Cape Town – There’s a lot more entertainment to keep people busy these days.
The world has evolved to keep man occupied with the advent of social media, satellite television, video games and all sorts of other stuff demanding our attention.
In the old days, it was maybe only books, radio and the occasional movie at the bioscope.
Sounds boring, hey? It’s not surprising that people such as our parents had up to 10 siblings, most of them born a year apart. If I had 10 children with today’s cost of living, I would probably cry myself to sleep every night ...
Footballers in the old days also had lots of children – most of them in different cities across Mzansi. Look at a few of the players playing in the PSL today and you will see the resemblance.
These days, though, footballers seem to keep themselves busy with Playstation games, with the Fifa football range the most popular of them all.
They also like to pose in tight pants and big sunglasses on Instagram, which would explain why most of them are so soft-spoken, probably because they are struggling to breathe.
Ajax Cape Town are getting creative to keep their footballers busy during these never-ending breaks in this ridiculous season.
The Urban Warriors seem to play one match and then have a break for two weeks. This must be terribly frustrating for a player, because lots of training sessions tend to become tedious as the only thing a footballer really wants to do is get on the park and play competitive football.
Over the last few weeks Ajax players have been doing the Jeep off-road experience, and yesterday they went for a hike up Lions head, with coach Muhsin Ertugral no doubt showing off his superior fitness up the mountain.
The problem is, tough, they still have 12 days to go before their next league game.
The Cape side haven’t been able to find a rhythm this season because of the gaps in the fixture list, because of the cup competitions and the Premier Soccer League trying its best to accommodate Orlando Pirates’ campaign in the African Champions League.
The sponsors seem to rule the roost when it comes to the scheduling of cup matches, and they prefer these games to be played on the weekend. The problem is that the teams not involved in cup action are sitting at home playing football on the Playstation.
These gaps in the fixture list, with some teams playing more than others, does affect the match-fitness of players. This was evident in Pirates’ Telkom Knockout game against Mpumalanga Black Aces, where the Bucs looked a lot stronger in the last quarter of that fixture.
The ideal situation would be to play these cup matches in mid-week and rather play the league matches over the weekend. It’s a recipe used in Europe with great success, and I actually think that you will get people to the stadium on a Wednesday night to watch a good cup match.
The other solution could be, as far the Champions League is concerned, to go back to a calendar season with the rest of Africa. This will put us on the same level as Africa’s giants when it comes to peaking at the right time in the competition.
For now, though, Ajax’s players are going to keep playing games on the couch and cut off their air supply with their jeans …
TWEETS OF THE WEEK
@JackWilshere (The Arsenal man tries to clarify his comments on foreign players playing for England): My view on football – going to a new country when ur an adult, & because u can get a passport u play 4 that national team – I disagree.
@KP24 (Kevin Pietersen jokes with Wilshere following their earlier slanging match): @JackWilshere I reckon the FA are just wanting to try out what’s worked for Cricket, Golf & Athletics. They all win trophies & medals! Ha.
WHO TO FOLLOW
@gazzaofficial: Paul Gascoigne has managed to gather over 300 000 followers in a matter of days. Now that is star power …
*Follow John Goliath on Twitter – @JohnGoliath82
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