Every year there is tension between senior team coaches and junior teams coaches regarding where should players that qualifies to play for both sides play, this year it has been Jack Wilshere, Andy Carroll of England and Ofentse Nato of our beloved Botswana, Zebras.
The question is where should this two players play? There has been tension between the senior team coaches and junior team coaches regarding the services of these young stars.
These players should play for their senior teams. When Nato play for the under 23s we are wasting an opportunity to groom a new defensive midfielder at the under 23 because Nato is playing in a developmental team while he is finished product.
The actual fact is that, Nato is ready to play at the highest level and he has proved that by playing a pivotal role at Gaborone United and Senior Zebras. He should fight for his position in the Zebras lineup with Mogogi Gabonamong and Boitumelo Mafoko.
Coach Daniel Nare should look at the Under 20s and see if he can promote their defensive midfielder or give the other defensive players he has at Under 23s a chance to prove themselves. They need that game time and international exposure to be like Ofentse Nato. It is Nare’s job to produce more players of Nato and Lemogang Maswena’s caliber.
The other option for Mr Nare is to look around in the national league and look for potential defensive midfielders and give them a chance at the Under 23s. The main duty of the development teams is to develop player not to qualify for All Africa Games or Olympics Games.
A scenario where the Under 23 coach wants to use senior team material to win developmental games is a sign of failure from the coach. I respect Mr. Nare as a coach but what he is doing is totally not right.
Yes those two tournaments give the young stars the needed exposure and the competitive international games but it’s just a bonus to play there more especially for countries like Botswana where we are still trying to professionalize our football.
This issue of playing these young stars in both senior and junior teams maybe lead to the said players being vulnerable to injuries and burn out, because they will have to play 30+ games for Botswana chase. League games 30, Coca Cola cup, junior team, senior team, continental games for some clubs and that makes 30+ games.
The base is very important here, should we have development teams at all our football clubs in the country then national team selectors will not have any problem with development teams’ selection.
Everything will be smooth as that age group will be promoted throughout the football ranks and Botswana will have players to replace the aging players like Modiri Marumo, Dipsy Selolwane and the likes at the Zebras.
We should copy and benchmark what is good from the professional football countries and ignore what they are not doing rightly, The Jack Wilshere and Andy Carroll issue is bad for English football, and they should play for the senior team alone.
What the experts are saying:
"For me, the benefit of having younger teams is to use them to get the best players into the full team, exactly the same way it is at club level as it is at international. Andy has played a number of games for the younger teams, Under-21s and Under-19s, and he has played for the full international team, so it has certainly served its purpose in his development. The important thing is not to win a competition; it is to get people progressing through the system." Liverpool Manager, Kenny Dalglish. (The Sun Football online)
"I don't know but I feel the youth system is there to promote the players to play in the top team." Arsenal Manager, Arsene Wenger (The Sun Football online)
By Bakang Pesi Pesi
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