Monday 28 September 2015

A QUESTIONED CRITERIA FOR BAFANA BAFANA



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.












                                                  

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