In these trying times, perhaps there’s a thing or two that the Proteas management can learn from Jürgen Klopp‘s managerial tactics, writes Ongama Gcwabe
The Proteas head to India for a short ODI series after whitewashing Australia at home. Winning the series is a positive but we are not there yet, as Mark Boucher confirmed in a presser before their departure to India.
Selecting a starting XI in cricket has always been mainly based on the form of a player and also the playing conditions, and it worked in those years.
It allowed coaches to develop a group of 13 to 16 individuals with an almost consistent playing eleven.
This tactic works wonders in international cricket because you get to have an experienced bunch of players who keep returning positive results for a period of four to six years at most.
But as we’ve seen in the past, this way of managing a team can create problems especially when you start having injuries.
Because you’ve been playing more or less the same eleven for a long time, it becomes hard to find a replacement.
Also, what happens when that group of players retire? Of course, they won’t retire at the exact same time but in most cases, they retire around about the same period.
This leaves teams in the transition phase, hurting and embarrassed, as we saw with the Proteas when big names retired before the summer.
My point is, how about we move on with the times. How about we learn from other managers around the world irrespective of the sport.
Take Jurgen Klopp for an example, he has such a big squad of players at his disposal but he finds ways of coming up with different combinations that work well for the team.
With Star players like Mo Salah, Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino, you’d expect them to be in the side week-in-week-out.
But only Jordan Henderson and James Milner are regulars. Klopp understands that he has to think about the future and motivate the youngsters that are doing well in the lower teams.
The South African white-ball setup is interesting at the moment. Inexperienced players have put their hands up for spots in the team creating a good headache for the coaches and selectors.
At this time, how about we create an environment which will allow guys to play their cricket freely and not have to be in competition with one another for spots in the eleven.
How about we follow Klopp in creating a healthy team environment where each player understands that it’s about the team and not about them, to cut off entitlement.
I remember when Klopp was in the process of signing star player Takumi Minamino from Salzburg, he told him straight up that he can come to Liverpool but there’s chances he won’t be a regular in the side but Minamino joined Liverpool anyway.
Many players joined Liverpool knowing they won’t get as much game time as they got in their previous teams. But the culture Klopp created in that team kept luring players in the team, they just couldn’t resist being in that environment
Doing this also motivates domestic players to stay at home instead of taking other options that leave our system dry of quality cricketers.
I understand that it’s about winning games of cricket but that shouldn’t cloud us from ensuring that we never see ourselves in the rebuilding phase again.
Let me know what you think is the most effective way to keep players hungry for games, to keep them happy and focused solely on the team’s success.
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