Solinas: I am happy with Chiefs defenders

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Daniel Cardoso and Giovanni Solinas

After another shaky performance at the back against SuperSport United, Kaizer Chiefs head coach Giovanni Solinas admitted that his system leaves his defenders with a very difficult job.

The Soweto Giants took an early lead at the Lucas ‘Masterpieces’ Moripe Stadium but then showed their defensive frailties as they conceded two goals courtesy of Bradley Grobler who bullied his way to a first-half double.

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Chiefs hit back one minute into the second half as Leonardo Castro netted the equaliser.

Solinas, speaking in his post-match press conference, admitted that his defenders were ‘soft’ in the first half.

When asked if he would look to make changes at the back after the ‘soft’ performance, Solinas defended his backline by explaining that his attacking philosophy leaves them with little room for error.

‘In our system, the defender is a strong [difficult] job, because we push forward a lot of players.

‘We attack with our full-backs, we attack with the midfielders and we have four people up front. We attack with a minimum of seven players.

‘In some situations, we are left defending a big space behind the two central defenders.

‘We have to learn how to defend the big space because we are a big club and a lot of times we play with the defenders in a high position, so we need to manage the space in behind,’ added the Italian.

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‘I talk about we need to improve, but this does not mean that I am not happy with my defenders.

‘I am happy, don’t forget in our back four we have two young players.

‘They are 20-21 years old, players like Siya [Siyabonga Ngezana] and [Siphosakhe] Ntiya-Ntiya. Their performances are unbelievable, so good.

‘So these players in the future can improve a lot,’ concluded Solinas.

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