Broos calls for new approach to football in SA

One of the issues Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos wants to discuss with Premier Soccer League (PSL) coaches is training methodology and how to professionalise players. 

Broos, who guided Bafana to third spot at the recent Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) in the Ivory Coast, said this week SA footballers need to be pushed harder with a different approach to training.

For many years, there have been largely informal discussions on adopting the SA style of play where the technical skills of local players can be maximised and help them become more professional. 

With regard to playing philosophy, the SA Football Coaches Association has been in the forefront of those discussions, but the reality is that teams have coaches with different philosophies. 

When it comes to ill-discipline and lack of professionalism on the part of SA players, cases are well documented and Broos said it was time players were made to take responsibility. 

Coaches have in the past made the point that some players have failed to handle fame and fortune because of a variety of reasons, such as lack of education and coming from poor, or sometimes, dysfunctional family backgrounds. 

Speaking after he named his 23-member squad for the Fifa Series pilot project in Algeria next week, the outspoken Broos quoted a former Bafana star striker who once said SA players are in a comfort zone. 

“We have to count on the PSL and maybe we have to train differently, maybe we have to ask more from the players,” Benni McCarthy said. “Players have too much of a good life here.” 

Broos said: “Maybe we have to be a little more severe with them [players], maybe we have to ask them to be more professional and not only on the pitch but away from it also. These are things we have to discuss [with the PSL coaches].”

The coach also wants to find a way for talented teenagers, who are knocking on the Bafana door,  to get international football minutes at tournaments like the African Nations Championship (Chan) or Cosafa. 

“If they want to see progression in SA football, you can’t always count on Bafana Bafana but you need a foundation. For the last two years, it was us [Bafana] who looked and tried the players. 

“This is not the right way to work, they have to go to Chan and the Olympics before they arrive at Bafana, this is what we want. From there you can start building something and we need a bit of collaboration from the clubs and  the PSL. 

“We have new players but these players you will only see when they play for Bafana because clubs don’t want to release them for Chan. I can’t always test the players with Bafana because we play in qualifiers, you cannot take that risk. 

“So they can play at a lower level of international football like Chan and Cosafa where they can show their skills and also earn international experience.

“So, I hope there is a little co-operation from the clubs and the PSL to release the players for those [lower level games] so we can build a team. It is important for SA football to be at Chan, the Olympics, Afcon and the World Cup.”  

Broos also decried the fact that junior national teams always play when there are qualifiers. 

“This is also something that I have said in the past that they [junior national teams] don’t play enough matches because they only play when there are qualifiers. Let’s hope we can make a plan but again it is not only us [Safa], you need collaboration and support from other important stakeholders like the clubs and the PSL. If they don’t support this, then it is going to be impossible.”