Kaizer Chiefs’ Edmilson Dove calls for unity to fix defensive issues

THEY say the first step to “fixing yourself” is admitting that you have a problem and maybe in his “rockstar mentality” way, that is what Kaizer Chiefs defender Edmilson Dove was going for when he addressed the press ahead of their betway Premiership encounter with TS Galaxy on Saturday.

Coming from two consecutive league losses where they conceded a combined four goals against Richards Bay FC (2-1) and Lamontville Golden Arrows (2-0), Chiefs head to Polokwane this weekend where they will host the Rockets at Peter Mokaba Stadium in a 7pm kick-off.

These four goals took Chiefs to 28 goals conceded in 23 games. Only AmaZulu FC at number seven has conceded more goals with 32, in the current top eight occupants.

This was the day kaizer chiefs made a big mistake 😭😭😭 pic.twitter.com/onUueibMAW

— Rama (@Lerutla_shelton) March 29, 2025

Dove admits they have a leaking defence problem, but he also insists it’s not a single department problem.

“Defending doesn’t start at the back. It is a whole unit’s problem,” said Dove.

“There are things that we need to fix starting from the front to the back because when we concede goals, it is not only defenders that concede goals but the whole team. So we need to fix it as a unit and not a department.

“We are coming from two bad results, I think the main thing is to focus on what we have been getting wrong in the two games. 

“We have been working really hard to correct that and obviously keep the good things that we’ve been doing.  I don’t think that it’s been all bad.”

This is our bench? Nah @KaizerChiefs go back to the market 😭😭😭😭 pic.twitter.com/hxfUd5oCQQ

— Akani Nwanati (@AkanimiltonM) March 27, 2025

Fixing their defence is one of the problems Dove and Co have been working hard on at training, well, at least ahead of the Saturday game.

“Yes we’ve conceded some silly goals but we cannot dwell on that, we have to move on and take it one game at a time,” said the Mozambican.

“We have been conceding a lot of goals so we have been working on trying to minimise the amount of goals we concede. 

“We’ve also been working on polishing our final third-entrance as we have been creating many chances but we don’t convert them. 

“With all departments, it kind of feels like we let ourselves down. Other than that, we’ve been trying to maintain the good things that we’ve been doing.”

Galaxy themselves lost their last match with a humbling 2-1 defeat to Marumo Gallants but that’s as bad as you can get from their recent run that has put them in the top four.

That top four, is a position Chiefs can only dare to dream about at this stage.

“We need to show up. When we are on the field we need to forget what is out of our control and focus on what we can. Whatever can’t, we need to just deal with it and move on,” said Dove.

But what the Mozambican really meant to say was:

“This is not a team (that is meant) to be fighting for the top eight or top four, it deserves to be at the top. I do not want to dwell a lot on what happened last season (when they uncharacteristically finished out of the top eight). 

“It’s a point even for ourselves to find ourselves with at least one of the cups. The gents are working hard but so is life, you’ll always feel like, ‘it could’ve been better’. And so on. We’ll continue fighting.”