'Tso' Vilakazi tells critics of the local game to give it a rest: 'Sometimes we must give credit'

The jury may still be out on the quality of the football that was on display when the local game resumed a few days ago but this has not stopped former Mamelodi Sundowns and Orlando Pirates midfielder Benedict “Tso” Vilakazi from raving about the matches he watched.

Soccer fans delivered mixed reviews after watching the semifinals of the Nedbank Cup but Vilakazi was steadfast in his appraisal and said he was impressed by what he saw.

“I know that there are people out there who say the standard of the football was not good and all that.... I was impressed‚” he said.

“To see teams on the pitch means coaches worked very hard to prepare their teams after almost five months of no action due to the lockdown.

"At some stage it was not easy for the coaches to prepare because they didn’t know when the league was going to restart.

“Most of the times we criticise our coaches too much‚ but in this case we must look at the difficult circumstances under which they worked.

"Players have been sitting at home for months and it was not easy to pick up the pieces.

"I am proud of what our coaches have produced and I am expecting more good performances from the other teams as we go along."

Vilakazi showered praise on the coaches after Bloemfontein Celtic beat Baroka FC 3-0 in the first semifinal‚ and Sundowns eventually overcame Bidvest Wits 3-2 in a hard-fought encounter.

There were also two matches in the GladAfrica Championship on Sunday where Richards Bay played to a 2-2 draw with TS Sporting and Real Kings beat Cape Umoya United 2-0.

The retired former player followed the matches very closely and said credit must be given to the coaches who worked tirelessly behind the scenes to prepare their teams under difficult Covid-19 circumstances.

“The coaches have done a good job and sometimes we must give credit and not just criticize when things go wrong‚" he said.

"I am proud of what our coaches have done because to be honest it was not easy.

"I am a coach myself in the lower divisions and I watched from a distance so that I can learn because I may encounter a similar situation in future.

“I will definitely be talking to some of them to understand how they navigated through the challenges of training in social distancing and all that.

"I expect that the standard will get better and better in the coming games and that will make for an interesting race for the title‚ top eight and at the bottom of the log‚” Vilakazi concluded.