As if the early exit in this year 2015 AFCON was not enough
to have South Africa and its football fanatics question Coach Shakes Mashaba’s
longevity in being credible following a successful quest in obtaining
qualification for the tournament.
What has been an unpleasant spell for coach Shakes Mashaba
after the disastrous storyline of this year’s African Cup of Nations, it seems
like what is more under scrutiny for the national team coach, is his less
understood or inexplicable criteria of selecting his squad. The forever
anticipated press conferences which are attended in order to listen to Shakes
Mashaba deliver a speech followed by a list of player’s names that are fitting
to play for the national team at that specific time, and such moments are
eyebrow raisers.
With that being brought to you attention, the question
which is itching on our tongues, is; “WHAT IS COACH SHAKES MASHABA’S SELECTING
CRITERIA?”
A team which firstly lacks a recognised captain sums up a
recipe for disaster. Not having a notable leader has left Bafana Bafana
wandering with no solid wins. The rotation of captains is one element which has
had the national team less organised and lacking a leader to lead from the
changing room and on to the pitch. The armband has been thrown left and right
and not rightly so, have we reaped the fruits of that manifesto.
A captain is very important, because he voices out for both
players (teammates) and the coach, it’s easy to offload responsibilities when
you have a figure you can always refer to as “My Captain”.
Moving on, it comes to great questioning as to how Shakes,
along with his technical team go about in the process of selecting players. A
few players mentioned in the squad on recent occasions have been the talking
points surrounding the “criteria”.
·
Tokelo Rantie, one player whose constant
inclusion in the national team has forever been questioned, Rantie was subject
as the scapegoat in South Africa’s poor performance in the previous appearance
in the African Cup of Nations. Rantie who is yet to feature in the starting
line-up for Bournemouth in this current 2015/2016 season and yet to even score
a goal for them. Yet Rantie is forever included the national squad. Is there clarity
in Mashaba’s criteria…?
·
Moving on, Dean Furman as the man who has worn
the armband for the national team on a few occasions and to some extent has
been recognised as the man to captain Bafana Bafana. Furman who was recently club
less after end his relationship with Doncaster Rovers. With that being brought
to light, it’s only fitting that Furman wasn’t in any action until being snapped
up by SuperSport United. With less action seen by Dean Furman and having been
called up to national team yet again, still the criteria goes under the
magnifying glass… Any sense unconcealed?
·
Another player whose inclusion is not very easy
to question and after being omitted in the squad to head to the 2015 AFCON,
Thulani Serero has been at the fortunate end of receiving constant call-ups to
the national team. Cream is a highly adored individual to the South African soccer
fraternity and his omission was a hard pill to swallow. But why is his inclusion questioned now? Well
despite being a player that plays top flight football, Serero is yet to be at
the receiving end of some game time for Ajax Amsterdam. His inclusion is a
rather sabotaging scenario because his failure to perform could put him under scrutiny
and of course people questioning his quality and further on to his commitment
to the national team.
To those who have fallen short to the favour of Coach
Shakes Mashaba, a lot has been said regarding the position we could be at, had
Shakes called up players such as Erasmus, Masilela, Tlolane, Teko Modise and
Letsholonyane just to mention a few. With the few players mentioned, they are
consistently performing almost week in week out. Is the criteria declared as
understandable?
Going into a match, one has to approach a match with a
tactical plan, with the selections of coach Mashaba, his tactics are not entirely
backed with back up plans because the depth in the selection is not forever
fitting to provide such. But then tactics are a topic for another day.
Still the quest and questions continue in finding the
answers to what the criteria of Coach Shakes Mashaba is, but nonetheless we
wish him all the best as coach of Bafana Bafana.
