Pitso Mosimane Revealed Why He Don’t See Himself Coaching European Teams.
- International Football
NMMABUNDA
- 4 minutes read
Pitso Mosimane Revealed Why He Don’t See Himself Coaching European Teams.
Pitso Mosimane believes he will never be given the opportunity to manage in Europe and has chastised the English Premier League for its lack of black head coaches.
Both Nuno Espirito Santo of Tottenham Hotspur and Patrick Veira of Crystal Palace were born in Africa and began the Premier League season, albeit Nuno has since been fired by Spurs.
Meanwhile, Mosimane has just returned from finishing third at the Club World Cup with Egyptian giants Al Ahly, with the Red Devils defeating Saudi Arabia’s Al Hilal 4-0 in Abu Dhabi to take the bronze title.
Even though he won the Caf Champions League twice in a year with Al Ahly and placed third in the 2021 Fifa Club World Cup, the former Sundowns coach was not named among the Fifa Coach of the Year nominees.
When asked if he felt he might ever get a position in Europe, Mosimane, who has long been a strong voice for black coaches around the world, told the South African Football Journalists Association on Wednesday.
“You want to tell me that none of England’s black coaches can coach?” he asked.
“It’s amazing. What happened to Abedi Pele, Tony Yeboah, Dwight Yorke, and John Barnes? Are you saying that none of them can coach? We grew up looking up to these people as heroes, but we have yet to see one, not even in the top flight.”
Barnes did temporarily coach Glasgow Celtic, the Jamaican national team, and Tranmere Rovers, but Mosimane’s criticism is still relevant and frequently disputed in the English game.
The Al Ahly head coach alluded to Manchester City and England star Raheem Sterling, who has been vocal in his opposition to racism in football.
“I always refer back to football, the coaching staff you see around clubs. I’ll give a perfect one. There’s Steven Gerrard, your Frank Lampards, you have your Sol Campbells and you have your Ashley Coles,” Sterling told the BBC in 2020.
“They all had successful careers and all represented England.” At the same time, they’ve all respectfully completed their coaching badges to coach at the highest level, and the two that haven’t been given the right opportunities are the two black former players,” he added, despite the fact that Cole has recently joined head coach Lampard as a first team coach at Everton.
“Let me stay in the continent and possibly in the Gulf,” Mosimane added (there are opportunities). We don’t need to go to Europe to play football.”
After the Fifa Club World Cup final, Chelsea head coach Thomas Tuchel came over to speak with him. A video of the two hugging emerged, with Mosimane draped in a South African flag.
“Tuchel humbled me; I was doing my own business when he approached me and said something extraordinary. This is a winner of the Champions League, and what he said was incredible.
“I had a one-and-a-half-hour meeting with Arsene Wenger. Didier Drogba, John Terry, Mason Mount, and Antonio Rudiger, if you hear them sepak, they know everything. You are being recognized for the work that you accomplish. So we’ll meet in Club World Cups. It’s all right.”
