The state of Alex football from the master himself

Mxolisi Mngomezulu, the technical director of Alex football, writes:

The technical director of Alex football provided technical insight and observation of how soccer has evolved in the Alex township over the year up until now.

With regards to Alexandra football 20 years ago compared to now, I acknowledge generation change in terms of the quality of football in our local township. What’s worrying is the high marginal difference.

It is generally not advisable to compare two generations however we can draw a conclusion based on outcomes of the past and the present. Years ago we were able to produce exceptional players with minimum infrastructure and equipment.

The Alexandra stadium catered for all teams of all age groups training simultaneously and the results were shown.

I attribute the exceptional talent of these players, giving consideration to one training stadium, tn the following aspects:

– Increased and improved awareness (insight) of the players (congestion at the stadium)

– Natural ability enhanced (the players matches and situational database increased at a rapid pace)

– Low levels of technical training coaching, but high game-related training

– Competition among teams and rivalry was a weekly doze in Alex

– Schools’ football was so relevant and exciting

– The level of fitness of players was optimal

– Discipline, character and focus was instilled by coaches and appreciated by the players

To the contrary, the current crop of players’ development is not at a level where we could boast about producing exceptional talented footballers and this can be attributed to the following:

– The frequency of their training programmes

– The eagerness and the drive to make it to the top leagues

– Nutrition and diet

– Specialised training focusing on positional play

– The lack of identifying strength of players at an early age

– Training that is specific and relevant to modern football games

– Football is not the only sport and competes with other sporting codes

– The lack of promoting younger players to older age groups in accordance to exception

– The lack of street soccer is a big factor

Note: Letter shortened