Latest Premier Soccer League News
Modise and Musona will be on the spotlight on Sunday
Teko is battling with a loss of form at the moment and he has become a victim of the boo boys. His popularity is falling as quick as it rose, so why do i believe that he will be on they spotlight on Sunday?
It's simple, this is a high profile game, it will be the perfect stage for him to silence his critics and win the hearts of his supporters back. Teko Modise is a good footballer, I don't believe he can become a bad player overnight. A stunning performance against Amakhosi will see his star rise again and Teko will become his old mesmerising self. Hopefully Rudolf Krol will be brave enough to play him on Sunday.
Another player to watch on Sunday is none other than Knowledge Musona. The talented youngster from Zimbabwe is on blistering form at the moment, scoring goals almost at will for Amakhosi. He has proved himself as a match winner for Chiefs so far this season.
Musona is fast becoming a defender's worst nightmare in the PSL and he will be out to haunt the Pirates defence come Sunday. In the first leg it was the youngster who broke Orlando pirates supporters heart when he equalized for Chiefs in the 1 - 1 draw, handing chiefs a crucial away goal.
It won't be a major surprise to see him rising to the occasion and winning the game for the glamour boys.
It will be an exciting game and the expectations will be high. Will Teko Modise get his groove back or is it going to be another Knowledge Musona goal festival?
It remains to be seen.
By Siphiwe Hlongwane
BUCS fans must stop destroying Modise
Let us not all forget how the coach’s (Ruud Krol) poor tactical acumen has let the team down. When Modise was playing central he was unbelievable, then second half instead of replacing Thulasizwe Mbuyane with Tlou Segolela & keeping the 4-3-3 shape, he decided to go back to 4-4-2 & playing Modise wide again, we all know even in Bafana Bafana the wingbacks are the ones making crosses not the wingers.
The other problem is BUCS pettern is starving wingers of space & passes, that’s simply because of the type of holding midfielders we use. Benson Mhlongo & Andile Jali were more solid defensively so teams were always forced to commit more players from a defensive into offensive position in order to retain the ball possession in midfield, which give our wingers a lot of space to use the ball.
Isaac Chansa & Jali are very offensive at an expanse of the defensive quality, so teams don’t have to commit too many players into offensive roles in order to retain the ball possession, meaning the opposing team does not have to sacrifice its defensive shape, making our wingers less effective.
We all know Chansa lacks defensive qualities & he is always badly positioned in counter attacks, so it does not make sense why wasn’t he subed with Clifford Ngobeni after he scored the goal so that we change to counter-attacking football.
By Prof-Matwetwe AKA Mr Majesa
Antonio Lopez Habas is breathing easy
Against the Dube birds, one Nyasha Mushekwi from Zimbabwe announced his arrival to the PSL with a well taken brace to earn Masandawana a valuable 2 - 0 victory from two well taken goals. Yesterday it was the evergreen Katlego Mphela and Mabhuti Khanyeza who ensured that the Brazilians come back with three points from Royal Bafokeng against Plutinum Stars.
With Mamelodi Sundowns sitting pretty at the top of the log, their coach Antonio Lopez must be breathing easy for now. He has a clear mandate from the club, which is to win the league this season. It is still early days but things are looking promising for Sundowns.
Their strenght in depth will be tested to the limit, but with a strong squad that they have assembled, I don't think they will have any problems. Habas will be hoping that the team mantains their current form for a longer period.
Sundowns have started well and Habas will be happy, hopefully they will not get too excited, this is a marathon and it will require focus and full commitment.
By Siphiwe Hlongwane
Huh, PSL doubled ticket prices?
Teams have to pay for the hiring of Stadiums, security, etc and we are told they cannot afford all this at the price of R20, but is R20 the issue here?
I really do not think the R20 is the real issue. I like the fact that people believe there is no longer a small or a big team anymore, so one can simply make an example with any team, since they all are big these days.
Ok, say you are BIDVest Wits, having to play Mpumalanga Black Aces in Johannesburg. How many People would really be keen to come and watch the game, for free, in FNB Stadium? I bet my last cent, you will be very lucky to get the stadium half full.
People do not simply go to the game without any reason. They would want to see their favourite players, goals, or simply great football. I personally do not think most of the PSL games have those ingredients.
There is the big Derby (Kaizer Chiefs vs. Orlando Pirates) coming up. It used to be a big game. There was great rivalry, goals, brilliant football. There were players at the two teams that had the ability and individual skill to change the complexion of the game. Pity those days are gone, and now the derby itself is a game hard to sell, you can imagine the rest.
So if you have 30 000 people at the stadium for a game, the PSL then says, if you want them to be 60 000, no worry, simply double the amount they pay, then you good. Forget bringing back the real PRO’s that used to entice soccer fans. Forget having a Marketing division as a team.
As a guy from Pretoria, I don’t see myself going to watch Mamelodi Sundowns and BIDVest Wits at the Lucas Moripe Stadium, unless I am assured of the “Piano and Shoe Shine”, otherwise why should I go and stress myself?
These foreign coaches have destroyed our football. There are no skillful players anymore. We miss the Heel Extension Mkhari’s, Scara’s 360° turn, after all, we are not the English, and will never be. When our local players do this, they are wasting time on the ball (guess it’s in the FIFA A license course or something). But when it’s Messi, or Ronaldinho its flair.
Now the soccer loving people have to pay for an extra seat, just to fill the stadium.
By Baile Motshoane
A must win game for Bafana Bafana
Everyone will need to be on top of their game, not only the team but the supporters as well. The stadium must be filled to capacity and hopefully the team will deliver the desired result.
Bafana must not underestimate the West Africans despite their low position in Fifa rankings. There are no longer small teams or push-overs in today's international football. This is a must win game, I'm sure the team knows very well how hard it is to get results away from home, so they need to make sure that they use the home ground advantage by winning convincingly against Niger.
There is a strong possibility that Niger will come looking for a draw, so they will pack their defence and rely on counter-attacks to try and get a goal or two. Katlego Mphela's lightining pace will be vital upfront if we are to get behind Niger's defence. Bernard Parker will also need to rediscover the form he showed at the confederations cup. Our midfield must be even more creative if we want to breakdown a possibly resolute Niger defence, we will have to create as many goal scoring opportunities as we can, we will also need to see our midfielders coming up with a goal or two, Simphiwe Tshabalala is always a threat and a possible goal score, lets hope he will produce the magic this weekend.
Playing against a defensive team will require our wing-backs to come to the party and push forward as much as possible so that they can stretch the opposition defence and create space in the middle for our midfielders and strikers, but at the same time we must guard against quick counter-attacks.
Bafana Bafana knows the importance of winning this game, we don't want to see the repeat of what happened when we failed to qualify for the AFCON in Angola.
By Siphiwe Hlongwane
