Moorosi Tsiane
Like I have said in my previous columns, this, indeed, has been a great season of football with many of our players in terrific form.
The goals have been flowing week-in-and-week-out, with a total of 149 having been scored by last weekend, just 10 games into the season.
Again, the matches have been very entertaining and more competitive, yet what worries me is the inconsistency of players who are not capable of sustaining their goal-scoring brilliance, beyond one season.
Take for example, Matlama midfielder Pali Tšalong, who was the top scorer in 2011/12 with eight goals, but could not find the net the following season, as Lioli youngster, Tšepo Seturumane, netted 13 times to win the Vodacom Premier League Golden Boot award.
Maybe Tšalong’s move to Linare the following season—a team he left in the middle of the season for Bantu where he also struggled until he rejoined Matlama at the start of last season—was the reason for his lack of goals, but still he could have hit the target on the few times he got the chance to play.
However, just like Tšalong before him, Seturumane struggled for goals last season, hitting the target just four times, with Bantu’s Tsebang Lebata getting the Golden Boot after scoring 13 goals.
Last season, Bantu’s Lazola Tjokotjokane and of-course Lebata, as well Nkoto Masoabi of Lioli were on fire, but neither has found the back of the net so far this season, which should be cause for concern for their clubs, if not the football public.
Masoabi has even been relegated to the bench now and usually comes in to replace Tšepo Lekhoona or Junior Maba, who are now being preferred by coach Mosholu Mokhothu.
Masoabi and Tjokotjokoane were making their Premiership debut last season, while Seturumane grabbed the Golden Boot in his first season in the topflight league. However, it was so disappointing to see him struggling in his second season of Premier League football.
But very fortunately for him, he has shown some improvement in his game this season and is slowly getting back to that Seturumane that Lioli and all football supporters used to know, love and fear, if you were not a Tse Nala fan.
The hitman was also one of the key members of Seephephe Matete’s side that however, failed to qualify to the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) tournament, as he scored four goals in eight matches, which means he is rediscovering his touch.
Why the players are not consistent really baffles me. I am not saying they must always be top scorers but only that they should be consistent and competitive enough to be called top-notch strikers.
I know we should be paying credit to our defenders who manage to subdue these strikers, but a really good goal-poacher will always find a way to score, and this is what I expect from these all-out forwards.
I don’t want to believe that the players relax or become big-headed once they win the top-scorer award hence the lackluster performance the following season.
But again, what else is one supposed to think when a top player suddenly becomes ordinary and a shell of the feared hitman he was only a few months before?
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