SuperSport Utd the Barca of SA?

SuperSport United have dominated the South African junior national teams and some have compared their academy to that of Barcelona.

The Catalans famous La Masia academy has produced over 40 players who are currently plying their trade in Europe's leading five leagues. United also have natured over 40 players who have gone on to ply their trade in the South African top flight league

But are SuperSport worth the comparison with the Spanish giants? Supersport.com’s Clyde Tlou spoke to Matsantsantsa CEO Stan Matthews in an exclusive interview.

Briefly tell us about the SuperSport United Academy and the partnership with Spurs and Feyenoord?

SuperSport United take great pride in our academy and have always set the benchmark against global best practice. To this end we have looked to partner with international academies of the highest standard.

From 2002 - 2007 we partnered with Feyenoord Rotterdam in an association that saw Kamohelo Mokotjo and Kermit Erasmus transfer to Feyenoord. While Kermit returned home to first us and then Orlando Pirates, Kamohelo has continued to play Eeriedivisie football with moves to PEC Zwolle and FC Twente.

From 2007-2014 we partnered with Tottenham Hotspur whose academy credentials have taken a major boost with the rise of Harry Kane as a prolific striker. The association has seen our former captain Bongani Khumalo transfer to Europe and our Under 20 international Morne Nel remains high on the Spurs radar for the future. With the Spurs partnership recently expiring , we will continue to seek International partners to add value to our coaches and players in the future.

With over 40 products of the academy that have gone all the way to the PSL, will it be wrong to call you the Barcelona of SA?

Well that would be amazing but we have to be realistic. We have a great record in producing local talent but we would like to see more of our home grown players playing regularly in the first team ( currently Ronwin Williams , Thato Mokeke and Thabo Moloi are the only regulars ).

We also need to do more to ensure our academy players get more physical conditioning and tactical training as these are the 2 biggest areas of weakness in producing players of International standard.

The final challenge is the social elements which seems to be a problem across the board in South Africa as our players continue to be inconsistent in relation to their international counterparts and we are never quite sure what kind of performance we will get from week to week.

Ten players in the national U17 and U20 team, are you satisfied with that contribution and what does that mean to the club and the coaches?

It's a fantastic platform for the club but we can only be satisfied when the potential reaches fruition and the players make a mark in the PSL and hopefully Europe. Until then it remains potential. We are hopeful that from this current group of players we will be able to have a strong base for the next few years at the club. Looking at our Under 15 and Under 13 teams we think the current group will face a serious challenge over the next five years because the talent coming through is among the best we have ever had.

What is SSU’s secret to discovering, developing and producing this quality talent in large numbers?

Our academy has always been a priority and we have been blessed to have an amazing main sponsor in Phumelela who have supported us for 13 years. This has been the platform for us to produce. And then there are our people , our staff. They are the real backbone of delivery. We are proud of ourselves and our coaches , scientific and medical support staff and all at the academy - they put their hearts and souls into the kids and we are happy with the way our academy is managed from the cooks and cleaners to the drivers, kit managers, coaches, academy managers and technical director - they are great ambassadors for us and continue to deliver.

The MultiChoice Diski Challenge, how much has it helped the academy in measuring where they are and achieving their goals?

The MultiChoice Diski Challenge is the best thing to happen to local football in my time in the game. We now have a forum to test our young academy players against the senior players in an environment that doesn't hold major risk for clubs as it does in the PSL.

With so much at stake in terms of relegation , it's a hard ask to expect owners and coaches to risk franchise status by playing young untested players in the PSL. For 20 year old players who no longer qualify to play within academy structures it's been a journey into obscurity as they are either loaned out or watch the senior team play for months on end without kicking a ball and obviously regressing.

So now they have a place to play regularly , express themselves without fear and show us all what they can do on national television. We are now going to see more emphasis on the youth which will bring fresh talent into the game, bring club costs down to more sensible and viable levels and change the face of South African football.