But
while Benni McCarthy has the best strike-rate in the Premier Soccer League, is
it because he still has the sharpness to thrive on the international stage or
is it because the PSL standard is so low that almost any English Premiership
second-hand can become a star locally?
The
state of the South African football has depreciated so much that the South
African footballing nation wishes to leave in the past good times. Desperate
times have hit so hard and bad that they have now resorted to the most
unimaginable, most preposterous options, which on a closer look are no options
at all – they seem to believe the only way out of this incommodious quandary is
to turn back the hands of time. They cannot bare the misery of current state of
the game. Look at this…
Orlando
Pirates’ Benni McCarthy is our best striker in the country and it is also a
fact that Bafana Bafana are in need of a quality striker. Having only started
10 league matches, come on 5 times as a substitute and scored 7 goals he
commands the best strike-rate in the PSL.
Interestingly,
Moroka Swallows’ Siyabonga Nomvethe comes second having scored 10 goals in 20
league starts. Katlego Mphela - 10 goals in 12 league starts and 7 substitute
appearances. Edward Manqele - 10 goals in 18 league starts and 2 substitute
appearances. Lehlohonolo Majoro – 7 goals in 11 league starts and 6 substitute
appearances. Eleazar Rodgers – 7 goals in 13 league starts and 6 substitute
appearances.
Bafana
Bafana strikers’ achievement of only 4 goals in the last ten matches for Bafana
Bafana has brought about an assortment of debates in search for a solution this
national crisis. Katlego Mphela’s miserly 3 goals plus Bradley Grobler’s
solitary goal in the last ten games paints a very bleak picture for the
national team. As a result, McCarthy, who recently shot to fame following his
much-celebrated brace against Kaizer Chiefs, is touted as a possible solution.
But
this tells a very sad story about the local game…
Calls
for McCarthy, and Nomvethe to an extent, back into the national team means there
is a general acceptance that the game of football in the country has failed to
progress since the peak years of these players. There is an implicit overall
acknowledgment that the local development structures have failed dismally to
produce replacements for these players to such an extent that the South
Africans see the need to call players out of ‘retirements’. This is tantamount
to an attempt to turn back the hands of time. It is impossible.
The
South Africans are so hungry for success that, if possible, they would choose
to live in the past. Perhaps, Phil Masinga has retired a bit too soon. And so
has, Shaun Bartlett, Fani Madida, Pollen Ndlanya, and other field players like
Doctor Khumalo, Helman Mkhalele, John Moeti, Lucas Radebe, David Nyathi, Neil
Tovey, etc. So useless are the local development structures that perhaps the
South Africans cannot even wait for the Biblical Second Coming of Jesus when
apparently the General Resurrection of the Dead will occur to bring back Sizwe
Motaung. Oh, may his soul rest in peace!
But
while McCarthy has the best strike-rate in the PSL, is it because he still has
the sharpness to thrive on the international stage or is it because the PSL
standard is so low that almost any English Premiership second-hand can become a
star locally? On a closer inspection, it is blatant the latter is the case! If
the PSL was not so overrated… if this league was really of a standard that all
and sundry portray it to be, how does one explain how our Treble Champions from
last season, Orlando Pirates got so easily knocked out of the Caf Champions
League by the lowly Libolo from Mozambique. Is it not because we always think
we are up there when we are actually down here?
It
was the very same McCarthy who failed to convince the Bafana Bafana technical
team ahead of the World Cup that he had the feet to take on the world. All of a
sudden he has all that it takes?
With
the current shabby PSL standards McCarthy looks better than many, but who are
the defenders to stop him if they cannot stop almost any striker in African
club competitions?
Can
you imagine the disaster that could happen if our ‘oldies’ played young and
vigorous African outfits?
In
our distorted and confused minds McCarthy is still the answer because nothing
is done to correct the predicament at the youth development. At the Provincial
u17 tournament (2011, December) there was depressing news: the youngsters who
were supposed to bring some hope to the nation were absolutely pathetic! Coaches
and media agreed that the SA talent was nowhere to be seen. Those provincial
teams were missing quality players and their coaches were incapable to produce
any promising performances. The level of coaching shows that there is no future
for our youth - not only for the U17, but for all levels.
Most
coaches when questioned admitted that they had no youth coaching qualification
yet they are responsible for the best U17 players in their respective provinces!
That’s insane! What is the SAFA Technical Committee and their Technical
Director, Serame Letsoaka doing to address this colossal crisis? Nothing!
That’s why we are technically bankrupt and the likes of McCarthy prosper after
their international ‘retirement’, still. After its recent Technical Symposium
SAFA, instead of coming up with some immediate measures to help remedy the
decay of youth development, are planning another symposium! SA football is one
hell of an organized chaos!
Let
us stop winding back the clock with the call-up of our former international
stars like McCarthy. Let us instead, for a change, do something to change the
present to prepare for the future!
By Editor
Original story: http://goo.gl/2QB8i
Email: editor@maximalfootball.com
