Kaizer Chiefs coach Nasreddine Nabi has taken a “lot of positives” from his side’s pre-season tour of the Netherlands.
Amakhosi lost four and won one of their friendly games, going down 2-1 to Vitesse Arnhem, 4-0 to Utrecht, 1-0 to NEC Nijmegen and 2-1 to FC Twente, while beating PEC Zwolle 1-0.
Nabi used the games to test his team while integrating new players into his squad, and despite the losses, he felt that overall the tour was a benefit to the team.
He told the club’s website: “We saw a lot of positives in our training matches against very strong Dutch opponents. The players have started to understand the way I want them to play and they jell well as a strong unit.”
Nabi added: “Our camp took place in beautiful surroundings. The fields on which we trained were in perfect condition and our opponents were really good. As a result of all this, the pre-season camp was beneficial to everyone.
“One of the conditions of having a good season is having a good pre-season – that’s where the foundation is laid.
“We didn’t only want quality opponents, we also wanted quantity. Parallel with this, we did some tough physical work at training, even doing double-sessions on the day before a match.”
New signings Nkanyiso Shinga, Ethan Chislett, Thabiso Monyane and Flavio Silva all got a chance to impress the Amakhosi head coach, who added: ‘They need to fully jell with the group.
“However, they are all adapting nicely, and they start to understand what I expect from them. Our objective was to sign new players that will bring us to a higher level compared to last season.”