Former Mamelodi Sundowns star George Lebese opens up about his mental health struggles and not reaching his full potential as a footballer.
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The story
George Lebese was once considered as one of the PSL's brightest attacking prospects, breaking through in the 2008/09 season under Muhsin Ertugral.
Lebese went on to make 179 appearances for the Glamour Boys across nine seasons, making over 50 goal contributions before making the shock switch to Pitso Mosimane's Mamelodi Sundowns in 2017.
The three-time league winner (twice with Chiefs) expressed some regret on Josta Dladla's "Izinja zeGame" podcast over leaving the Glamour Boys and got candid about struggling mentally over his lack of game time at Downs.
Dladla, who took the opposite route to Lebese by moving from Sundowns to Chiefs, could relate to the latter's off-field challenges of not being able to secure a regular starting spot at a big club after making the switch.
"It really messes with you and you know with social media, people are coming at you. It's not helping, because now it's a psychological thing, you get into depression," notes Lebese in speaking to Dladla on what being sidelined at Sundowns did to his mental health.
"It's your everyday life, you can't even go anywhere. Once you open your phone, whatsapp, someone is posting about you. As much as you want you to be strong, it works on your mental health," added Lebese.
When asked by Dladla if he's spoken to anyone about the anxiety the move from Chiefs to Downs gave him, Lebese answered: "No. I had to deal with it on my own. The closest person to me at the time was my wife, then, I tried to tell her but she didn't understand."
"But, I wanted to talk about it. To be honest, it's something I dealt with on my own," added the former Bafana Bafana international.
Now at 35, Lebese has been without a club since 2021 after a short stint in the US with the Colorado Switchbacks. He's been unable to find himself a PSL club, with the last local club he played for being Masandawana.
The veteran attacker also spoke to Dladla about failing to reach his potential after the success he garnered at Chiefs.
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