[WATCH] No African dream: Cape Town City can use Caf break to rebuild squad
|Published
Fresh outlook: CT City need a shake up
Cape Town City will kick themselves when the league places are finalised and their named is not called among the teams that will play Caf football.
The Citizens’ campaign has been an emotional rollercoaster for all concerned, but fortunately for them everybody else in the league has been going through their own inconsistencies.
Some might say, the return to Confederation Cup was a disaster but I’d much rather say it was a huge klap in the face to skrik wakker and be honest about where they are at as a team!
#DStvPrem Log Standings: pic.twitter.com/0cytopkiIk
— Official PSL (@OfficialPSL) April 24, 2023
City are winless in four matches at the moment, after drawing three and losing 2-1 away at Orlando Pirates this past Saturday.
They are as a result stuck in fifth place and have lost ground on their competitors for a place on the continent.
There is now a massive six-point gap between them and Kaizer Chiefs who occupy fourth place, a further 11 behind Orlando Pirates who sit third which is the actual Confederation Cup spot.
Here's how Luphumlo Sifumba fared with his first taste of football in the #DStvPrem
— Cape Town City FC (@CapeTownCityFC) April 24, 2023
◼️ Shot on target 🎯
◼️ Switch of play 🔥
Positive impact from our 17 year old! ♥️ pic.twitter.com/mmtAIjzO49
They have 12 points to make up on second-placed SuperSport United, who are leading the race to join confirmed champions Mamelodi Sundowns in the Champions League.
In a tweet during the Pirates, I wrote that City is in an interesting phase as a club since they rebranded Black Aces back in 2016 to resurrect the old NFL outfit.
They’ve been able to make a lot of steals in the transfer market, which has been quite successful as they have been able to quickly establish themselves in the Premiership.
After starting with what you would call “rejects”, they have been able to mark off those short-term goals pretty quickly compared to many other young teams around them.
They, however, in year seven now and truly need to consider doing some things differently even if it did work for them in the past.
City has been looking outside for experience over the years, bringing in the likes of Teko Modise and the now-departed Mpho Makola to be those “big” players for the team.
They have since been able to build with their own club veterans over the years which means they now don’t have to look very far for experience.
Captain Thamsanqa Mkhize has become the club’s most capped player, meanwhile the likes Taariq Fielies and Thabo Nodada have all reached a century of appearances for the club.
They have even been a stop for some Europeans players as well, with Austrian midfielder Roland Putsche and Dutch goalkeeper Peter Leeuwenburgh rebuilding their careers with them.
Putsche returned home and is now a player-assistant coach in the lower divisions of Austrian football, while Leeuwenburgh transferred back to the Eredivisie is first-choice for FC Groningen.
The club can now even boast about some of their youngsters knocking on the first-team door.
Luphumlo Sifumba, the 17-year-old with the Roc-Nation deal, made his debut against Pirates is undoubtedly the one everyone is talking about, while Taahir Goedeman and Jaedin Rhodes are also sure bets for next season and beyond.
Their issue is obviously that of having to consider the risks of being a young team in the PSL.
Missing out of continental football might not be such a bad thing as it will allow the club to rebuild and give the youngsters the opportunity to full opportunity to take over where necessary away from the tough CAF environment.
I can’t imagine coach Eric Tinkler, especially the club’s office where the funds sit, want to go through a repeat of what happened this season.
They lingered in the bottom half of the table for most of the first half of the season, there was even the threat of relegation when action resumed after the World Cup.
Fortunately, things changed for the better for a period this year when they went on a run that saw them collect 13 out of a possible 15 points in January.
It’s been up and down since then, with some misfortunes but they were able to collect some maximum points in-between.
It’s time to consider turning the page and paste button to the youngsters to take the club forward with the current club veterans and only bring in quality that will push them a level up.
That kind of intention by the club might even convince star player and club top scorer
Khanyiso Mayo to stay and be part of the rebuild because at 24 years old, he has age on his side.
Maybe it’s just me, I don’t know!