No crisis yet, but there needs to be a re-think

It was a huge disappointment to see Bafana Bafana failing to qualify for the Fifa World Cup in Russia next year. I am certain the entire nation was feeling sombre when we lost the game to Senegal.

This goes to show that we need to take these qualification stages very seriously from the first game. We have the talent and we have seen it time and time again, including in Friday’s game.

The main issue here is that we need to work on our attitude and maintain our focus at all times and not leave things for the last moment, as happened here.

I know we wanted to beat Cape Verde in the two games we played against them, but I don’t think the players were individually motivated enough for those games and those results are what ultimately let us down.

I think it is also important that at this stage we should be able to beat the so-called smaller countries whenever we come across them at whatever level and competition.

We are not in crisis but we have reached a point where we need to manage our team very carefully, and I say that in relation to bringing in the younger players.

I believe we need to keep the senior players who are showing the hunger and desire, and at the same time, bring in the youngsters who are doing exceptionally well and are excelling at their clubs so that there will be a smooth transition and integration of young players being introduced into the senior team.

I am not calling for wholesome changes in the squad because the danger of prematurely introducing youngsters to the national team might end up killing them psychologically with the pressure they will find themselves under at the highest level and they might not recover from that.

At senior team level, you need to remain positive at all times, but the youngsters will crack and then negativity will start to creep in, which is what we are not looking for in national team players.

When we bring in young players, it is important to introduce them on a clean slate.

Tonight’s game is a dead rubber as we know, but I don’t expect to see the young players like Phakamani Mahlambi and Motjeka Madisha being thrown into the deep end yet because one thing we need to consider is that we are now playing for the pride of the nation tonight and nothing else. It is very important not to forget that.

I am not expecting a lot of changes because the junior players we have might not be able to handle the pressure that comes with facing a team like Senegal. Even though the Senegalese will be in celebratory mode, they will

still go all out because there are players who still want to impress the coach and show him they are worthy of being named in the final squad that will go to Russia next year.

We need to make sure we phase out the old while at the same time we gradually introduce the new generation. If we do a complete overhaul or wholesale changes going forward, we might get a number of big hidings and they could end up hurting them psychologically.

However, the majority of the young players that are there have been in the national team structures for quite some time, they have the experience of donning the national shirt for age-group teams, but representing Bafana is a lot different and it comes with a lot of pressure in every game.