Frosler not concerned by defensive record
KAIZER Chiefs will play their second home game this season at the Moses Mabhida Stadium when they welcome Chippa United today at 5.30pm.
Amakhosi are in their best period in terms of form under coach Arthur Zwane.
However, their unrelenting and expansive brand of football has cost them dearly on a number of occasions defensively.
Zwane’s men have conceded 11 goals in the opening 10 games – that’s an average of a goal a game for Amakhosi and an incredibly worrying stat for a side with high ambitions.
Reeve Frosler, who is in his third year with the club, has downplayed their defensive record, revealing that the main cause of their high concession rate is their own frailties, which they aim to iron out ahead of their fixture with Chippa.
“Obviously as a defender, you want to keep a clean sheet and sometimes it just doesn’t happen for you but as long as we keep scoring on the other end then we’re gonna win the game,” he said at a media briefing.
“Ideally, yes we want to keep a clean sheet but if you look at the type of goals we’re conceding, it’s goals we have let in, it’s not a case of the team playing really well and breaking us down to score.
“It’s still a work in progress for us to keep getting better and once we get the first clean sheet, hopefully we can build on that moving forward.”
Edmilson Dove, who delivered consecutive man of the match performances, echoed his teammate’s feelings and re-emphasised the importance of learning through this period.
“In life you’re constantly learning and it’s important for us that we treat this as a learning experience and we make sure that we grow from it.”
Dove has arguably made the biggest impact (alongside Yusuf Maart) of the 10 players brought in at the beginning of the 2022/2023 campaign, solidifying his spot as the leftsided centre back partner to Zitha Kwinika.
The 28-year-old’s introduction, as well as that of Itumeleng Khune in goals, has coincided with a rich vein of form for the club.
However Dove waved away claims of him and Khune being the reason for the team’s good performances.
“All the goalkeepers that we have in the team have quality and leadership,” he explained.
“It’s very easy for people to point fingers at a specific individual when things aren’t going right and this is not the case.
“This is a team thing and I hope we can continue to grow as a team because that’s what matters the most.”