‘Some keepers are protected’

The test of mental strength Virgil Vries had to endure months after his release by Kaizer Chiefs has benefited Swallows FC. The Birds have had a reliable set of hands in n all 16 months they have had the Namibian in their books. Instead of sinking into an emotional wreck, Vries has turned what was a bitter end at Chiefs into a sweet ride in Dobsonville, even if he admits some other highprofile goalkeepers are more easily forgiven for the mistakes they make. He spoke to KICK OFF’s Lovemore Moyo.

When Kaizer Chiefs released Virgil Vries at the end of April 2019 after a couple of horrendous errors by the Namibia international goalkeeper, there seemed to be just cause in pronouncing his career dead and buried.

He was labelled an incompetent keeper not good enough for Chiefs after clangers led to defeats to Mamelodi Sundowns and Cape Town City.

After his exit at Naturena he was thin on confidence and confused for what seemed like eternity as days became weeks before they rolled into months.

Then after almost five months he found a new home with then GladAfrica Championship club Swallows FC.

“In football you work with energy and you must trust God in the process,” Vries says. “I think with what I have done, a lot of players would have failed and given up.

“This was a chapter for me to grow stronger. You can only humble yourself and say thank you to God for giving me the courage and the strength because in my prayers I have always asked for wisdom, guidance and strength in order to overcome the hurdles in front of me,” he notes.

The deep breaths he takes in between talking about this period give a true reflection of the struggles he faced at the time.

‘I didn’t want another PSL club’

It would feel lonely on some occasions, but his mental state and support structures took him through that spell when he

even turned down moves to other PSL clubs at the time.

“You must understand that in the circle of football these things happen and if you have the right people around you then you won’t feel isolated. There are certain places that you must try and stay away from as a way of protecting yourself.

“You don’t need negative energy when you are working hard to get an opportunity elsewhere. Your character and belief in yourself play an important role. Are you allowing yourself to go into that slip where some people push you to, or are you going to pick yourself up?

“However, in picking up yourself you need to be in certain spaces where you will feel real energy with people that are being genuine with you. I had my family and agent [Jazzman Mahlakgane] with me. The smile I saw in my kids everyday was the motivation that pushed me.

“I had three opportunities in the PSL at the time but then because my mind wasn’t in the right place, I didn’t join them. “I wanted to get myself into the right frame of mind to be a better person when

I join a club rather than joining a club just seeking to prove myself after what had happened at Chiefs,” explains

Vries.

Joining Swallows in September 2019 while they were in the GladAfrica Championship appeared a step backwards considering that the last employer had been a club of Chiefs’ profile.

“I didn’t want to go to another PSL club because I was going to be judged based on what had happened at Chiefs. Going to a First Division club meant less pressure without being a focal point.

“In the First Division I was able to play and get my confidence back again in a process that suited me. I needed to gain back all that I had lost and that would only happen in a process like the one I went through then.

“Most players make the mistake of thinking that going to the second-tier is a step backwards. If you are going through certain things and you want to grow, then you must understand the process of regaining your confidence.

“If you are under the telescope and in the limelight, regaining your self-belief becomes difficult. I know most players would have seen this as a step backwards, but I felt this was step to help me heal.

Rediscovering himself

The 29-year-old says the process of trying to rediscover himself created conflict in his head after he dropped down from the PSL.

“There is always that thing saying I must stay in this league, yet you are not allowing your body and mind to recover. When everything is not aligned in your head you will be influenced by emotions and wanting to prove a point when it is not necessary.

“Whenever you want to prove a point to anyone then the battle has already been lost. With wanting to prove a point you are merely hurting yourself.

“You shouldn’t be stuck in the past and be th thinking, ‘I can still do this and that’, but rather allow yourself to get into the new w space and accept it for what it is by emb bracing that new chapter.

“B Being in denial and not being honest with your rself is a dangerous habit and it happens with h a lot of players,” he says.

Th hough it has been two years since his last appe earance for Chiefs, which subsequently led t to his departure, the kind of blunders that he p paid the price for have continued.

In fact, the bloopers by Chiefs keepers have e turned into a comic show with both Itum meleng Khune and Daniel Akpeyi taking turn s to commit suicidal errors. But the pun ishment hasn’t been as harsh as Vries rece ived.

“T The truth about goalkeeping is that you can save anyone, but no one will save you.

If a striker s misses a chance it is not the same as when w a keeper makes a blunder. Being the last l line of defence is what makes your mist takes costly.

“A As a keeper you will always be scrutinised for t he mistakes that you make instead of the s saves that you make. In South Africa it is diffe erent because you need to have a certain repu utation to be protected for the mistakes that you have done.

“B But then for a goalkeeper that we maybe

“IN THE FIRST DIVISION I WAS ABLE TO PLAY AND GET MY CONFIDENCE BACK AGAIN IN A PROCESS THAT SUITED ME.”

don’t like or are not happy with, we go for his throat not realising that a mistake that this keeper you put under the bus has made can also be made by the one that you are protecting. As a keeper these are the type of things that you must deal with.

“I always say that to be a goalkeeper you need to have the heart and belief in you, and mentally you have to be strong because of the kind of criticism that you will get.

“At the end of the day, as much as you want to take the applause, you must take the criticism as well. You can be the hero this week, but when you are the villain the following week, your teammates will make you feel it and that is the unfortunate part about being a keeper.

“You must find the courage to understand a mistake doesn’t define who you are and the quicker you get past it the easier it then becomes for you. I wouldn’t have been this mentally strong if it wasn’t for those experiences at Chiefs.

“It was a sour ending, but I cannot keep on punishing myself for letting that opportunity slip away,” says Vries.

Desire to succeed

Through the 16 months that he has been with Swallows, it has become difficult to ignore the contribution and difference that he has made to the side.

Though he joined five games into the 2019-20 campaign, he was still able to keep 13 clean sheets as The Dube Birds won promotion.

In the PSL season he had already kept four clean sheets in the first seven games conceding just three times – statistics that would make any goalkeeper proud regardless of which club they are playing for.

Yet he insists he is not clouding his mind with those numbers, even though he knows how h important they are.

“Numbers are important but for me they only o count at the end of the season. For now, the t next game is what is important. I want to perform p in every game and then do a review at a the end of the season.

“I’m not so much of a person that looks i nto numbers every day because I’m more i nto the growth in the game and getting betterb with every match.

“If I dwell on numbers, then I’m forgetting aabout my growth and that of the club, which i s more important because when the club pprogresses and I’m part of it then it gives mme joy. I know most of the goalkeepers take ppride in numbers but I’m not one of those. WWhat matters most is where the team is,” he i nsists.

In re-establishing himself, Vries has sent r reminders yet again about why he has r remained relevant in the domestic game f for a decade despite all the criticism and s scrutiny that he has had to face.

He feels Swallows have been flying high t this term because of the squad that has b been assembled and the fact that they h have continued from where they left off last s season.

“We believe in what we have, and the club h has done well in assembling the squad that we have. The desire to succeed is evident in the squad.

“What we did last season gives us the faith and belief to continue doing the same, which is winning matches, so we are building with the same urge. This is all a repetition because we are still going on with the same energy and same structure.

“The way we ended last season is the same way we started this season, and this is because that energy is still there. The chemistry and unity in this club makes everyone want to be part of the team. Everybody is working their socks off.

“The focus is always on the next game because it is always the most important game for us. In our minds the next fixture is what our focus is on because we want to do better and grow as a club. Anything is possible that way.

“There is still a lot of room to improve and learn so we can only be humble. As much as it looks like we are doing well, we are still not where we want to be as a club and that keeps ringing in our heads.

“Our priority for this term is to keep the club in the league and we shouldn’t be part of any relegation talk. Once we keep the PSL status then we look at what is possible next,” says Vries.

“YOU CAN BE THE HERO THIS WEEK, BUT WHEN YOU ARE THE VILLAIN THE FOLLOWING WEEK, YOUR TEAMMATES WILL MAKE YOU FEEL IT.”