Kaizer Chiefs are into the Nedbank Cup quarter-finals, where they have been drawn against a tricky Royal AM outfit. After an eight-year drought, the Soweto giants are now just two matches from a cup final. One of the biggest reasons for their progress to this stage is the form of their R10 million off-season signing, Ashley Du Preez. The speedy wide forward has scored crucial goals in both the Round of 32 and the Last 16 and his general form of late has improved as he settles into life at the country's most-supported club. What is his best role? Is the speed merchant, who wears the number 9 shirt, a winger or a striker or something else? The parallels with Manchester United, a huge club who have dropped below their former glories and standards, is clear. Both clubs moved for coaches who play a certain style but who have the understanding that results are important too, not least to buy time. The Red Devils ended their six-year drought with a Carabao Cup triumph and are leaning on a pacey wide forward in Marcus Rashford to score their goals. Can Amakhosi do the same come May? Can Du Preez go on a hot scoring streak like Man Utd's winger-cum-striker? Soccer Laduma investigates.
Slow start in new habitat
We have all heard the usual tropes about Cape Town players struggling to settle in Gauteng. There are countless examples where that has been proven to hold some weight, and plenty of examples where it's turned out to be a lazy cliché. When it comes down to it, all players will have to make a concerted effort to lay down new roots without much of their family, friends and their community at large. It's not clear how much of a factor that played in Ashley Du Preez's slow start to life at Naturena, but he has recently started to look like the player Kaizer Chiefs hoped they were signing when they forked out a reported R10 million to bring him on board. In the Nedbank Cup, we have seen him score a late second goal away at Maritzburg United to seal a 2-0 win. Against Casric Stars last weekend, he came off the bench to score the crucial winning goal, helping the Glamour Boys avoid going to extra time once again in this tournament. In general, his displays have improved a lot in recent weeks. In the Soweto Derby against archrivals Orlando Pirates, he was a constant danger playing as a central striker and then moving wider once Bucs moved to a low block. He also set up Mduduzi Shabalala's goal against Golden Arrows from the left side as his production has increased. His first 1,271 minutes only yielded three goals as an injury ruled him out against Mamelodi Sundowns for a key match. Since then, he has added three further goals in 507 minutes, improving his scoring rate by more than double.
Striker? Winger?
What is Du Preez's best position? It's been a question asked constantly since he arrived at Chiefs and even as his scoring rate improves, it still dominates the narrative around the player. Many will look at his pure pace and think he should play wide based on their ideas of what physical traits a winger should have. Others will see him bursting onto through balls down the middle and think he is a pure striker. Realistically, his best role is not clear – it depends on the opposition tactics and those around him in the Amakhosi attack. If we look at the footage of his goals and even his assists for Stellenbosch FC, we don't see a one-trick pony at all. There are poacher goals from close-range, there are assists where he plays early passes behind the defence from a wide position and there are strikes where he indeed sprints behind the opponents and finishes well, such as for his brace in the 3-0 thrashing of Sundowns. Coach Arthur Zwane's side will very rarely face opponents who defend with a high line, something his former club from the Winelands often enjoy. That is the nature of a big club: opponents tend to play defensively against you and defend deep. The Chiefs coach has therefore deemed that Du Preez would rarely get space ('depth') to attack. However, he did recently use the speedster through the centre against Pirates and was rewarded with a strong performance, even if it didn't lead to any actual goals for the Glamour Boys (as a freak own goal was needed to secure a win). Perhaps the most typical Du Preez move is no longer the one where he runs into space but instead where he bursts into the box from a deeper or wider area to finish low crosses. That's exactly how he scored against Royal AM (from Christian Saile's cross), against Maritzburg (with a volley from Happy Mashiane's delivery) and against Casric Stars, tucking home Keagan Dolly's low assist. There is now a clear formula for Zwane… if you face teams defending high up, use Du Preez centrally. When Chiefs are leading in matches and the opponents start opening up, get Du Preez into scoring positions and not on the touchline. It's no coincidence that his last three goals came in the 85th minute, the 113th minute (extra time) and the 63rd minute. Once your legs tire against Du Preez, you're a sitting duck. What about when Amakhosi face deep defences? In that case, the former Stellies man is best in a wider role, attacking crosses, making diagonal runs into scoring positions and getting to the by-line with seam runs to find his teammates with cut-backs. Don't expect a lot of quality high crosses, although he can occasionally put a nice delivery on a platter for a headed chance.
His stats are improving!
One way of trying to see which trajectory Du Preez is on, and whether he is trending upwards or getting worse, is to use stats. Very basic data like his number of shots, dribbles, tackles etc. can tell us whether he could be close to a hot streak of performances. The data for the win against lower league opponents Casric Stars is not yet available, but we can still try to find whether there is a point where his form started to get better. A good mark could be the 1-0 defeat to Sundowns where Du Preez was a threat and set up one crystal clear chance for Dolly in the second half. In his first 16 outings, the speedster scored three goals and only hit 27 shots in those outings. He was adjusting to life at Chiefs and his dribbles numbers show he spent a fair amount of time taking on opponents. Since his performance in the 4-0 loss to AmaZulu FC, where he had no shots in the match at all, he has made seven appearances up to the Soweto Derby win. His numbers are slowly improving in terms of how often he is shooting, scoring and even in his tackles. His dribbles are down, perhaps an indication that he is focusing more on running off the ball into scoring areas than with the ball. Playing off Bonfils- Caleb Bimenyimana, even if the target man is far from his best level right now, does appear to hand the 25-yearold a bit more space as the Burundian draws defenders towards him. Saile has also brought another element as has the ever-impressive Mduduzi Shabalala, meaning teams tend to ball-watch and lose Du Preez's runs.
PPE: Price tag, personality, expectation
For any player joining the Naturena-based outfit for a large transfer fee like R10 million, there will be serious expectations for that player to score goals and prove the difference in matches. Being a minor role-player is not enough to justify an outlay like that. The weight of that fee has maybe hung over Du Preez's head at times, but with more options around him now, he can go a little more under-the-radar. There is less scrutiny over his performances as fans turn their ire towards Bimenyimana or even Dolly at times. At a big club, you need the character to overcome criticism and negative supporter reactions to missed chances and mistakes. You also need to be assertive enough to demand the ball and hold teammates accountable when they don't see your runs, ignore your runs or they don't have the required quality to find your movement. In that aspect, the player could be more nasty and less nice. It's a good thing to be a team player and unselfish, but you can still stamp your mark on your teammates when the ball isn't arriving for you.
Amakhosi's key weapon
A strong run of scoring form (three goals in his last 507 minutes, as mentioned) has begun. Now, he has to keep it going to try to take Chiefs to their first silverware since May 2015. There is still so much to play for this season with second place still a possible aim and CAF Champions League football for the 2023/24 season, too. Du Preez has fast established himself as a key weapon for Chiefs. Yes, his pace is a rare trait but arguably his movement has been more crucial, as has his speed of thought: getting on the move to finish crosses as they arrive with one touch. There are matches where Zwane can use him centrally, others where he is best down the left and some where he suits playing on the right side a bit more. Often, the wing he plays on will be dictated by the opposition's fullbacks and how much they could ask Du Preez to defend. Amakhosi have some massive league matches ahead, including against teams in relegation battles as well as against Du Preez's former club, who are flying high. Some positive DStv Premiership results could turn the Round 29 match against SuperSport United into a CAF Champions League play-off. However, the Nedbank Cup is now perhaps of a higher priority than the league. Du Preez is so key in that quarter-final that Mangethe may even need to rest him (perhaps just playing him as a substitute) ahead of that cup match, due to the injury problems the player has suffered this season.
