Hhay’ngeke Makhanya, these tricks are not ice breakers

I was really disappointed earlier this week when I saw a video of an interview Joseph Makhanya did on television recently.

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Makhanya, the former Orlando Pirates fan favourite, is now the club’s DStv Diski Challenge team coach. 

The DDC is the PSL’s Under 19 league aimed at giving youngsters a platform so they can play competitively and graduate to the senior teams. 

This is the level where players should display their maturity and readiness for senior team action. 

But players from Makhanya’s team have been seen doing tricks on the ball that started a huge debate. Some like to call it showboating. 

When asked about it, Makhanya said it was ‘an ice breaker’ and gets his team to relax and play their best game. 

This really got my goat. I mean those boys should already be regulars at the senior team and knocking on Bafana Bafana doors if you look at the trends worldwide. 

But instead they are still doing street styles and tricks. I am not against the tricks and players showing their silky skills. 

Makhanya, these boys are old now for such tricks

But that has its own place and that is in the streets and amateur football. And this happens in every industry. 

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In music you find that there are rappers that are so good but they remain underground because their stuff is unsellable in the commercial market.

The same happens in football. You may have all the skills, but used wrongly at the wrong time and place, then they are useless. 

Instead of taking the ball and looking for ways to attack, they jump over it and dance. 

That is definitely not a mentality we want our youngsters to grow with, especially at this age and time. 

We are the ones who complain that our teams do not believe in young players. But if this is what our development coaches are teaching them, then I forgive the senior coaches. 

I would also rather have a Makhehleni Makhaula who will go about his business industriously than a youngster who will jump all over the place looking for personal attention. 

A real ice breaker in a football match is a goal. I hope Makhanya and other development coaches can teach this to our kids.