ROGER DE SA reckons Maritzburg United can emulate his former club, Ajax Cape Town, and have a good youth structure that can help take his side to greater heights.
The new United head coach said with Ajax he won last season’s MTN8 with 10 academy players and he’s hoping to do the same with the Team of Choice.
“My biggest success so far is probably winning MTN8 with 10 academy players from Ajax.
“I think that’s a South African record and it’s probably going to take a long time to be broken. But if we can come closer to that here, I’ll be happy,” said De Sa.
The 54-year-old took over the reigns at the Team of Choice from the Davids brothers, Fadlu and Maahier, who were interim coaches after the departure of Ernst Middendorp last November.
The former Bidvest Wits and Orlando Pirates mentor signed a six-month contract with an option to extend for another two years.
He said as much as his first priority is to secure a top eight spot for United, he will also make sure their youth set-up is in a perfect place.
He went on: “Before we even look at other places, we should start here at home and develop our own players. Maritzburg has massive youth and I don’t think they’re used to their best.
“I think the club needs to be structured differently and that’s probably one of the reasons why the chairman (Farook Kadodia) wanted me here. We need to have more youth coming into the first team.”
De Sa said he will soon meet with Kadodia to discuss the possibility of adding new players and releasing others.
But according to Kadodia, the coach still needs time to work with the team before he can make any decisions regarding players.
Explained Kadodia: “The only player for now who has left the team is Abia Nale, who requested to be released. Regarding new players, there isn’t much to say.
“The coach needs time to evaluate his squad properly and by next week we’ll know the way forward.”
