Following Bafana Bafana’s win over Egypt in the Nelson Mandela Challenge thanks to midfielder Mpho Makola’s goal at Orlando Stadium on Tuesday night, the question and answer part of the post-match press conference was naturally dominated by troubleshooting the goal-scoring conundrum, among other things.
But Shakes Mashaba, the national team coach, offered no solution, arguing that it wasn’t his responsibility to get Bafana strikers firing again when ‘we’ve got only three days to deal with that’. The coach distanced himself from looking at alternatives for a side that has been firing blanks in his tenure and before he returned to the hot seat. It is only fair to acknowledge that Mashaba’s predecessors (Pitso Mosimane and Gordon Igesund) also bemoaned the lack of goals.
However, they never shrugged their shoulders the way Mashaba did shortly after a victory that will go down the history books despite it’s status as a meaningless encounter that was preceded by the failure to qualify for the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations in Gabon.
“I want to put it straight. Most unfortunately, there is nothing we can do in the Bafana team because we’ve only got three days to deal with that. It’s very much impossible. This problem is not only in the Bafana team. Those questions must also go to clubs,” Mashaba explained. “All club coaches, when they have lost, will tell you they have got problems in scoring goals”
So, what’s the solution? If the national team coach can’t commit to searching for answers, then there is very little hope. But here are a few thoughts.
Hire a forward’s coach
The one thing the senior men’s football team has lacked over the years, and perhaps this is an indictment on the Safa leadership, is how to use former players, especially those who were part of that glorious 1996 Afcon winning team. Mashaba pointing out that there is a scoring crisis is not just a way to find an excuse because even when he was winning matches he still moaned about the team’s goal ratio. The fact that those he succeeded on occasion lamented this should be enough to get the expertise of a Shaun Bartlett, Benni McCarthy or even Siyabonga Nomvethe to try and assist. Easier said than done, but it’s at least a step forward.
Brainstorm forum for Bafana and PSL
Mashaba said in his tenure to date the communication lines between the national team coach and his league counterparts were poor. “We meet casually, but never really discuss tactics. I don’t think we have ever met in a room together to discuss football,” he explained. There is clearly a vacuum there and PSL coaches can get involved and throw some ideas at Mashaba or whoever takes over from him in future. Perhaps they can even suggest to the coach which players can be used as alternative strikers when the current crop is struggling to deliver. This has to be a collective effort. No shrugging of shoulders, please.
Follow Mazola Molefe on Twitter@superjourno
The Star