Mamelodi Sundowns head coach Rulani Mokwena has offered insight into the potential of Siyabonga Mabena but stated less should be spoken of him for his own development.
The 16-year-old made his second appearance from the bench for Sundowns this season in their 0-0 draw with Cape Town City at Loftus Versveld on Tuesday evening which marked another step in his meteoric rise from the School of Excellence.
Last year he won the Player of the Tournament at the U17 Cosafa Cup where he netted nine goals and after his first-team debut, Mokwena stated he’s showing glimpses of the late Gift Leremi.
“It’s the ability to go left side, right side and at speed, Mabena has that, you see the drop of the shoulder and then the dynamic change of direction,” Mokwena said when asked to expand on his high praise.
“It’s not many players who have that, it’s a small detail but it’s not a detail that’s very easy to see, watch the two assists he made for us in the DDC – look at even the ball he plays over the top, how he drops the shoulder to create space.”
While he’s able to wax lyrical about the teenager, he’s reiterated the dangers of speaking too far ahead before the player has matured enough to perform at senior level on a consistent basis.
“Bright future, we just have to be very careful, not too much noise man, I always say… I said it about Cassius, and I had to manage Cassius when he came back from Bafana. The youngsters need a little bit of protection,” he continued.
“We’re not a country that is known to produce world-class talent at a very young age, and there must be a reason for that, there must be a reason, it should not be oh – but we don’t have the talent.
“There must be a reason our players only reach a very good level of performance a little bit later. Football nations produce 16 year old, 17 year old’s that are ready to perform at this level.
“But why don’t we do that? That should be our question, and sometimes we overhype, we see one good game then all of a sudden this one… no, a little but [of attention is needed], you have to do this, how many years has Themba Zwane been doing this?
“So today you ask me about Mabena, you should be asking me about Mshishi, do you know what I mean? You should be asking me about Peter, his level of consistency for the last four, five years from Highlands Park to Sundowns, and the number of goals, he’s on 98 goals, why aren’t we talking about Peter? Why are we talking about Mabena.”
Mokwena continued: “We should not be speaking about Mabena, he’s not done enough to be part of this press conference, quiet, quiet – and focus on the people, that for many, many years have reached a very good level of performance, otherwise we kill these talents.
“We kill these talents by overhyping them, they think they arrived and all of a sudden, then what happens? It’s the curse of the rising star, it sounds cliche but it’s true, they say make a wish before it disappears.
“But it has to stay there because real stars shine bright in the dark skies, it’s not a poof and then all of a sudden [gone]. We have to ask ourselves that question.”
