Can Lazarous come back to life at Chiefs?

Some 20 months after joining Kaizer Chiefs for a reported R3 million, Lazarous Kambole sits on just one goal scored for Amakhosi. In his final two-and-a-half years at ZESCO United, the Zambian attacker had netted a massive 51 goals, including 14 in the CAF Champions League and Confederation Cup combined. He was expected to score regularly at the Naturena-based club, but to say things have not gone according to plan would be an understatement. In the bible, the parable of Lazarus of Bethany is well-known, where Jesus restored him to life four days after his death. But can Lazarous Kambole’s fortunes be resurrected at Kaizer Chiefs? Or is it time for the Soweto giants to cut their losses? Most importantly, where has it all gone wrong? In this feature, Soccer Laduma investigates.

Style of play

When signing a player, particularly a forward, it is crucial for teams to look at how that player’s own strengths and style of play suit those of the club he is joining. If we look at the style of play of Lazarous Kambole, then we see a player who has speed and finishing ability but is not very good in the air. The style of play that would least suit him is one where a direct, long ball game is used. At the time of Kaizer Chiefs signing him, Ernst Middendorp was playing fast-flowing football with lots of pressing and lightning fast counter-attacks.

In theory, that style of play should suit Kambole perfectly. His energy and speed would suit a game where high pressing is used to win the ball and then spring the forward into space left by a disorganised opponent. Unfortunately for the Zambian, Middendorp had used his wide network to find Samir Nurkovic. Not only did that mean more competition for a place but also that the German coach completely changed his way of playing to maximise the Serbian striker. When Leonardo Castro came back to pre-season and impressed, therefore being removed from the transfer list and reintegrated into the plans, Kambole had to compete with two giant target men in a team playing long ball football! There was a big discrepancy between the striker’s own style of play and that being used by the club.

Middendorp shoehorned him wide

With two strikers in Nurkovic and Castro who were ideal for the new style of play, Kambole was given game-time in a variety of wider and deeper roles. Middendorp certainly gave the then 25-year-old a proper chance in the side straight after his arrival. In the first 10 league matches of the 2019/20 season, Kambole started eight of those. For comparison, he has only started one out of 17 league matches so far under Gavin Hunt.

The problem was that Middendorp mostly used Kambole in a wide role, and occasionally either on the right or at the top of a midfield diamond. Although the Zambian has great pace, he does not have much skill or ability in one-versus-one situations to beat his man on the flanks. He will usually try to use his speed to get on the outside, but then he doesn’t have a particularly good crossing ability to find someone like Nurkovic in the box. Whilst he can play wide to some degree, he would ideally look to cut inside onto his right foot to shoot, but he was mostly used as a right winger where he couldn’t do that.

Playing in a wide role also required that Kambole drops back to defend against some of the PSL’s more adventurous fullbacks. He certainly didn’t show the requisite defensive awareness to cover his teammate on the flank either. With Kaizer Chiefs not really possessing wingers in their squad, it was Kambole who paid the price by having to get shifted out there to cover. Had the club recruited better and not left such an imbalanced squad with no genuine wide men, Kambole wouldn’t keep being put out on the touchline.

What do the stats say?

If we dive into the data to try to get a better picture of why the striker is struggling, then perhaps a solution can be found or we can draw further conclusions on his struggles.

Minutes

Firstly, if we look at how many opportunities he has received, it is clear that he simply has not played all that much. Last season, he only played 842 minutes in total across the entire campaign. Having made those initial starts under Middendorp, he then went four months where he played a total of 57 minutes across 13 league matches! He was completely out of favour and looked to almost have been written off by the coach. To be fair, the side were winning and scoring goals for fun, so it is hard to criticise that decision!

This season, he has received just 442 minutes in 25 matches in all competitions (before Tuesday’s game against Horoya), an average of less than 18 minutes per match. Without him being on the pitch, he will never turn around his Chiefs career. Hunt has often left him out of the squad completely despite nine subs now being allowed on the bench.

Shooting

If we look at the forward’s finishing, we see that he has managed just 29 shots since joining the Soweto giants, with only nine of those hitting the target! Of course, he won’t score goals with so few shots taken, although he is managing a shot every 44 minutes of football he plays. If he got more games, he would have more shots and have a better chance of scoring.

Aerial ability and dribbling

If we look at how Kambole has competed in the air in Chiefs’ direct game, we can see why he isn’t suited to that style and possibly why Middendorp stopped selecting him. He has competed in 74 aerial duels for Amakhosi, winning 22 of those, a success rate of around 30%. Even the top strikers won’t usually win more than half of their challenges against tall centre-backs, but this number is a bit too low for Kambole. He can hardly be blamed. He is around five foot, six inches tall, so is never going to be suited to long ball football.

In terms of dribbling, Kambole has completed 56% of 32 dribbles. He isn’t particularly good at manipulating the ball when he has a fullback isolated and often doesn’t get past his man.

The Nedbank Cup Last 32 produced tons of exciting action, with Kaizer Chiefs given a shock of their lives by GladAfrica Championship side Richards Bay FC, who booted them out of the competition with a 2-1 score line to book a spot in the next round. Orlando Pirates and Mamelodi Sundowns did not have it easy in their respective encounters but did enough to progress and give themselves a chance of lifting the title. After beating Stellenbosch FC in a five-goal thriller, the Tshwane giants now take on lower division side Polokwane City, while the Buccaneers, who beat Uthongathi FC to put their name in the hat for the Last 16, travel to meet struggling Maritzburg United. Early season pacesetters Swallows FC have a tricky away clash against the improving Tshakhuma Tsha Madzivhandila FC, while Benni McCarthy’s high-flying AmaZulu will fancy their chances of reaching the quarterfinals when they take on troubled Black Leopards in Thohoyandou. No matter what happens, it will no doubt be a round filled with all the drama football supporters love to see. Soccer Laduma’s Tshepang Mailwane previews this weekend’s matches.

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