Retaining Pitso is a sure way to drop standards

AS LONG as Safa retains Pitso Mosimane as the head coach of Bafana Bafana, our rankings in Fifa will drop and our players will attract interest from the lowest football nations in the world.

Pitso, together with his employers, has no clue of international football trends and planning. That Bafana Bafana have failed to win a single match since August is but part of the confusion at Safa House.

To make matters worse, most of these games have been played at home – proving how inept and mediocre we have become. Two years after successfully hosting the 2010 Fifa World Cup, the legacy is a string of world-class stadiums and infrastructure.

We were supposed to have risen to the top 20 football nations of the world. But alas, the rankings are dropping at a pace quicker than the Gautrain.

Bafana Bafana’s demise has affected attendance at stadiums and impacts badly on our football brand. In turn, overseas scouts tend to undermine the quality of our teams. Our coach is obsessed with defensive tactics that inhibit creativity and adventure. He is an old-school type coach who lacks vision, ambition and is not result-orientated. He persists with a defensive 4-5-1 system in home games, af fording opponents the chance to play for a draw and get a credible result away from home. All the draws we played were 0-0 or 1-1, scores that vindicate my point.

Pitso continues to snub local former players, whose knowledge of the local players could enhance his technical team with fresher and better ideas.

On the other hand “SUFFER” (Safa) neglects development. Grassroots football is in a shambles and proper coaching methods and principles are unheard of. Continuity in terms of junior teams vis-à-vis Bafana Bafana is conspicuously lacking. Between 40%-50% of the current Bafana team have not played international junior football. This creates a problem with regards to team cohesion and identity.