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Pressing Issues: Youngsters are on the sidelines because the fans want the wins

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Sport24 columnist S'Busiso Mseleku (File)
Sport24 columnist S'Busiso Mseleku (File)

Watching the Soweto derby last Saturday and then Kaizer Chiefs dismantling a high-flying Golden Arrows on Tuesday night got me thinking.

The biggest rivalry in local football had again produced all the thrills, spills and frills we’ve come to expect, including goals.

Of course, maybe not quite so much if you are a Khosi For Life.

But to be honest, Amakhosi were outplayed, out-thought and outsmarted – outdone in every department in the derby. Even the consolation goal they got was a fluke.

But then, on Tuesday, they came up with a fresh, and thus refreshing, approach. They were full of verve and panache – so much so that just as the Saturday scoreline by which they lost was not a true reflection of the game, they could easily have found the net much more on the day.

I guess this can be blamed on Mzansi football’s perennial Achilles heel. You know mos what I’m gaaning on about.

Chiefs fielding the tried-and-tested (sometimes they qualify to be called the tired-and-tested) players, might have made Bucs coach Eric Tinkler and his technical staff’s job easier in planning for the match.

But throwing in a bunch of youngsters against Arrows appeared to be the trick to derail the plans of Serame Letsoaka – himself not a slouch and a master tactician of note.

If you doubt Letsoaka’s nous, just look at the clubs that have fallen victim to his enviable plotting and you will find the likes of Orlando Pirates and Mamelodi Sundowns.

Yes, before being outsmarted by his former team-mate – Steve Komphela, who he captained at Free State Stars (then known as QwaQwa Stars) – he had managed to outwit Tinkler and Pitso Mosimane, among others.

My observation goes further and reveals that maybe the pressure that is exerted on our coaches is why many young and promising players do not get the required exposure.

This has the outcome that even Bafana Bafana – South Africa’s senior men’s football team – is heavily populated with players who are long in the tooth.

This makes it easier for South Africa’s opponents to plot against us because they always have a rough idea of which players are going to be in the starting line-up.

In Chiefs’ starting line-up in yesterday’s “let’s do it again” Telkom Knockout Cup match at FNB, maybe Komphela should have thrown in more youngsters like Pule Eksteen, the player he was chastised by the fans for for pulling out midway through the game against Arrows.

This trick could have caught Tinkler and company unawares, and possibly helped to secure the win.

However, being as fickle as they are, Mzansi fans put undue pressure on mentors.

After last Saturday’s loss, there were already some supporters doubting Komphela’s fitness to occupy the hot seat at Naturena.

This was just the club’s second defeat this season following their 1-0 loss to Ajax Cape Town in the MTN8 final.

So spare a thought for South African soccer coaches. They often find themselves between a rock and a very hard place. While they are criticised for not using young-and-untested players, there is always enormous pressure on them to win matches, no matter the occasion.

It is up to the fans and club bosses, to some extent, to decide whether they will tolerate clubs experimenting with young, untried and untested talent every once in a while, or if they will keep demanding wins at all costs.

If the latter is the answer, then supporters must just bear watching the same players week in and week out until they are well into their thirties.

Follow me on Twitter @SBu_Mseleku

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