Fernando Da Cruz Faces Pressure at Kaizer Chiefs
Fernando Da Cruz has barely learned the walk from the tunnel to the dugout at Kaizer Chiefs, yet the scrutiny has already turned sharp. The new man has spoken cautiously about the season ahead, hinting that his squad lacks the tactical range and depth to chase the title while juggling the CAF Confederation Cup. For a club of Chiefs’ stature, that kind of realism sounds dangerously close to resignation.
And the old guard is not impressed.
Moloi pounces on ‘excuses’
Former Amakhosi forward Fees Moloi has gone straight for the jugular, accusing Da Cruz of setting up a safety net before a ball has even been kicked.
“Da Cruz is already making excuses so that if he fails to improve the team, he would be able to say ‘I told you so’,” Moloi told KickOff, drawing a blunt comparison with former coach Nasreddine Nabi. “Da Cruz is the same as Nabi. His statement reminds me of the Tunisian coach.”
For Moloi, this is not about language or nationality. It’s about attitude. A Kaizer Chiefs coach, he believes, should arrive with conviction, not caveats.
“It is his job to get the team ready. It seems he took the job blindly,” he said.
The criticism cuts to the core of what Chiefs represent. Transition or not, the expectation at Naturena is simple: compete for everything. Talk of limited depth and tactical tools jars with a fanbase that has endured a long wait for major silverware and wants to hear about solutions, not shortcomings.
Big job, bigger expectations
Moloi’s main question is a brutal one: if Da Cruz does not believe this squad can compete, why did he sit down to sign?
“If Kaizer Chiefs are not ready to compete, then what is he doing here?” he asked. “He was brought in to prepare the team and make it competitive. This coach does not seem confident in himself.”
Behind that outburst lies a deeper concern about how the appointment was handled. In Moloi’s eyes, either the coach misread the scale of the task, or the club and the coach failed to thrash out the hard details before committing to each other.
His argument is straightforward. If reinforcements are non‑negotiable for Da Cruz, that should have been nailed down before the ink dried on the contract, not floated in public once he’s in the hot seat.
“Why did he accept the job at a team that is not ready?” Moloi continued. “He should have told management from the beginning that ‘For me to be able to make the team compete, you will have to strengthen here and there’.”
Boardroom test arrives early
That leaves the Chiefs hierarchy with an early-season dilemma. Do they rally behind Da Cruz and arm him in the transfer market, or do they demand he moulds a competitive side from what he already has?
Either way, the tone has been set. The Frenchman hasn’t just inherited a squad and a fixture list that includes continental travel. He’s walked into a club where legends still speak loudly, and where any hint of lowered ambition is treated as a provocation, not a plan.
