Coaches are sentimental where players are concerned

England national football team coach Gareth Southgate has left out Manchester United talisman Wayne Rooney in the squad for the upcoming international matches.

For me, coaches like Southgate should be encouraged and not vilified.

Rooney himself would be the first to admit that he’s no longer the same player he used to be. Unfortunately, most international coaches tend to stick with floundering former stars, fearing a backlash for dropping them.

Coaches in general are a strange breed of people. Some of them tend to be loyal to players they have coached before. Some go as far as calling those players even thought they are bench warmers at the club.

Even in our Bafana Bafana, there have been strange selections over the years. Shakes Mashaba, for instance, simply couldn’t resist calling Jackson Mabokgwane, even when he wasn’t playing at Pirates. Reason? Sentiment.

Mashaba has coached Mabokgwane since junior ranks. Football coaches can be sentimental fellows. That’s why some coaches when they join a new team, the first thing they do is to recruit players from their previous team.

At times you will find one player following a coach to every club he coaches. For me, there should be one selection criteria for the national team, and that should be current form.

On current form, Southgate is spot on as far as Rooney is concerned. Rooney is no longer a regular at club level.

Here in SA, Dino Ndlovu plays and scores regularly for his Azerbaijan club Qarabag but continues to be overlooked.

Richardson Mzaidume, Pimville