Pitso needs all the support he can get (and loads of luck)

Pitso Mosimane is a man on a mission. His plan to improve Bafana Bafana’s prospects in international football is clear and straight to the point. Safa as always, has pledged its full support for its coach.

Like many coaches before him who came full of ideas and plans for Bafana and the improvement of South African football, Safa promised full support when those plans were supposed to be implemented but Safa failed to play ball and the rest is history.

This time Safa must get its act together if we are to avoid further embarrassment. Bafana’s first-round exit in the World Cup on home soil was just not ayoba. Surely it served as a harsh wake-up call.

Taking a look at some of Pitso’s plans, I must say that some of them should have been implemented ages ago.

It doesn’t take a genius to know that a nation which fails to take care of and develop its youth properly is doomed to fail. Structured and organised youth football leagues should have been formed long ago. Safa should not have waited for Pitso to tell it that an under-20 regional, provincial and national league is needed. Almost every Bafana coach has raised that point. It’s a simple, logical step for a country that is serious about its football. If Safa is serious about supporting Pitso’s vision, we should see the under-20 league up and running sooner than later.

The reduction of foreign players in our PSL club’s starting elevens is another good idea, you only have to look at the English national team’s dismal performance at the World Cup to see an example of what an influx of foreign players on a local league can do to a national team. One cannot dispute the fact that foreign players can add value to our football, they have proven themselves over the years and they will continue to do so, but the situation needs to be controlled, two or three foreigners per team is enough. We need to see more local youngsters commanding regular starting positions in their teams, especially our junior internationals.

Which brings me to my next point.

The PSL announced that in the coming season all National First Division teams will have at least five under-23 players in their starting line-up. That’s a breath of fresh air, the National First Division (NFD) should not be a retirement home for old PSL players, or the flops who can’t make it in the big league. It should serve as a platform for talented youngsters to prepare themselves for the PSL. Pitso’s proposed plan of having two or three under-23 players in the starting line-up of PSL teams is another good idea from Jingles, but I feel we should have at least five or four at worst. That combined with the PSL announcement of its plan for the NFD will benefit not only Bafana, but our junior national teams as well.

Talking of junior national teams, Pitso has committed to work closely with Shakes Mashaba and Khabo Zondo, the under-23 and under-20 national team coaches. That’s a welcome relief. There is a lack of uniformity in our national teams, which affects the development and progress of our junior internationals. Hopefully that will end and we will see our coaches working together.

But working together should not end at national level.

Consultation with club coaches and support from them will do Pitso and his plans a world of good. Let’s hope they will work together. The days of every man for himself in football are gone.

Lastly, I just hope that the performance clause in Pitso’s contract won’t put the coach under too much pressure.