Making it overseas so tough for youngsters

Our football is confronted by a problem that has been there for a while and it’s high time we address it. I’ll get to the point – why are most of our exported players struggling to make it in overseas leagues?

This is something we really need to look into, especially at club level. We need to start developing players with the goal of sending them abroad. They need to be taught the basic elements of survival away from their home comforts.

We need to instil this into them at a young age so players know when they go overseas, this is what they should expect and this is what is expected from them.

When European scouts come here and see our players, they love them because they are exciting. But once they get to Europe, they seem to struggle, which limits their chances of being successful.

The time has come to intensify the development of our players because we have a number of academies which do a great job in terms of taking kids off the streets.

However, I don’t think they are doing enough in terms of understanding the development of players according to specific age groups. I feel this is where we are missing it because, for instance, a 10-year-old player needs specific training programmes as compared to an 18-year-old, because different age groups require different details.

Once we have that, then it will become easier for our players when they go overseas, they will not just go there to sit on the bench or have their heads in between their knees and sulk.

We want to hear that our players are making an impact at their clubs and more importantly, they need to try and play in the top five leagues in the world. We haven’t seen that happening with recent exports as compared to our African counterparts.

Part of the issue is that players are exposed to how much money overseas players are earning, and that attracts them (even if they do not play) though there is nothing wrong with that because an individual has to look after his or her family financially.

I don’t think that as a country we are doing enough in terms of developing these players to be competent at the highest level of the game.

As national team coaches, we need to change our monitoring approach. We need to sit down and do our own research, to find out why players who we exported don’t do well abroad.

Some of them happen to be top players in our local league. For example, Tefu Mashamaite left the country for Sweden after winning all the individual accolades and a league and cup double with Kaizer Chiefs – he came back after a season, while Kermit Erasmus was doing well when he was bought from Orlando Pirates, but now he

is without a club after being booted out by Rennes in France.

We need to find answers as to why our players are failing to perform. These issues need to be detailed by coaches in order to arrest this challenge we are faced with because it is a huge concern. The South African Football Association has to lead the way, but the implementation has to happen at club level.

There needs to be a well-functioning support system in order to nurture our talent at a young age. Who is to say we are not capable of producing a player who will win the African Footballer-of-the-Year award?

However, this goes both ways – inasmuch as it is the responsibility of the coaches, the players also need to take matters into their own hands. They need to make sure they spend time on the pitch.