A lot of young players have been promoted from the junior ranks of Kaizer Chiefs over the years, with the tag of 'next big thing' placed on their shoulders, only to flatter to deceive. It's not easy for a coach at a big side to throw a young player into the deep end because it's a results-driven game and the pressure from the supporters to win football matches is always there, not to mention management who set out their own mandates for the man in charge of the team. Arthur Zwane, particularly, went into this season in a tight corner as he was tasked with reviving the fortunes of a giant that has not tasted silverware success since 2015. Add to that the fact that he's a local coach and local coaches, in the PSL era, have hardly covered themselves in glory on the few occasions that the Naturena-based side saw it fit to give them the opportunity. Enter Mduduzi Shabalala. Thirteen days after the club turned 53 on 7 January, the skilful player celebrated his 19th birthday, and yet he is rubbing shoulders with South African football's crème de la crème and making a mark while at it. So, is this finally the kid who will live up to his billing at the Soweto giants and repay the club in a big way for the faith shown in him? In this feature, Soccer Laduma editor Vuyani Joni and Lunga Adam, with the help of stats, find out.
What They Say About The Dribbing Wizard
He's fortunate he has Dillon and Arthur
Diogo Peral – Cape Town City assistant coach
"It's obvious that he is a big talent. I remember watching him in the MDC (MultiChoice, now DStv Diski Challenge), where he really stood out. It's not really my place to comment too much on players from other teams. However, what I will say is that with players that age, the most important thing is that they play. In his case, he is lucky that he has two coaches who also made their way through the MDC and who have a good track record on working with young players. Unfortunately, this is not always the case and you often see players who were superstars in the MDC disappear. Once players break into the first team, it becomes difficult to get game-time, especially in a league as quick and physical as the DStv Premiership, where youngsters are often seen as a risk. Ideally, you need to be at a club that promotes youngsters and playing for coaches who see the benefits in taking a chance on younger players. I think here he is fortunate that he has Dillon (Sheppard) and Arthur (Zwane). It's slowly changing in the DStv Premiership, where you now see the clubs in the top half of the table all have young players getting game-time and coming through. For players like Shabalala, the quickest way to the top is through gametime."
He's our favourite player now
Saddam Maake – Chiefs supporter
"The boys is doing so well and we are all happy for him. He must just focus on his career, grab the chances he's getting from the technical team and not let them down for trusting him so much. The boy is trending almost after every game and that speaks volumes about his quality at such a young age. We are going to hurt a lot of teams with him in that midfield. As supporters, we have to be patient with him and not put him under unnecessary pressure. As long as he's following the coach's instructions and continues to play well, I think he is on the right track. He's still young and we need him to continue being consistent. Coach Arthur (Zwane) has been playing a lot of young players from our academy and that is good news for the club's future. Shabalala has been impressive so far and he's our favourite player now. Everyone is talking about him and when we go to the stadium, we are looking forward to his performance. The boy is doing well and he's got a bright future ahead of him. What I like the most about this boy is his bravery because he's never scared of anyone or making mistakes. He is so confident, at such a young age and playing for a big team like Chiefs, and you don't often see that from players his age. Remember his performance in his very first Soweto Derby? He played like someone who had played in a lot of derby games, something even experienced players have failed to do. He's skilful and makes things happen for the team, which is something we've been missing for some time in the team. As long as he continues to use his skill for the benefit of the team, I am very happy. Just like a scholar, we can't expect him to move from Grade 8 to 12 in one year, we need to give him time to go through all the development stages without putting him under pressure. We will always support him and the rest of the team because he's playing positive football. He can challenge the opposition defence and create scoring chances for our team. When we played against Richards Bay FC in Durban, he played a perfect set-piece for Siyabonga Ngezana to score from and we were all impressed. He's also been collecting Man of the Match awards and he always speaks well about the supporters, acknowledging them, which is a good thing. We all have a responsibility to protect the boy, from the technical team, management, senior players and supporters. Like I said, let's not put him under pressure because that will force him to skip some stages of his development and that will lead to mistakes and frustration. My boy, respect your job, protect your talent and we will support you, as I told you at Dobsonville Stadium recently."
He's already showed what he can do
Reneilwe Letsholonyane – Former Chiefs midfielder
"I think he's doing fairly well currently and he's working hard to improve on his game. He's clearly doing a lot of work outside of the team, extra training, to finetune his game and get better. I think he needs to keep doing that, working hard and continue to stay grounded, by remaining the same player that he is. I know him personally, he's a really good boy who wants to make it big. For him to make it big and get better, he needs to remain grounded and focused while working hard on his game. He will become a better footballer and a better human being. With the same respect he has for everyone, he will go far. I want him to enjoy his game, which is one of the most important things that I always encourage people to do. You keep enjoying what you do, you become better, even with all the fame and people talking about you. When you stay grounded, none of that stuff can distract you from working hard and keeping improving. Those are some of the qualities that make one successful. As for the expectations, when you play for a team like Chiefs, expectations are always there whether you are young or old. Nothing will change and you can't expect the supporters to have less expectations. He's already showed what he can do for the team and the more he does well, the more the expectations. He has proved to be capable of doing a lot of things and he will only get grounded. He must not feel he is carrying the team because he's not there yet, he's still young, and he must take each game as it comes. Do what you can and understand that some days your best will not be enough. That's ok, it is allowed because no one is perfect. Don't be too hard on yourself when things are not going your way, as long as you know you gave it your best."
Stat Attack: Shabalala's strengths and weaknesses
His finishing needs work
For all the strengths of Mduduzi Shabalala and the creativity he brings, he isn't really scoring goals on even a semi-regular basis. Yes, few 19-year-olds are banging in goals regularly, but it is perhaps the area where he most needs work. After coming on to score on his debut against Maritzburg United in August, he has only scored one goal since in 782 minutes. If we look at his numbers, he has taken 23 shots in his 13 appearances prior to the Stellenbosch FC win last Saturday. He has hit the target with 10 of those. Since his goal against the Team of Choice, his 22 shots have only totalled 1.55 Expected Goals. This means that he is not taking nearly enough shots from dangerous positions.
Mdu Shabalala Shot Map
(after his debut):
* Excludes Stellenbosch FC match on 1 April 2023
What we can see from his shot map is that he are several shots from quite far wide to the right of the box (six of his 22 efforts). Meanwhile, a further seven of his efforts are from miles out and those will very rarely lead to goals. He would be better off looking to rather create chances for his teammates from these 13 efforts above. Then, we have nine shots from more decent areas where he is coming inside onto his right foot from an inside left position. What we are not seeing is the dribbling wizard arriving nearly enough along the small box line to attack crosses from a Keagan Dolly or a Christian Saile.
Very creative and skilful
Something that has been clear from the first glimpses of the player in the DStv Diski Challenge is his ability to use both feet and to create openings for teammates. We saw that in the U20 COSAFA Cup, where he excelled in games against Malawi, Comoros and Mozambique, amongst others. If we look at his attacking play, he has created nine chances in 13 appearances according to one data collector. Without doubt, his best performance was against Richards Bay FC, where he constantly set teammates through on goal for clear-cut opportunities. Both Saile and Bonfils-Caleb Bimenyimana were sent racing away by Shabalala in a very creative outing.
Mdu Shabalala's "Passes Into The Box" Map
(after his debut):
* Excludes Stellenbosch FC match on 1 April 2023
If we look at where Shabalala is making his passes into the penalty area from, we can get an idea of which areas he tends to create from. There are really two main positions he takes up where he looks to find runners inside the 18-yard area: the right half-space near the box and the left half-space in deeper areas. The implication here is that when he drops deeper to link play, it is generally by coming in shallow areas on the left, perhaps to receive off Edmilson Dove's line-breaking passes. However, he is most creative when he moves wider to overload opponents down that right flank by linking with Saile or Ashley Du Preez's movements up that flank. This sort of effectiveness may mean that we could see him play as a narrow right winger at times in the future, particularly with the arrival of Mduduzi Mdantsane and some talk that a winger like Pule Mmodi could arrive to play on the left. That would maybe see Dolly move inside and Shabalala being used on the right-hand side in certain matches. Another reason he could easily play wide is because he is an excellent dribbler. He averages over two dribbles per game – nothing that special – but what is a good sign is that he is averaging 3.13 dribbles attempted per match in his last eight outings. The interesting thing is that he has delivered 16 crosses this season with none reaching a teammate. He is better at moving wide and looking for cut-backs and clever passes than high balls.
His competition is about to increase!
With the impending transfer of his namesake Mdantsane, it is crucial for Shabalala to keep his levels at their highest between now and the end of the season. Although Mdantsane played in a slightly deeper role at Baroka FC, almost all of his football at Cape Town City has been as a number 10. In fact, in many matches he plays very high up and is almost a second striker at times. Mdantsane has scored 20 goals since joining City, making him their record goalscorer, but it should be noted that six of those were penalties. Since December 2021, about 16 months of football, he has only netted two open play goals. His performances and scoring have gone off a cliff and this season has only seen him net on one occasion. For that reason, Shabalala should back himself to keep his number 10 spot next season even when Nkosingiphile Ngcobo is fit.
Let's not discourage the boy
While some recognise the good signs the youngster is showing in his game since being handed the opportunity in the senior team by coach Arthur Zwane, others have slammed the manner, and timing, in which he sometimes expresses himself on the field. We got Orlando Pirates legend Tebogo Moloi to respond to this criticism, and it's clear to see this is a topic very close to his heart…
Lunga Adam: Tebza, what have you made of Mduduzi Shabalala's progress since his promotion from the Kaizer Chiefs DStv Diski Challenge side? Some have criticized what they call showboating in his game and…
Tebogo Moloi: (Cuts in) What is showboating? Who came up with the word 'showboating', Lunga? Glenn Hoddle. You remember? He came into Africa not being well informed that Orlando Pirates once beat Crystal Palace, a week after the latter won the FA Cup. Let's explain the word 'showboating'. It was (mentioned by) somebody from England, a great player (in his day). Why even South Africans bought into it was because we were exposed to Glenn Hoddle as one of the best players. We were not getting any Italian or Spanish football, we were (only) exposed to English football, and when he mentioned that South Africans are showboating, everybody in this country took whatever we are gifted with as showboating. But the man was not informed that Pirates beat Crystal Palace, and when we were doing what we were doing, they didn't say it was showboating. Only Glenn Hoddle, because he came in the country thinking he was going to beat Pirates and he got a rude awakening. Pirates played AC Milan and Fabio Capello said I would love to sign the three Pirates players, but they would have to adjust to the Italian culture on and off the field, compete as foreigners against… that time he had four foreigners, Jean-Pierre Papin, (Ruud) Gullit, (Marco) van Basten and (Frank) Rijkaard. But he said South Africans play (a type of) football that he had never seen. He was impressed by our culture of football and he said we had adopted a few bad habits that needed to be taken out of our game. He didn't say 'showboating' uCapello! Now, here comes one man who was exposed by a culture of football that was different to the English culture of football. The best coach, who has won accolades, Capello, realised that this is a unique country with a unique style and a unique culture. We were wrong to listen to Glenn Hoddle when he said it was showboating.
LA: Go on…
TM: Italians have won and done everything. Now the whole country, sesibiza into yethu (we call our own thing), our identity, as showboating. I mean, if this word 'showboating' was there when I was still playing and we played against Crystal Palace, AC Milan, Arsenal, I'm sure abantu basekhaya (people from back home) would say I too was showboating. But the very same style that I was playing took me to Turkey because after that game against Arsenal, the same English people, scouts from Cyprus, Turkey, Greece, they were running to Marcello (Houseman, his agent) to say, "We want the number 8." And number 8 came on in the second half and just played 20 minutes. So, we need to understand wena Lunga ukuthi (that) time has changed, things have changed. Our youngsters are entertaining in a creative way that they think is the right way and we don't have to criticise or shun them. Instead, we need to teach them. Football is about entertainment wena Lunga! We mustn't run away from it. Football is about entertainment, with results, with positiveness, and lo mfana lo (this boy) has got people at Chiefs who were entertainers, that will guide him to do the right entertainment. But let's not criticise and then the next thing tomorrow we say our football is boring. Why? Because people who are entertainers, we are quick to criticise them, instead of asking how can we improve his game with the entertainment that he has? That entertainment that he has should be within the system of the team going forward and getting results. But we are quick to listen to Glen Hoddle. We shouldn't even be afraid to say it's Glen Hoddle who came up with that word 'showboating'! Why don't we say yes, we have the talent, we have the entertainment, what is the positive way of us entertaining the people with what we have, not what we see from wonk' umuntu (everybody else)?
LA: Right.
TM: Arthur Zwane knows, he played overseas. He will correct the boy. He knows what is it that the boy needs to do, with what he has, and will rectify the little things. That's why I'm saying our youngsters are more creative than us in a different way where they think this is the best way of entertaining. Zwane was an entertainer, but in a certain different way, so he's the one who will correct those boys. You have abo (the likes of) Ace Khuse in the development, you have everybody that was an entertainer that can correct him. But let's not discourage the boy. Let's encourage him to do what he's doing in a positive way. Now the boy will play with fear and then tomorrow we will say where is the entertainment, where is the flair that we have as South Africans, where has it gone? You know, thina we are always looking at the negativity of things instead of coming up with solutions.
LA: You coached a player like Thabo Rakhale, who is also categorized as a 'showboating' type of player.
TM: Dankie (Thank you)! Dankie! The time siwina (we were leading) against Chiefs, waligibela (he put on a show). People left the stadium happy. We were winning! Huh? We were winning! Mina I always say you must teach them where to do it, when to do it, how to do it. But you mustn't say it's showboating, yinto yethu (it's our thing). Pele used to stand on the ball. Why didn't the English people call what Garrincha and Pele were doing 'showboating'? Let's make an example about a current player. The Neymar that was playing in Brazil is a different player to the Neymar that is playing in Europe, but they took out a few things that he was doing in Brazil because they were not conducive for him to go forward. But he's still using the flair and he's going forward. So, Shabalala too… let him use the flair, as long as he's going forward and not losing the ball. That's why I'm saying it is the WHEN, the HOW, the WHY. When to do this. Why are you doing it? When can you do it? Where are you supposed to do it? Do you understand what I'm saying? That's all! Honestly speaking, what Zidane would do with the ball, can't we do it? We can, but we're doing it for a certain purpose. So, we must teach our boys, yes, do it, but there should be a purpose. We mustn't just criticise for the sake of criticising and for the sake of one man that called our football showboating because he couldn't beat Pirates. No, no, no, I refuse! When I played one touch, two touch, my coach in Colombia would say to me, "If you're going to play one touch, two touch, I'd rather go to the B Division and get a player that can do that. I want you to do something out of the ordinary."
LA: In his comment on the opposite page, Saddam Maake mentions Shabalala's bravery and his impressive performance in the recent Soweto Derby, where he did a piece of skill near the corner flag, for which he received a rapturous applause from the fans.
TM: It was a derby that was quiet and he livened it up. You know, we were very fortunate that we played the derby when the likes of Ace (Ntsoelengoe) and Teenage (Dladla) were around. The derby where I gave Chiefs a hard time was a derby where I was actually schooled by Teenage, in the 1987 Mainstay Cup semi-final. I was wearing Teenage's boots and I was doing what he had spoken to me about. Can you imagine, I was told by a Chiefs person ukuthi this is a derby, this is what you do, and then I scored in the early stages of the game. In the last five minutes, Teenage said to me, "Let me show you how you finish off a derby if you are on top." Wayiqhaqha yonke I (He tore apart the entire) Pirates and went on to score, and the game went to extra-time. We won in the replay. Can you imagine ukuthi a legend of the derby says to me this is how the derby is played? Now the derby is dull because these boys don't have people who are telling them how to play the derby. When the boy did that, everybody livened up and left their seats, to say, "Yes, this is how our derby used to be played!" I call it 'pepper and spice' – there should be pepper and spice in the derby. Like Jomo (Sono), he would do something, continue playing positive, then do something. When Doctor (Khumalo) got the ball in the derby, you expected something to happen. When Jabu Pule (now Mahlangu) gets the ball, you expect something. When Steve (Lekoelea) gets it, you're expecting something. Uma ngiyithola (When I get it), you expect.
LA: Let's leave it there, Tebza.
TM: Okay, mfowethu (my brother)
