Tau should leave Ahly if he is not going to play there: Bafana coach Broos
Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos has suggested star attacker Percy Tau might need to leave Egyptian giants Al Ahly to regain his place in the national team.
A fit-again Tau was left out of Broos's Bafana squad for the friendly matches against Mozambique on Thursday night (8.30pm) and Angola on Sunday (3pm).
Both matches, which make up the final preparations for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against Liberia in March, will be played at Mbombela Stadium.
Since joining Ahly, Tau has missed a number of Bafana camps, mainly due to injuries and limited game time, especially after the departure of coach Pitso Mosimane from the Cairo club.
The former Mamelodi Sundowns player has played twice for Ahly this season, both times as a substitute, last featuring as a 71st-minute replacement in the Red Devils' Premier League game El Dakhleya on November 2.
Broos is adamant that is not enough for a national call-up.
“[Tau's situation] is a problem because he doesn’t play,” Broos said. “He was injured at the end of June and the league in Egypt was finished in August and he didn’t play any game after that.
“And now since the competition has started he has played 23 minutes [in total in 2022-23]. He came in for 18 minutes and he came in for four minutes.
“When you look at the performances of Percy in the previous games with Bafana Bafana, he was not the Percy of the highest level. I know him very well. I saw him play in Belgium with Anderlecht and Brugge. I haven’t seen him at that level again.
“I’m not blaming Percy — he went from one injury to another all year last year at Al Ahly.
“And I think he was very happy to have a coach like Pitso because he protected him. You saw the critics he had at the end of the [past] season and that is normal when you are not 100% fit and you have to play. You won’t reach your level.”
Broos said if Tau is not going to earn game time in Egypt he needs to find another club and playing destination in the January transfer window.
“One thing I hope is that he can get his position as Al Ahly or in January he finds another club where he will play.”
The coach said has been in contact with Tau about his place in the national team and the player is on the same page with Broos.
“Percy knows what I’m thinking about and he agrees with that. When you don’t play, you are not ready for the national team. It doesn’t mean if you are not playing for two weeks because of an injury or something else you won’t be selected. That is not what I mean.
“[Look at] what Percy did from September last year until now. I spoke to him a month ago for our camp in September.
“I said to him, ‘When you don’t play I can’t call you and he said, 'Yes, it’s better for me too because I’m not 100%.'
“I don’t think a guy who has not played for three months is ready to help a professional team. When Percy Tau has not played for months, he is not ready. That is the reality.”