Baroka coach Dan Malesela admits he’s not a fan of the desperate nature of the Premier Soccer League promotion/relegation play-offs.
Motsepe Foundation Championship sides Orbit College and Castric Stars played out a goalless encounter in the first game of the 2024/25 play-offs, that also includes Betway Premiership team Cape Town City.
The veteran coach explained that not only does he think it is harder to win the National First Divison than the South African top-flight, Malesela explained that the play-offs only create negative and desperate football.
He told KickOff: “The reason finishing in position 1 in the Motsepe Foundation Championship is more difficult compared to finishing in the same position in the PSL is because circumstances are not the same.
“People just play for winning when they are desperate. It’s not about the standard of the league. It’s all about the nerves and desperation. People are very desperate to get to the PSL. You do whatever to get there.
“In the play-offs, it’s even worse because it’s all about ‘we must defend and not concede, get a goal anyhow anyway.’ So it disturbs this thing of play-offs because sometimes I feel like we forget that people need to be entertained.
“When we set up competitions, they must be just about the beauty of the game. Not create a situation where people are going to get desperate to win at all costs. So that’s the downfall of these play-offs.”
Malesela led Baroka to eighth place in the recently completed NFD.