Cavin Johnson advises Hugo Broos on how to get the best out of Bafana Bafana

Former Al Ahly assistant coach Cavin Johnson has dissected the recent remarks by Hugo Broos, claiming that South Africa lacks the top talent to compete with the best on the continent.

Following Bafana Bafana’s 2-1 loss to Morocco in the opening match of their 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers, Broos claimed it was difficult to compete with the North Africans as well as Ghana and France, the other teams they had lost to in recent months.

Broos has since apologized for those remarks but former SuperSport United coach Johnson has shared his advice for the Belgian tactician.

''It is a very very touchy subject, the fact that he is the head coach of Bafana Bafana,'' Johnson told GOAL.

''But at the same time, I will not criticize what he says because I have a different mentality, different thoughts.

''Yes I think we have the best players, or I think we have good enough players to play on the continent. But when I compare, and I got no criticism against him [Hugo Broos] what other countries are doing.

''For example, you find the Mali team at the moment. The Mali team has got a lot of players playing international, they play in Europe a lot of their players. So they have a strong national team.

''But when you look at the Ethiopian team, most of their players are from Ethiopia, they are not from overseas. When you look a the Egyptian team, most of their players are playing locally. you get what I'm saying?

''The typical example is Al Ahly, they have seven international players on their team and they have a top team in the Egyptian league.

''So you have to think of it differently and I think of it differently and I say to myself if we don't have enough players playing internationally, then you got to look at the best players from the best team winning and the best team winning now is Mamelodi Sundowns,'' continued Johnson.

''So the make-up of the national team, in my opinion, should be coming from Sundowns and I say that because most of those players are playing with each other, so they will be able to take their game and Bafana Bafana to the next level and probably get the result.

''So, therefore, pick the core from the Sundowns team because they are dominating South Africa at the moment, and then fill up with what you have from the other teams to create a statement in Africa as far as Afcon and qualifying for the World Cup is concerned.

''And then when that is done, then you can then say 'Guys, we have to make sure that our younger players are getting exposed to another level, your U17, U20 and U23's, and when they are getting exposed, they will probably come back to their teams having developed better.

''So there's no criticism but you've got the core of your team coming from the team that's dominating your local league in South Africa.

''And if he wants to drop the average age of the team like he said when he came in, that's normal. But at the same time, we want results and we can't have the two together. We can get the two together over a period of time if we do what I think is right.

''Take the team, qualify the team take the team there and then come back and say, okay now the qualification is done, we are inside there but we are going with this team because you've analyzed other countries, they are more or less on the same age but at this level, we need to bring the younger ones in, that's how you do it.''

Johnson, 63, has been on the fringes since leaving Al Ahly last year and his name has been among those thrown in the hat for the vacant Royal AM coaching job as well as Orlando Pirates.

While he did not give anything away, the former AmaZulu mentor did confirm he's been in contact with clubs both locally and internationally.

''There are few options in Africa, I'm just waiting for them to come,'' Johnson said of his future.

''There are one or two in South Africa and I am also waiting for them to come.

''But it's all pie in the sky unless they come with the contract and you are happy with it. Then you are able to talk names, who's talking and all that,

''But until then, you have to keep things below par and wait.

'So the only thing I can say is that yes, there are people talking to me and we are waiting for them to come back and be solid on the table.''