“He [Giovanni] told us his philosophy and how he wants us to play on and off the ball‚” Khune said. “We struggled a bit under coach Steve because a lot of us couldn’t adjust to what he wanted from us as players.”
Itumeleng Khune expressed optimism that the players will adjust well to the tactics of new Kaizer Chiefs coach Giovanni Solinas after admitting to having found it difficult to understand the methods of previous boss Steve Komphela.
After three barren seasons‚ there is a renewed hope at Amakhosi after the appointment of Solinas last Friday. After a long wait‚ the management finally hired the Italian‚ who has only two weeks to prepare the team before the start of the new season.
The Bafana Bafana number one feels it is a must that Chiefs find success under the new mentor for the current crop to avoid going down in the annals of history as the worst bunch of players the club has ever had.
“We have to go back to winning trophies‚” Khune said. “That is our culture. We as players told ourselves that we do not want to be remembered as the generation that broke the record of not winning trophies.”
Solinas got the chance to see his players in action for the first time at the weekend when they clinched the Bokone Bophirima Maize Cup in Orkney.
All eyes were on Chiefs’ new 50-year-old tactician who watched from the stands at James Motlatsi Stadium. Khune concedes that the last three campaigns have been a nightmare they just couldn’t wake up from.
“The team has been under pressure for the last three seasons‚” he said. “We just need to win trophies for the club. For the past three seasons, we haven’t been celebrating.”
Marquee signing Khama Billiat has made Khune even more hopeful that the drought will soon be over. “He [Billiat] is a great player who finds the spaces and capitalises.
“He used to give us a tough time when we played Sundowns and hopefully he will bring that to the club‚” Khune joked. “We will manage to find him with those quality passes so that he can punish other clubs.”
Source: Times Live
