Bafana Bafana head coach Hugo Broos believes the Betway Premiership season won’t be like no other he has experienced in South Africa.
Mamelodi Sundowns won an unprecedented seven league titles in a row in the past term with many saying they will dominate for more seasons to come.
Orlando Pirates have finished as runners-up in back-to-back campaigns while Kaizer Chiefs have struggled to put up a real challenge for the league. Last season, Stellenbosch FC gave a good account of themselves, finishing third and qualifying for the CAF Confederation Cup for the first time.
Currently, only three sides are unbeaten in the league so far; the Brazilians, the Buccaneers and Babina Noko though the Limpopo side have picked up a draw in three games.
Broos says from the opening rounds of the campaign, he has seen Chiefs play better with a structure that promises some challenge from them. The Belgian also feels that Pirates and Stellies also look threatening while Sekhukhune United are looking like a dark horse.
The senior national team coach says a competitive run for the championship is not only good for the clubs but also for the national team.
“First of all, I have to say that I’m happy with what I see now in PSL,” said Broos.
“I think it will not be a championship like the previous years, where you have one team who dominates everything and is already champion at New Years.
“I think there are some teams now, for example, [Kaizer] Chiefs. When you see Chiefs playing now and you saw Chiefs playing the past years, there is a structure, there is a plan. I think there will be maybe not champion, but there will be a struggle.
“I see Stellenbosch, I see Pirates. So, there are already three teams who can beat, who can struggle and who can fight with Sundowns for championship. So, I hope that happens and then you have the outsiders.
“Every year, you have always teams like Sekhukhune for the moment who’s doing well. Maybe they can be Stellenbosch of last year. That is what I said already before and there has to be more fighting, more struggling to be champion that makes the level higher.
“When there is a team that know every year that they are champions the other teams are playing for second, third place. Okay, that is done also for Champions League and for Confederation Cup. But it’s not the same when you are with five teams fighting for the championship.
“So, let’s hope that that happens, and what I’ve seen in the first, three, four games now that have been played, I think it can happen, and that can also help us a lot Bafana Bafana that you have a championship who had more fighting.
“The mentality has to be good to win games the quality has to be good to win games. So let’s hope that that goes on and that we have a fight for five, six teams to be champion this year.”
