Kaizer Chiefs have struggled to score goals since Knowledge Musona left the club and Bernard Parker lost his form.
For the past three or four seasons, Chiefs saw their defenders taking the responsibility of goalscoring. During Stuart Baxter's golden era at Naturena, Amakhosi relied heavily on Tefu Mashamaite and Erick Mathoho to help with goals. George Lebese has also contributed massively to that, but the goalscoring woes continued.
This season has seen a defender, in the form of Lorenzo Gordinho, become the leading scorer at Naturena, and Mathoho is finding the net as well. Up front, the strikers have lost their goalscoring touch, and the likes of Edward Manqele and company have forgotten how to score goals.
During the off-season, Amakhosi roped in the Zimbabwean duo of Edmore Chirambadare and Michelle Katsvairo to solve their goalscoring misery, but the duo hasn't delivered. This is mainly because Steve Komphela hasn't entrusted the duo with that responsibility. He hasn't given them much of a run. He has often opted to play either Macha or Manqele.
In the TKO quarterfinals against Free State Stars, Chirambadare was introduced late in the game, with Amakhosi trailing 1-0, and the lad didn't disappoint at all. He gave them an edge, kept Ea Lla Koto's defense on their toes and was even reminiscent of the 'Smiling Assassin' with his composure and skills.
They haven't had a striker that could trouble defenders with such ease in a long time. If Komphela could give Chirambadare enough run, and discard his lone striker philosophy, then they'd get somewhere. He needs to play with twin strikers, with Chirambadare partnered with one of the other strikers in Eddie, Katsvairo and Macha. The goalscoring woes will then be history.
Do you think Chirambadare is the answer to Chiefs' goalscoring problems?
*This article was written by a Soccer Laduma reader and reflects their opinion, not that of Soccer Laduma.
