Former South African Shot-Stopper Exposes the Fall of Kaizer Chiefs, Orlando Pirates, and Mamelodi Sundowns in Producing Future Stars

It's no secret that South Africa has a fantastic football league with great young players. Kaizer Chiefs, Orlando Pirates, and Mamelodi Sundowns have some of the best development teams in Africa, known for helping youngsters develop both on and off the pitch.

Furthermore, SA's big three teams invest heavily in football infrastructure and in most cases the results are excellent.

However, it is somewhat difficult these days for players to break into the first team at these clubs compared to the likes of SuperSport United, Stellenbosch, or Cape Town Spurs, just to name a few.

Former Bafana Bafana and Masandawana goalkeeper Calvin Marlin, has a lovely problem with Amakhosi, the Buccaneers, and the Brazilians' development sides that he hopes can be solved.

Acknowledging the excellent work the Tshwane giants have done in recent times as Chiefs and Pirates continue to battle it out, Marlin shares his views on why he believes the trio is not producing as many players as they should.

Why Chiefs, Pirates, and Sundowns can't produce many top players these days

When it comes to football, Chiefs, Pirates, and Sundowns have always been great powerhouses to some of the biggest footballers on the African continent.

For many years, the big three have been the country's best producers, providing the Bafana Bafana team with a huge number of tremendous players that have helped the team thrive.

Nonetheless, currently, the big three are struggling to promote young players people are accustomed to seeing.

"It's difficult in South Africa in terms of player development because it depends on the goals and objectives the team wants to achieve," Marlin told SportsBoom.com. 

"So, there are teams like Stellenbosch FC and Cape Town Spurs, formerly Ajax Cape Town, who develop players and sell them to big teams. Their goal is to develop players and make money.

''The objective of the big three teams is to win every game and it becomes difficult to groom as many players because every player is expected to perform at a high level.

Why do young players disappear in the process after getting promoted to the first teams of Chiefs, Pirates, and Sundowns

In the glory years, the Glamour Boys and the Sea Robbers regularly produced players Emmanuel Ngobese, Junior Khanye, Jabu Pule, Benedict Vilakazi, and Joseph Makhanya, respectively, just to name a few. 

The aforementioned legends got where they are today because they were given the chance to play and express themselves at a young age.

But in a day when teams want instant results, the big South African clubs are not very patient with developing their players. Instead, they are eager to buy players who are already established. 

Along with this comes the fact that plenty of players fade away in the process and the Bafana Bafana legend gives his thoughts on the matter. 

“At other clubs, like Kaizer Chiefs, Orlando Pirates, and Mamelodi Sundowns, there is no time to wait for a player to develop in the first team because they need results,” reasons the ex-Bafana Bafana goalie. 

"So sometimes it affects players because young players are not going to get a chance to play more special goalkeepers because there is no way a coach will play a young player ahead of the number one keeper at a big club. 

"And occasionally it is not about not liking players, it is about where you are and how the development works. At big teams, if you don't have experienced players you're going to get fired because the intention is to win, and that limits the chance of developing players.