Ajax Cape Town coach Muhsin Ertugral has hit out at the level of South African football.
The forthright Ertugral said the local game is too fast-paced and lacking in quality‚ a reason why there are no South African players in the likes of England and Spain.
“That side in Europe is a different world," he said.
"When I first came to this country in 1999 it was different football that was played. It is getting worse.
“Sometimes it is like looking at cars on the highway [speeding past]‚ precision is much more important.
"Players want to go to Europe‚ but who is going to take them there?
“The best player in our league [last season]‚ Lebo Manyama‚ is at Konyaspor‚ a great team in Turkey.
"They are not doing well and he is not even considered for the bench.
"And the coach there is asking me‚ ‘what is this’?
“Out there it is not easy.
"Tell me one player from South Africa that is competing in La Liga [Spain)‚ the Premier League (England)‚ in Italy or the Bundesliga (Germany)?
"We need to ask ourselves 'why not'?
"In the 1990s there was a lot.”
He says that much more is needed than skill on the pitch and that South African players might not be up to the task mentally either.
“It is like you are going from the primary school straight to the university‚” Ertugral says.
“I have a friend at Freiburg [in Germany] who works in the academy and he says every week the players must present a topic for discussion.
"Can you imagine doing that here?
“Our players can hardly talk‚ they just listen‚ they don’t offer feedback because they have been suppressed.
"These are elements they [players] need to be a little more educated on and that is our problem as coaches.”
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