There's some great news for our Supporters Club members, as we welcome Avbob to the Soccer Laduma family. The partnership between these two well-established institutions will go a long way to making a difference in the lives of supporters and South African football at large. We have some exciting initiatives planned that will look to help solve some of our football issues, as well as improve Soccer Laduma readers' and Supporters Club members' lives. Watch this space!
Moving on, there's a never-ending debate surrounding the use of skill and flair in the South African game. While some embrace this unique feature of our football, others are completely against it. A typical example is the reaction to what Xola Mlambo, Daine Klate, Sifiso Hlanti, Sifiso Myeni and other BidVest Wits players dished out to Mamelodi Sundowns in the final of the MTN8 this past Saturday. While the paying customers… the supporters… embraced and enjoyed the 'show' in the last 10 minutes of the game, some have labelled it disrespectful.
Sundowns' head coach, Pitso Mosimane, was one of the first to grumble about the 'show-boating' and went as far as trying to justify Keagan Dolly's frustrations against Thabang Monare, who had a stellar game. Dolly didn't take kindly to the Wits players' "showboating", but it is only when you take a closer look at the game that you realise nothing at all was wrong with the 'show'. Most, if not all, of Wits' moves were forward and aimed at creating space or keeping possession. To frustrate the opposition, keep the ball away from them and make them chase shadows. Back in the day – way before our readmission to international football and the subsequent elimination of entertainment from our game – supporters were always treated to the 'show time', when coaches encouraged their players to seal the game with a convincing lead and then play for the supporters.
Everyone who watched games back then will tell you that there was nothing as exciting as the last 15 minutes of the match, especially if you were on the winning side. Leading by 3–0, for example, was enough for the players to give their paying supporters a reason to come back to the stadium for the next game by dishing out skills and entertaining them. That's why there were so many high-scoring games compared to now, and even draws were seldom goalless. If you happened to be on the losing side, well, tough luck for you. That is South African football and that's why we are unique from any other league in the world. Anyone against it had best reconsider their stance, or face the grim fact that we continuously watch PSL games played in front of empty stadiums, which is definitely not a good thing.
What I always find odd is that when Barcelona keeps possession and Neymar Jr expresses himself, like Wits' players did, we all applaud in admiration. If that's not double-standards, then I don't know what is. Look at West Ham United's Dimitri Payet's equalising goal against Middlesbrough this past weekend, where he picked up the ball on the left, lost his marker then took on four defenders before putting the ball in the back of the net. To me, that's what South African football is about! We should be seeing more of that in our league! What our coaches need to do is encourage our Payets, by allowing their players to express themselves without any fear. The challenge to the players is to be brave enough to show their skills where it hurts the opposition the most. It is meaningless to show your skill in your own half or by playing safe in the centre of the field, instead of looking to create opportunities in the last third, for instance.
The more skill and flair displayed, the more supporters will come to the stadiums, trust me. Look no further than Coach Dan Malesela's Chippa United for evidence of this. You also think about the team's recent MTN8 semi-final first leg draw against Sundowns, where both teams played attractive and entertaining football. That's what people want to see and the more that is delivered to them, the more reason there will be for them to come back.
Over the last couple of seasons, we have seen more "safe" play in the PSL, where teams apply counterattacking tactics instead of taking the game to the opposition and imposing themselves. Manchester City's coach, Pep Guardiola, made a refreshing remark ahead of his team's first league defeat against Tottenham Hotspur this past weekend.
"I think (Mauricio) Pochettino is one of the best managers in the world – I enjoy watching Tottenham. He's doing an amazing job in London at Spurs. The way they play, I like a lot. They're aggressive and have a lot of quality. This year they're playing at a high level. They're in second position, so it will be a tough game and I'm looking forward to going to White Hart Lane for the first time in my life. We will try and do our job. All of the fans who like football and watch football can enjoy (Spurs) – they're proactive, not reactive. There are many teams who wait to see what you do and then react. They don't wait to see what they're going to do. They want to create their own game. That's why I like them. When I saw their last games against CSKA, against Liverpool, against Middlesbrough, I liked what I (was) watching," said Guardiola.
How many PSL coaches would say the same about their counterparts' game plans or approaches so far this season?
Cheers
VeeJay
