How Chiefs can Du better

In Saturday’s Soweto derby, we saw Kaizer Chiefs lead 1-0 and 2-1 thanks to two ruthless finishes from Ashley Du Preez. The big-money signing from Stellenbosch FC has missed big opportunities in recent weeks but we saw the best of him against Orlando Pirates. Considering the large fee paid to acquire his services, are Amakhosi getting the best out of their speed merchant? Why had he only scored one league goal prior to this weekend’s showpiece? Soccer Laduma looks at his general performances since arriving in Naturena and asks if the team and the playing style at large should be built around their attacking talisman.

Recap of last season

When we did our annual Kaizer Chiefs end of season player ratings in May, Ashley Du Preez was given a credible 7.5 out of 10. Big things were expected of him having cost a reported R10 million. By the end of the campaign, he had nine goals to his name and a further five assists. Whilst it felt like a good return, the feeling was that he would build on those returns this season.

Most would agree that he started life slowly in a new environment and with different teammates and a contrasting playing style to adjust to. His first 16 matches yielded just three goals and perhaps concerningly, a mere 27 shots. He was being used as a dribbler in wide areas by Arthur Zwane, which was in contrast to what he was doing before for Steve Barker.

It was only in last February’s Derby where we saw Du Preez excel as a central striker. That move led to a strong second half of the campaign with six goals. Was there a plan to continue that work this term? It doesn’t appear so with Ranga Chivaviro acquired and used in the starting XI in that number nine role under Molefi Ntseki.

This term – creator, not scorer

This campaign has not seen Du Preez cast as a goalscorer. Cavin Johnson bemoaned his missed chances in the 0-0 draw against Royal AM and prior to the Derby, he had played about 1,000 minutes in the DStv Premiership with only one goal to his name!

If we look at Amakhosi’s shot takers this season, someone like Edson Castillo is having 2.4 efforts per 90 minutes on the pitch but Du Preez is stuck at 1.7, the fourth-most in the squad.

In fact, in terms of stats, Du Preez is the side’s most frequent successful dribbler with 1.5 per 90 minutes, even more than players like Pule Mmodi. In terms of creating chances for others, Du Preez has 17 shot assists to his name despite his injuries. Mmodi and Yusuf Maart have 18 chances created each but they’ve played a lot more minutes. But, when it comes to finishing, Du Preez has missed four so-called ‘big chances’ and his overall conversion rate is just 15% of shots to goals.

This can be looked at in two ways. Firstly, he is simply not scoring enough goals, misses big chances and doesn’t tend to shoot enough overall. Or, we can see it as Du Preez having a huge influence on Chiefs’ play even when he isn’t finding the net!

What style would suit Du Preez?

Well, let’s break it down into two scenarios to answer this question. If Du Preez is playing on the wing, he is adept at arriving to finish chances at the back post. So, a game where you focus plenty of attacks down the flanks would make sense.

For example, if Du Preez is playing on the right, using wide interplay down the left with players like Mmodi, Sifiso Hlanti, Happy Mashiane or Keagan Dolly would lead to crosses for Du Preez to attack. It would also draw opponents over to the one side for quick switches out to Du Preez on the opposite flank.

If the speedy forward played in a central role, then a style with high possession numbers would lead to opponents sitting deep and absorbing pressure. In that case, there is no space behind the defensive line for Du Preez to exploit. In order for that space to emerge, Chiefs would need to play on the counter attack. If we look at exactly what a counter is defined as, it relates to your side dropping deep, inviting the opponents to commit numbers, using a compact defensive shape to win the ball in your own half, and then springing between the exposed opponents with early and accurate forward passes.

To do that, you need defenders who can defend their own box, midfielders who can win the ball through interceptions, and a couple of players who can trigger the counter with a pass or by driving with the ball. In Maart, Mduduzi Mdantsane and Dolly and even Nkosingiphile

Ngcobo, there are players who can make longer, killer passes.

We saw exactly that for Amakhosi’s second goal on Saturday. Maart found Mdantsane in space, he found Mmodi and the latter teed up Du Preez to finish into the roof of the net. In summary, Du Preez would have been deadly in Stuart Baxter’s style of play as he was highly competent at coaching a team to play on the break. The supporters grew tired of watching their side defend and have 35-40% of the ball, though, even if Baxter lifted league and cup titles.

One other way to use Du Preez would be to use a large number of players in your own half when building up. You draw the opponents to step up to press you, thereby opening gaps when you change gears and suddenly find penetrative passes. This is more like what Mamelodi Sundowns do, before suddenly finding Peter Shalulile. It can also be seen from teams coached by Maurizio Sarri.

Elephant in the room – do Stellies players fit Chiefs?

We simply have to ask the question whether it makes sense for Chiefs to keep signing players from Stellenbosch. The Winelands club may be moving to a more possession-focused style in recent times but they’re still predominantly a counter attacking team. When you try to move Du Preez from that gameplan to a Chiefs style – where most opposition teams park the bus – it’s not an easy or fast adjustment.

The same applies to Sibongiseni “Ox” Mthethwa. He was used to winning tackles but is now being asked to have twice as many touches of the ball in the build-up phase. Perhaps it would be more logical to acquire players from clubs like Cape Town City, who use a style more resembling that which the players would find at the Naturena-based club!

What Saturday’s stats show

Both of Du Preez’s goals on Saturday came in the first half, the second of which was totally against the run of play. Chiefs only had 36% of the possession before the interval and yet their speed weapon netted twice – highlighting what was said earlier about a transition-based style. Yet in the second stanza, it was 52% of the ball for Amakhosi and they had just one shot: an 89th minute header from Edson Castillo.

With all of that ball, Du Preez still only managed to complete nine successful passes in 96 minutes of play including additional time. He had just 20 touches throughout the fixture and his only two shots were his goals. Across the whole match, Pirates had 27 touches inside Chiefs’ box yet Amakhosi only managed 14 in the Bucs box and a mere five in the second half despite the extra possession share.

In terms of creativity, Pirates were miles ahead. Whilst they only had nine shots compared to seven for Chiefs (no major difference there), Jose Riveiro’s side had seven shots on target and created five ‘clear cut chances’. Four of those were spurned, plus there were two good penalty calls ignored. In reality, Pirates were creating plenty of openings whilst Chiefs lacked ideas and creativity and felt like a “broken” side at times: six players were tasked to defend and the front four all stayed in advanced areas and didn’t help their side to defend nor to connect the departments in possession. We may have seen more Chiefs creativity had Keagan Dolly been available and fully fit, but the playmaker looks a long way off his old self after a knee surgery.

Summary – it can’t be ‘Du or die’ for Glamour Boys

What we have learnt is that Du Preez is a massive weapon for Amakhosi. Opponents must hate playing against him because of his pace, work-rate, personality and ability to dribble, cross the ball to create chances, or run behind the back four.

However, this Amakhosi side is not built to maximise his gifts at all. From week to week, we see Du Preez shunted from the left wing to the right wing to a central striker role. Within matches, he often plays all three positions. We’ve never had the chance to see him alongside a strike partner who could take some of the heat off him. Ironically, a selfless chaos merchant like Evidence Makgopa would work brilliantly alongside Du Preez.

In coming weeks, we will need to look more deeply at whether Chiefs even have a consistent or reliable playing style and what this famed ‘Kaizer Chiefs Way’ even means! Has Cavin Johnson implemented anything new in the three thirds of the pitch, in the different phases of the game (buildup, chance creation, attacking transitions, defensive transitions or set plays) or is it a bit of a jumbled philosophy thus far?