RISE KHOSI Former AmaKhosi and Bafana Bafana player Shaun Bartlett said a strong Kaizer Chiefs is important for South African football. Picture: Michael Sherman/IOL Sport
Image: MICHAEL SHERMAN/IOL Sport
As a former Kaizer Chiefs player, Shaun Bartlett was encouraged by the strong start the AmaKhosi made to the current Betway Premiership season with two wins in a row under new coach Nasreddine Nabi.
Since then, though, it’s been more of the same with just one more win from seven as Chiefs find themselves in ninth place on the log after nine games.
Bartlett spent two seasons at the Soweto Giants from 2006, before turning out for five years with English outfit Charlton Athletic.
Now aged 52, Bartlett said the fortunes of Chiefs were closely linked to the popularity of the game in South Africa.
“I think it's very important for a strong Chiefs to compete in the league. It's just unfortunate that obviously they had this little blip in the season so far,” Bartlett told SportsBoom.com.
“I think they have a decent enough squad in order to compete. Maybe just mentally some of those players have a bit of a block as to really achieving what they're supposed to.
“I think that for me that is more concerning than the quality of the players. You've got to be consistent in your play. Unfortunately, we haven't seen much of that. With Kaizer Chiefs they give you a little bit of hope, and then they take it away again.”
On the international stage, since taking over the reigns at Bafana Bafana as coach in 2021, Hugo Broos has sparked excitement about the national team that had been dwindling. In fact, the last time Bafana qualified for a Fifa World Cup dates back to the 2002 edition.
In comparison to the world conquering Springboks and highly competitive Proteas cricket teams, Bafana has battled to achieve anything of significance since they won the 1996 Afcon title as hosts. That was until they finished third at Afcon earlier this year.
Bartlett was a part of that 1996 team, and is in a good position to give an assessment of Broos.
“He’s a very experienced coach. I think he's been around the block for some time. He's been consistent in his team selection which is good.
“And also the way they play. They don't really change. Maybe at times [they are] a little bit predictable, but hopefully I think he will analyse also what he can do better with the team to see if we can go all the way.”
“But I think the fact that we were unbeaten for so many games, it shows obviously there's progress and there's definitely a lot of improvement.”
Though star Bafana and Mamelodi Sundowns keeper Ronwen Williams missed out on winning the Yashin Trophy at the Ballon d’Or awards in October, the fact that he was nominated could be a watershed moment, believed Bartlett.
“It's great for South Africa and for Africa as a continent because I don't think we've had that before.”
“To have someone like Ronwen to be recognised, it shows what he achieved in the Afcon especially, saving those four penalties.