The Sunday News
SO, here we are again. Dreams up in smoke. Aspirations burnt to ashes and the fiery Bafana Bafana passion that was regained is now dampened.
While coach Ephraim “Shakes” Mashaba has been very successful with the team leading up to the tournament, eliminating the reigning Afcon champions in the process, Mashaba — just like any other coach — is not exempt from criticism.
The average age
Vision 2022 has become the buzzword on social media when the national team is playing. We are seven years away from 2022, that therefore means we are at the beginning of the development cycle. However, what is surprising is that the average age of the squad was 26,4 years at the Afcon. There is only one player under 22 years of age, Rivaldo Coetzee.
If the goal is to build for the long term then why is it — with the exception of Rivaldo Coetzee — that there aren’t too many youngsters in and around the team? Since it’s not an extremely young squad, it does seem that the main target is qualification for Russia 2018, and rightly so.
Tactics
While it is very easy to criticise tactics only when a team loses, some issues have been there even during victories. Even under coaches such as Carlos Alberto Parreira, Bafana dominated possession but failed to win consistently, so one can’t fault Mashaba too much right now. However, with the type of players we have, who have great technical ability, playing a rigid 4-4-2 system has not optimised the strengths of the likes of Sibusiso Vilakazi. There seems to be no link or fluidity between midfield and the two at the front. Contrary to belief, our chances have mainly been created through direct balls rather than quick, incisive short passes. Furthermore, we are also very open to the counter by teams who attack with speed as we are often outnumbered and overrun in the middle of the park.
Mashaba’s in-game management with regards to tactics was also disappointing. When the going got tough and the opposition pushed for an equaliser, it seems the coach could not do much to maintain control of the game or slow the pace of the game. It is no coincidence that Bafana led in all three games yet gained only one point. All the blame surely cannot be put on the players’ lack of experience.
Rotation
While at first many thought Darren Keet was being punished for his mistakes in the Algeria game, time revealed that the coach clearly wanted to give each keeper a run at the tournament. A goalkeeper forms part of the spine of the team, and it is surprising that the coach decided to rotate such an important position at a big tournament. Considering that injuries to key centre backs already meant consistency in selection in defence was impossible, putting in a new keeper in each game surely made matters worse.
Finishing
The old monster came back to bite us. Every Bafana Bafana coach has complained about this problem. And like a stubborn mosquito on a hot summer night in Limpopo, it refuses to go away. We could not take our chances, so now we have to take the first plane back home.
Lessons will be surely learnt from this experience and Mashaba and his boys are bound to return stronger in the next tournament. The road to 2022 has only just begun and the public will have to remain patient and simply have faith in Shakes. — Goalcom
