The Mamelodi Sundowns clean sweep of three titles in the recently-concluded 2021/22 Premier Soccer League season has again exposed the gap between them and the rest of the league.
Wonderful a tribute as it may be to their brilliance, it also reflects badly on the overall quality of the league.
I’m a follower of the league and a lover of football in general, and I find it discouraging that there can be a team that has this degree of dominance in the top tier. What makes it worse is when I think about the many other things that need to be changed to improve our league and how the need for change seems to be lost on the powers that be.
Some of those changes need to be made by the clubs that make up the league, of course.
Last week offered a perfect example of all that is wrong with the recruitment processes of many of our clubs, with Kaizer Chiefs, AmaZulu and Sekhukhune United all making wholesale changes to their squads.
Chiefs released nine players before AmaZulu announced that 15 of their own, including an assistant coach and a goalkeeper coach, would depart.
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Sekhukhune thereafter confirmed that 14 players would part ways with the club, which made me think about how it is that all three clubs could keep so many players that they clearly don’t believe in, in their books.
Mind you, of the 15 that AmaZulu said they would release, only one – Thapelo Xoki – was said to be leaving because he was signed by a rival club!
I reckon the suits that run the PSL also have changes to make if they are serious about improving the product.
One of those changes is introducing the Video Assistant Referee that is long overdue. I cannot believe we’re still talking about the possibility of introducing the technology in the PSL when its need is so obvious, especially with the standard of refereeing that is not very high in this country.
The other important change has to be doing away with the sale of clubs’ statuses. I cannot think of a more destructive thing that can happen to a football league than to have clubs from other divisions buying their way into it.
The league has previously offered the explanation that it forces its hand when clubs end up failing to sustain themselves, but I’m of the view that those clubs should be allowed to die a natural death in the unfortunate absence of buyers who will keep the club’s name, instead of having rivals buy their places in the top flight.
On the pitch, scrapping the mandatory Man of the Match award could also go a long way in forcing players to improve their game.
I’ve witnessed far too many undeserving recipients of the award, and that’s because the broadcasters are forced to name one player that they thought stood out in each and every match.
If you watch the PSL you’ll know that it’s certainly not every match that has an outstanding player, and yet we continue to award mediocrity and encourage it in the process.
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