MTN8 players that Igesund will watch
Orlando Pirates goalkeeper Moeneeb Josephs
5 players to watch in the MTN8
During
the MTN8 tournament, which kicks off this weekend, these are some of the
players that Bafana Bafana coach Gordon Igesund will be keeping an eye on.
Igesund has almost completed his visits to the 16 Premiership clubs as he embarks on his journey of getting Bafana Bafana ready to host the Africa Nations Cup finals in South Africa in January and February 2013.
The MTN8 is the official start of the new PSL season and the tournament always throws up excitement with the first glimpses of the latest transfers from each participating club.
Here are eight players that Igesund will be watching very closely over the MTN8 quarterfinal weekend.
Moeneeb Josephs
The Orlando Pirates goalkeeper pulled himself out of national team reckoning during the end of Pitso Mosimane’s tenure as coach.
But Igesund wants him back and Josephs, by all accounts, will take his former Ajax Cape Town coach’s call and discuss a possible return to the fold.
Erick Mathoho
Igesund has always preferred experienced centre backs in his teams, but Mathoho is a big talent and how he adapts to life at new club Kaizer Chiefs will be of major interest to Igesund.
Especially because his centre back partner at Chiefs will be Morgan Gould who, along with Siyabonga Sangweni, are Bafana’s two main centre backs right now.
Can Mathoho push his way in as one of the key back-up centre backs?
George Maluleka
He never got enough of a look in for Bafana during his time at Ajax Cape Town for whatever reasons.
Now is Maluleka’s chance to continue shining with SuperSport United and make known his ability as a classy all-round midfielder.
David Mathebula
Igesund will know him very well, having been the coach to help resurrect Mathebula’s career at Moroka Swallows last season.
But how will he respond under Zeca Marques now that Igesund has moved on?
A large part of South Africa were shocked that Mosimane did not select ‘DVD’ after his brilliant campaign in 2011/12, but will he continue shining?
Eleazar Rodgers
Both Rodgers and Edward Manqele have their work cut out for them after being signed by Sundowns for big money.
But Rodgers has the experience to, in all probability, settle at the big-spending club the quickest.
Igesund will want to know if Rodgers can make the jump to national team level, where his aerial ability and deceptive pace could prove valuable to him.
Kurt Lentjies
Not much of a fuss has been made of Lentjies’ move from Maritzburg United to Bloemfontein Celtic, but he will like it that way.
The talented midfielder can make his team tick, but needs to add more consistency to his game in order to go up a level.
Hlompho Kekana
The powerhouse central midfielder made a positive debut season at Sundowns after leaving Bloemfontein Celtic and deservedly got a Bafana call up.
But he is yet to make a name for himself at national team level.
He is the kind of defensive midfielder that Igesund will look at. He is far stronger, physically, than Thaduysie Khuboni and offers a more all round game than the Golden Arrows captain who Mosimane used very often.
This will be a key time for Kekana to show himself again.
Daine Klate
Igesund likes wingers who have pace and can cross a ball consistently well. He need not look further than Klate.
Besides his crossing and winning mentality, Klate is also great on set pieces. He ticks most of the boxes of an Igesund player.
By Neil Greig, follow on twitter @neilgreigsoccer
Igesund has almost completed his visits to the 16 Premiership clubs as he embarks on his journey of getting Bafana Bafana ready to host the Africa Nations Cup finals in South Africa in January and February 2013.
The MTN8 is the official start of the new PSL season and the tournament always throws up excitement with the first glimpses of the latest transfers from each participating club.
Here are eight players that Igesund will be watching very closely over the MTN8 quarterfinal weekend.
Moeneeb Josephs
The Orlando Pirates goalkeeper pulled himself out of national team reckoning during the end of Pitso Mosimane’s tenure as coach.
But Igesund wants him back and Josephs, by all accounts, will take his former Ajax Cape Town coach’s call and discuss a possible return to the fold.
Erick Mathoho
Igesund has always preferred experienced centre backs in his teams, but Mathoho is a big talent and how he adapts to life at new club Kaizer Chiefs will be of major interest to Igesund.
Especially because his centre back partner at Chiefs will be Morgan Gould who, along with Siyabonga Sangweni, are Bafana’s two main centre backs right now.
Can Mathoho push his way in as one of the key back-up centre backs?
George Maluleka
He never got enough of a look in for Bafana during his time at Ajax Cape Town for whatever reasons.
Now is Maluleka’s chance to continue shining with SuperSport United and make known his ability as a classy all-round midfielder.
David Mathebula
Igesund will know him very well, having been the coach to help resurrect Mathebula’s career at Moroka Swallows last season.
But how will he respond under Zeca Marques now that Igesund has moved on?
A large part of South Africa were shocked that Mosimane did not select ‘DVD’ after his brilliant campaign in 2011/12, but will he continue shining?
Eleazar Rodgers
Both Rodgers and Edward Manqele have their work cut out for them after being signed by Sundowns for big money.
But Rodgers has the experience to, in all probability, settle at the big-spending club the quickest.
Igesund will want to know if Rodgers can make the jump to national team level, where his aerial ability and deceptive pace could prove valuable to him.
Kurt Lentjies
Not much of a fuss has been made of Lentjies’ move from Maritzburg United to Bloemfontein Celtic, but he will like it that way.
The talented midfielder can make his team tick, but needs to add more consistency to his game in order to go up a level.
Hlompho Kekana
The powerhouse central midfielder made a positive debut season at Sundowns after leaving Bloemfontein Celtic and deservedly got a Bafana call up.
But he is yet to make a name for himself at national team level.
He is the kind of defensive midfielder that Igesund will look at. He is far stronger, physically, than Thaduysie Khuboni and offers a more all round game than the Golden Arrows captain who Mosimane used very often.
This will be a key time for Kekana to show himself again.
Daine Klate
Igesund likes wingers who have pace and can cross a ball consistently well. He need not look further than Klate.
Besides his crossing and winning mentality, Klate is also great on set pieces. He ticks most of the boxes of an Igesund player.
By Neil Greig, follow on twitter @neilgreigsoccer
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