Soweto derby was disappointing

Published Mar 9, 2015

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It was like watching Bafana Bafana’s failed Africa Cup of Nations campaign in Equatorial Guinea all over again.

Saturday’s goalless Soweto Derby put the heart of the country’s football problem into sharp focus, but sadly the men who should know better seemed unable to see the bigger picture. Both Kaizer Chiefs coach Stuart Baxter and Orlando Pirates coach Eric Tinkler spoke in glowing terms of the match that was actually all about build-up but no threat to either goal.

Baxter termed it “probably the best 0-0 derby the crowd will see in a long time” while Tinkler said that “everybody gave it their all and no one held back.”

As with our senior national team in the biennial, continental showpiece earlier this year – Chiefs and Pirates were just not good enough.

Yes, there’s nothing wrong with a goalless match. But all is not right when a match does not produce goals because the two teams just don’t have a clue how to get to the opposition danger area.

And this was the hallmark of Saturday’s match in which both sides enjoyed possession to the extent of even providing entertainment for the watching crowd with some stylish play.

But neither side looked like hurting the other as that positive play almost always got spoiled in the final third of the field by a myriad of failings that have beset local game for many years. Lack of composure, indecisiveness, wrong decisions, over-elaboration, one-too-many touches and an unwillingness to take the responsibility when faced with goals ensured that both Itumeleng Khune and Brighton Mhlongo had a fairly quiet afternoon.

It was only after this was pointed out to them that the two coaches seemed to acknowledge that the match was not as fantastic as they’d earlier made it out to be.

“It was not a good game for the cardiac patients (coaches) on the benches,” Baxter joked in relation to the incredibly high ball turnover in the match.

Tinkler concurred: “The crowd would have been happy but for us it was very stressful.”

The Pirates coach added “we were let down by our final pass and our decision making in the final third was poor.”

It was this that saw Bafana return from the Afcon after just three matches, Shakes Mashaba’s team having come unstuck against the more polished and tactically aware sides such as Algeria and Ghana.

Those sides allowed Bafana to prance about with the ball all over the pitch in the knowledge that once they reached the final third, the South Africans did not have the ability to hurt them. At the FNB Stadium on Saturday, the likes of Oupa Manyisa – who was in Equatorial Guinea – and Sifiso Myeni had the crowd on their feet and cheering loudly with some slick play in the heart of the field only to resemble rabbits caught in car-lights once they got near the box.

Baxter feels it is about time South Africa worked hard to rid itself of this problem but acknowledges it can’t be done at the highest level.

“We need to teach our youngsters to learn to finish. There are way too many touches by our players in the final third. You know they say that you have an 80% chance of finishing if you take (your shot) on the first touch.”

Granted it might be a bit too late to teach some of our professionals who are also internationals those basics, but surely they all ought to know that the purpose of this game is to put the ball into the opposition net more than they do into yours.

But then again in a country where half the stadium stands up to cheer a player who dribbles an opponent and then immediately sends a pass astray – as they did for Reneilwe Letsholonyane on Saturday – you have little hope of things changing for the better anytime soon. - The Star

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