.
“There have been quite a few changes. There are some new players and there is a great opportunity for some of these players, and they should be taking it, but obviously, the situation is a little bit different,” Hunt said.
In a season in which they were expected to challenge for honours under Hunt, Chiefs have now dropped into the relegation zone.
Asked if their performance against Maritzburg had anything to do with travelling to Angola for their CAF Champions League game in the midweek, Hunt said they wouldn’t use that as an excuse.
“The travelling was not easy but still [it is] no excuse. We could have done better. We had four days [of rest],” Hunt said.
“What we can’t do was to change the team... that is a big problem. But we cannot use that as an excuse. Players have to step up.
“The best thing for us, I think, is to get away from here as well and play outside because we are a little bit better there, but in saying that, we got to be better at home. Our home record is not good.”
What also disappointed Hunt was how they conceded both goals in the second half as he feels they could have defended better.
“The first goal, it was a great ball in the box, but I think we should have headed that ball clear. The second goal was from the throw-in. We had three people around the ball. We’ve got to take responsibility to defend those situations better. Certainly, we can’t be happy about the defence, that’s for sure.”