Kaizer Chiefs head coach says Khama Billiat ‘is one of our key players’

After enduring a slow start to the season, Kaizer Chiefs’ head coach Arthur Zwane has pinned his hopes on Khama Billiat and still believes in his services.

Zwane’s sentiments come on the back of Billiat facing a lot of criticism from Chiefs’ fans who on the contrary believe the player has lost his form.

Since joining Amakhosi back in 2018 from Mamelodi Sundowns, Billiat has not won silverware with his new employers and this has frustrated the team’s supporters.

It has put his performance at Chiefs under scrutiny as the club’s faithfuls are demanding more from the highly rated player.

So far this season, Billiat hasn’t scored for Chiefs in all competitions but provided two assists in their 3-0 win over Maritzburg United which was their first victory of the campaign.

He missed a penalty against Sundowns when Chiefs were humiliated 4-0 by the reigning champions last month.

However, Zwane insists that Billiat is one of his ‘key players in his squad’ together with his teammate Keagan Dolly.

“I’m not really concerned and I will tell you why I’m not concerned. It’s still in the season,” Zwane told iDiskiTimes.

“You can only judge them (Billiat and Dolly) by the end of the season. It might be a case of they started slow but at the end of the day, we need them.

“They are one of our key players, we need them on the field, last season they played a crucial role in helping the team collect maximum points in certain games.”

Chiefs have played four games this season, losing two and also winning twice.

They recorded two big defeats to champions Sundowns and Cape Town City in 4-0 and 3-0 score lines respectively.

Meanwhile, ex-Kaizer Chiefs star Robson Muchichwa believes Billiat has no helpers saying the club lacks quality players.

“Khama hasn’t been the Khama we know since he joined Chiefs.” he told Soccer Laduma in a recent interview.

He added: “From how I see it, I think it has to do with the quality of players around him. They are not helping his type of play.

“Without good supply, it’s difficult for him. Just take Peter Shalulile – he’s not the most skilful striker, but he’s got quality around him who feeds him the right balls.

“They make his job easy so he can just put the ball in the net. If you can take Shalulile now and put him at Chiefs, you’ll ask yourself if he’s the same player scoring week in and week out at Sundowns.

“That’s why Billiat was shining at Sundowns, and he hasn’t played real football since he joined Chiefs. He needs quality to shelve the pressure off him.”