Lamontville Golden Arrows head coach Steve Komphela has explained why he believes modern football will soon require players with the skillsets of Jabu Mahlangu, Ace Mnini and Teenage Dladla.
With defensive tactics growing more and more advanced in modern football, more and more teams are becoming harder to penetrate, particularly when playing in a low block.
READ | Komphela likens PSL striker to Didier Drogba
Komphela believes such situations will the resurgence of creative players such as Kaizer Chiefs legends Jabu Mahlangu (formerly known as Jabu Pule), Teenage Dladla and Ace Mnini.
The former Kaizer Chiefs and Mamelodi Sundowns coach was explaining the importance of Arrows’ rising star Siyanda Mthanti, who has registered a goal and two assists from 21 appearances in his debut season of top-flight football.
"He (Mthanti) comes from our youth system, but the profile suits where he is playing. Where you say, go wide, exploit one-on-ones.
"If you look at even [Manchester] City, they put [Jack] Grealish, they say okay work on them, dribble, dribble, dribble. Even PSG, the goal scored by Rafinha comes from a dribble and a lot of games come from players of dribbling.
"Because coaches are so organized now, they form a block, so who is going to unlock them?
You need one-on-one players who are capable of dribbling. Sgwiji is like that.
"I’m sure many teams with time, will acknowledge that we need to return to the Jabu Pule-type of players, the Ace Mnini, Teenage Dladla, to unlock these defenses because everyone sits in a block.
"Look at Real Madrid’s, they sit 10 players inside the box, what do you do? You need a Sgwiji to dribble, you need a Rivaldo, crate a penalty, whatever.
"Because players that are just playing one one-two’s, those schemes can be predicted and in a block, they anticipate how the ball will move. So Sgwiji helps us in that regard."
ALSO READ | Bafana striker joins McCarthy, Pienaar in exclusive list
Arrows sit ninth on the DStv Premiership table with two wins from their last five league matches. Up next for Abafana Bes’thende is a league clash against Cape Town City.
You must be SIGNED IN to read and post comments.
Click HERE to register!
