Players: Work on your Craft

Photo by Zweli Ndhlovu

I came across a Dave Minchella tweet asking which players we had forgotten about. The names that came up under that thread brought back memories of the players I used to go crazy over, anticipating the day they got their chance at the South African National Team “Bafana Bafana” and showed the world the amazing talent we know we have.

What PSL footballers did you nearly forget about from days gone by? I recalled Clifford Ngobeni - highly rated Ajax Cape Town prospect who went to Pirates. Disappeared off the scene so quickly.

— David Minchella (@David_Minchella) July 12, 2018

Naturally, with names that bring nostalgia, the question of what happened to those players is asked.

“They had so much potential…till this day no player had his talent...” Those type of thoughts starts to go through your head as you scroll through all these players, Sipho Nunes, Rene Richards, Calvin Sibeko and a lot more that could have done amazing things in football.

There is some whose potential was hampered by injuries and football politics (being blackballed unfortunately exists in our sports).

Then there are others whose destruction was the result of life choices which to a degree we blame the clubs and association for not educating enough. When the truth is most of these players were not dedicated to their craft, which is being footballers.

I’m not talking about showing up for the job (practice and games) but spending time actually trying to perfect their craft. Most of these players really ever put effort into their craft when they are trying to crack the professional levels, after that, they seem to just want to punch in time and leave like this is not something they grew up wanting to do.

Perfecting a craft is more than trying to copy your idol because it looks cool when you watch them do but understanding the need to have a certain skill and mastering it until you can do it in your sleep.

Most of the players who fell away too early all share a common thread of not being dedicated to holistically improving their skill. Players never take the initiative to see how far their potential could get them, they rely on the coaches to do all that heavy lifting. But those coaches aren’t the ones who go out on the field.

I understand, there is some role football associations, leagues along with coaches need to play of which they are not playing currently to a satisfactory level, but it is still up to the players to take their game to unimaginable heights.

Lastly, football is a craft in the same way artistry in all its forms is. It that needs to be perfected beyond development stages. Until our players realise that, the trend of almost players will continue.

A Game Of Thrones

Photo by Zweli Ndhlovu

“The crowned Prince is upstaging the King…”

I am probably paraphrasing here, but this is what a commentator said as teams went into halftime on Tuesday 11 April 2017. Paulo Dybala was giving the Barcelona a torrid time as Juventus ran out 3-0 winners in that game.

We have this fascination with crowning the new king every single season. I mean, we were already looking for the new Messi in 2008. We never let players just enjoy his career without us trying to get someone else to usurp that player.

We do not even wait for a player to reach the twilight of their career. In the PSL for example, we were looking for the next Thulani Serero when Serero was still 21, probably his best season in the PSL. Funny thing is when the player we touted as the next king fails to live up to the expectation, we turn around and act like at some point we never tried to elevate that player to King status.

Soccer is a fast-paced game, but the constant lookout for the next elite players is effectively killing off many players careers who were yet to reach their peak (some players peak late honestly) early. How many players have you thought “This player should give others a chance, so and so is here now and is taking their spot.” I think that is why in hindsight we realise how much a player was underrated in their generation because of the constant need for something new.

As fans, we are making football a game of musical chair where we constantly want something different in a short space of time. We never fully appreciate the players we have at the moment and only on their retirement do we realise how much we missed on because we searched for a replacement before it’s time.

Lost Passion

There comes a time when the sports that you love does not drive you. Where you still love the sport, but not enough to want to watch it, talk or write about it.

Which is weird for me because I have never been here before. I do not know how to react or deal with it.

So I am dedicating my time away to finding my passion for the beautiful game again. Rediscovering what made me love the sport in the first place.

Greatest Stat

My all-time favourite player would probably be Denilson then Messi. Yes, I know strange, a player who is probably popular for once being the most expensive player in the world and winning the world cup from the bench.

In actual fact prefer Scholes over Lampard, Henry over Shearer, Van Nistelrooy over Shearer, Van Persie over Rooney, Del Piero over Totti, Pirlo and Baggio combined, and Ronaldo (original) over Christiano. Almost my favourite players of all time are statistically inferior compared to some of their compatriots, but is this how we really judge the greatest player? With stats, achievements and which club they played for and which league?

Stats count sure, but it can’t quantify a players impact, for example, Michael Jordan, Muhammed Ali both do not have the most titles in history, but their talent and impact make those two the greatest players in their respective sports. Maxwell is not seen as the greatest player or even left back, but he is one of the most successful players when it comes to club achievements, why is he not the greatest? He worked hard though? Because his talents were never better than a Roberto Carlos.

I have always held the belief greatest player had a talent so undeniable that no amount of hard work would match up. Don’t get me wrong, some of the greatest players are a result of more hard work than talent, but there is a reason no defender is ever in debates about being the greatest player of all time. Besides defending not being a talent (That's the next post), defenders are hard working who get outshone by the talented attackers we all love and actually pay money to see.

My point is you can work hard and achieve those stats but is that enough to quantify calling a player the greatest player or do we only use it when we do not like the more talented player?

I digress …Back to Denilson, He was a phenomenal player whose talent could only be rivalled by Ronaldinho. His only downfall? Everything else! His stats were never up there with the greats and he just never was at the right club at the right time. 

Welcome back beloved

For all the suspense, heartache and jubilation you put us through. We missed you.

For all the debates, arguments and conversations you spark. We missed you.

For the oohs, aahs and almosts you give us. We missed you.

For all the yellow and red cards. We missed you.

For all the right calls, wrongs calls and close calls. We missed you.

For all the good goals, bad goals and own goals. We missed you.

For all the offsides, dives and no goals. We missed you.

For all the Mike Dean antics. We missed you.

For coaches tantrums, Bench sulking. We missed you.

For all the transfer rumours and speculations. We missed you.

For all the parked buses, all out attacks and kitchen sink throwing. We missed you.

For all the big teams, small teams and new teams. We missed you.

For all the brilliant tactics, insightful analysis and funny commentary. We missed you.

For all the post-match comments. We missed you.

For all the skills, tackling and techniques. We missed you.

For all the penalties, Free kicks and saves. We missed you.

For all the days you weren’t here in the off season. We missed you.

Welcome back beloved football.

Love The Game Right

Photo by Zwelizwe Ndlhovu

In the many stories I have heard of township soccer, two stories stick out for me at this point. First was the story of the coach who made it a tendency to walk into the field and start slapping the referee when his team started losing by quite a margin. The second was this team that had supporters that would threaten to beat up the referee after the game of their team did not win.

Granted that this violence was less team performance more a referee aimed. It shows a problem that goes beyond professional football. This is not the first incident we have seen where this happen or the last.  Even internationally there has been violence in professional games.

Which begs the question, why do we get violent for the game we say we love?

We say we love this beautiful game, we have a passion for it that is almost unparalleled. We’ve seen people get overjoyed by the feeling of watching their favourite player do his magic on the field, clapped hands when a wonderful goal has been scored (even if it is against your own team). I mean this sport is called the beautiful game because of the all-round feeling it gave not only the beauty it displayed on the field. And violence has never been beautiful.

So when we get violent in the game we say we have a passion for, where does this passion come from?

Does it come from a place of genuinely loving the sport or is it more hatred of seeing anyone that is not your team doing better than you. A loss should leave us disappointed not angry, if anger and violence are the result of the passion for the game. We need to re-examine how we love this beautiful game.

Surely we cannot say we love this game if we keep doing things that harm the game?

And it is not just on the pitch, soccer lovers are some of the most vile, homophobic, abusive people in sports. Ever read the insults when a team is not playing well? Supporters of the beautiful game are some of the nastiest people when things do not go their way. Soccer fans either want to leave you scarred physically or mentally.

South African soccer already suffers from low attendance already, the acts that we as fans confine to show each season does nothing but hurt the game, the beautiful game.

This is not healthy for our sport. I think it is time to re-examine our we love this sports and it's magicians.

Ballet for the Masses

Photograph by Zwelizwe Ndhlovu

As they say around my areas, Ke Dezember boss. This is the time where we will see the annual showcase of talent that PSL scouts have ignored for years exhibit their forgotten but incredible talents (we’ll discuss this later).

This is also the time where we see our beloved PSL stars returned to their roots and participate in a tournament. These stars risk an injury that can harm their careers and possibly end it just to play in these tournaments. But why? They surely do not get as much money from theses annual tournaments, so it must be for some other reason.

While sitting with colleagues we had this discussion and came up with a couple of reasons.

Groupies

When our PSL players return to grassroots soccer they return as heroes. They get lots of love (and hate from those who never made it) from ladies. With Soccer players having reputations of  being players (excuse the pun) it is quite understandable why one would think that.

Freedom

How many times have you heard Mushin say he has no problem with showboating as long as you use it positively? Well, it is called showboating for a reason and that is to show off skills that have nothing to do with going forward but are there just to drive the crowd wild. Grassroots soccer gives the players that freedom that professional levels do not really allow.

Crowd

Let’s face it, Kasi tournament crowds are the liveliest crowds you will find in this country!  And the biggest crowds you will probably play in front of in this country unless you play for Chiefs or Pirates.

Giving back

Grassroots tournaments are where most of our players came up and they feel that they need to remind people of where they come from so that no one thinks that they have sold out to European football and have forgotten our very own style here in Mzansi. In a way, they have danced in the big stages of the country and the world but sometimes they want to come back to their beginnings and just do one ballet for the masses.