The winds of change have started to blow across Kaizer Chiefs’ Naturena village as the Soweto giants desperately aim to reclaim the glory days of the yesteryear.
Amakhosi have undergone an unprecedented nine seasons without silverware. Many sweeping changes are expected, with a major overhaul of the technical team to drag the Glamour Boys from their misery.
While it remains to be seen which players will remain and who are the expected new faces, Amakhosi’s new head coach is probably the worst-kept secret.
The club is yet to confirm a new head coach appointment, but all signs and media reports point to the Tunisian-born mentor Nasreddine Nabi as the new man for the job.
As Nabi is expected to be accompanied by his own backroom staff, Hollywood Sports takes a look at the mentor’s mooted technical team.
Fernando Da Cruz blueprint in build-up..
— El Capitano⚪ (@_izodlalaiTv) June 24, 2024
I'm sure we will all enjoy the tactical improvements in this team.
• It is a blessing in disguise for Nabi to be delayed and have Da Cruz work on some foundation
Offensively, Nabi's tactics are very aggressive and adaptable at the same… pic.twitter.com/GhLnzyq5Db
Fernando Da Cruz – Assistant coach
Da Cruz was the first member of Nabi’s technical team to arrive in South Africa after FarPost published a video showing the coach being welcomed at Johannesburg’s OR Tambo International Airport on Sunday.
The French-born mentor is a UEFA Pro Licence coach and has plenty of experience practising in both Europe and ventured into African football about three years ago.
In his homeland, Da Cruz served as a scout for Ligue 1 side Lille and the club’s U19 coach between 2008 and 2012.
After that, the 51-year-old joined Belgian side Mouscron and held different positions such as assistant manager, caretaker manager and academy manager over about five years.
He returned to Lille in 2017 and had a stint as caretaker manager and manager of their reserve team.
In 2021, Da Cruz moved to Morocco to join Rabat as a technical director.
FarPost reported that the mentor was in talks to join Sekhukhune United, but he opted to join Nabi at Amakhosi.
Khalil Ben Youssef is #Mwananchi 🔰
— Young Africans SC English (@YoungAfricansEN) March 1, 2023
For more information Visit YANGA SC App #TimuYaWananchi #DaimaMbeleNyumaMwiko pic.twitter.com/ivEifXyKWD
Khalil Ben Youssef – Assistant coach
Ben Youssef, who is the assistant coach at Rabat, is a Tunisian-born coach and has also been heavily linked with a move to South Africa to join Chiefs as part of Nabi’s technical team.
It won’t be much of a surprise if that happens as the two have worked together before when Nabi oversaw Tanzanian giants Young Africans.
Ben Youssef served as an assistant and a video analyst during his tenure with Nabi at Yanga.
The coach has also held the same position back home with Stade Tunisien for almost five years.
Ilyes Mzoughi – Goalkeeper coach
According to reports, Mzoughi also arrived in the country on Sunday evening to kick off his era with Amakhosi as their new goalkeeper coach.
Until recently, Mzoughi was the goalkeeper coach of the Mauritania national team and has worked with different clubs such as Hatta Club and Al Ahli in Dubai, Al Batin and Al-Adalah in Saudi Arabia, JS Kabylie in Algeria, and Al Ahly Tripoli in Libya.
The 50-year-old Tunisian will be expected to hit the ground running at the Soweto giants as goalkeeping has been one of their areas of concern.
Former Raja and Wydad fitness coach Majdi Safi will be the next to arrive at Kaizer Chiefs.
— Lorenz Köhler (@Lorenz_KO) June 24, 2024
Full story 🔗 https://t.co/BewCfhDm0e pic.twitter.com/p2xBggyoxc
Majdi Safi – Strength and condition coach
Safi, also from Tunisia, has worked for top clubs in African football such as Wydad and Raja, both from Morocco.
According to his LinkedIn profile, Safi has also worked for ES Sahel in Tunisia.
