Chiefs made good signings, but Sundowns still going to dominate – Booth

“Kaizer Chiefs did well in the market last season and I think they have done even better in this period and I can see that the gap is not going to be that extensive.” Those are the words of former Mamelodi Sundowns and Bafana Bafana defender, Matthew Booth.

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Booth predicts that Amakhosi will give Downs a good run for their money in the league and domestic cup competitions, but believes that Chiefs and other DStv Premiership clubs still have lot to do before they close the gap on Sundowns.

“Financially, Sundowns have got a massive advantage on the rest of the 15 teams and I think they’ll continue to dominate if they keep the core of the team and make very clever additions in areas that are needed. I still see Sundowns being dominant because Chiefs have got a long way to re-establish the competitiveness in the league,” Booth says.

“I am just disappointed that the rest of the pack are not finding innovative ways to try and compete with Sundowns because they can compete with them if they get their scouting and their youth development systems in order. Over the last couple of seasons the gap has just been too big,” he added.  

Booth made reference and comparisons to the Spanish LaLiga, where Real Madrid and Barcelona have enjoyed unparalleled success, sharing over 140 major trophies between themselves.

“When you look at the Spanish LaLiga, teams like Atletico Madrid cannot compete with Barcelona and Real Madrid financially but they can compete in the field of play. They play in the Uefa Champions League and they won the Europa League and they often catch Barcelona and Real Madrid once in a while in the league. So they do compete on a limited budget,” said the

He adde: “What they do is that they put a lot of their resources into data capturing and getting the right players in. In South Africa, we hardly put any of our resources into our scouting systems. And to be honest, our youth system is just a box that is ticked. A lot of clubs don’t take youth development seriously. When we do produce good youngsters, a lot of them are produced for other clubs and that is something that needs to change.”