It's often said that you cannot win titles with youngsters, but Orlando Pirates' DStv Diski Challenge (DDC) coach Joseph Makhanya has identified the big role young players are currently playing in a team challenging for titles at senior level.
Pirates are in a battle to keep their Betway Premiership titles hopes alive and there's a group of young players, who passed through the hands of Makhanya in the DDC team, that are playing a role at an important time in the season. Not only are Pirates trying to keep themselves alive in the title race, but there's the CAF Champions League and Nedbank Cup on offer. And the young brigade is certainly having a say.
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Relebohile Mofokeng is leading the pack as the most influential youngster, followed by Mohau Nkota who got his big break in the first team earlier this season. More recently, Siyabonga Ndlozi and Mbekezeli Mbokazi have stepped in and shown that they can deliver in the absence of Thabiso Sesane and Olisa Ndah.
The one club that has seamlessly blended youth and experience is Spanish La Liga giants Barcelona, who are currently in a position to win the title this season, with a game in hand at the top of the table.
At the moment, Pirates are 15 points behind Premiership leaders Mamelodi Sundowns, but their hopes are not over yet. And as long as their youngsters keep coming to the party, there's no telling what success they could get by the end of the campaign.
"The biggest win in development is when players progress to the next level. We want our team to have better quality, mixed with youngsters who can get a chance, so that the future of South African football is even better. When you look at the market, it's inflated. People are spending R20 million for a player, so teams need to start thinking about developing their own. Yes, the higher level is about winning because jobs are at risk, but we can produce our own as well. We are seeing a lot of these youngster coming through and credit should be given to coaches because they trust these young players," Makhanya said to Soccer Laduma.
"You've got to appreciate the way the coach (Jose Riveiro) is doing things. He blends them in and finds a game for them to get into the team. It's a huge responsibility. And we should not forget that experience is vital. The Betway Premiership is tough, so you need to find the right balance of blending in the youngsters with the senior players. What youngsters normally bring is hunger into the game and the experienced players bring the calmness of doing things, so the balance becomes proper. We've seen Rele scoring a winning goal in a final, so it tells you that if things are done properly, then they (youngsters) can definitely win trophies and assist in winning the league. We'd love to see the team doing that (winning the league)."Developing their own talent means Pirates don't always have to pay exorbitant fees for players in the transfer window. Expectations were that the Buccaneers would add one or two new faces in the January transfer window, but they've relied on their own. Mbokazi and Ndlozi, the two DDC graduates, have come in to add to the team as they try to get more trophies.READ: Broos' Reason For Calling Up Bucs Target"In the second half of the season, people anticipated that Pirates would go into the market and spend a lot of money to bring in players, but they relied on promoting their own, which is positive. Kudos to the coaches at the top because the timing of when they are introduced is key," Makhanya said."If you were to compare it to Barcelona, they've got a strong development. When you look at Barcelona, Ter Stegen is still there, Robert Lewandowski is there, Raphinha is there and Frenkie de Jong is there. These are experienced guys in the Barcelona team and then they have the youngsters. So, it tells you that they are striving to have balance, so that they can be competitive."Pirates have certainly proven to be a competitive side with their youngsters on board. Now, it's about waiting to see if they can deliver the biggest prize in local football - the league title.
