Ndlela: There's room for the tall, ball-holding striker in modern game

SA’s lack of penetrative strikers is well-documented. The nation is not producing forwards that are as dominant as those of yesteryear, with the tall striker no longer being a feature in the domestic game.

The tallest striker SA has produced is former Bafana Bafana international Lungisani Ndlela, who stood at a towering 2m. In his heyday, he played for Moroka Swallows, SuperSport United and Mamelodi Sundowns. 

But lately the role of lanky strikers in modern football has become minimal, thanks to the emergence of “false nines” and strikers who drop into the midfield.

Ndlela, who understands what it feels like to stand tall alone, believes that players who have similar traits to him are still around but are not given a platform. 

“This depends on the team’s strategy and the coach’s system, how he wants the team to play. It’s not that tall strikers are not there. Even in the DDC (reserves league), I have seen strong tall boys up front. The problem is teams don’t want to promote these boys, they want to buy.  

“There are only a few tall players in the PSL, but it depends on the team’s preference and the coach’s plans, if plan A is not working, what’s their plan B?” Ndlela told Sowetan. 

A tall striker attacking a cross inside the box is poetry in motion, nowadays we hardly see it as goals steam from build-up play phases. Services to the box for strikers don’t come, even when they call for a cross and have a run-up, they don’t get the ball as it’s likely to hit the first defender. Even though heading is their strong suit, tall strikers can also offer hold-up play and link with others but they prefer to be inside the 18-yard area where the action is. 

“When you’re tall it doesn’t mean you can only head,” Ndlela said.

“The PSL has changed. Back in the day we had tall strikers who could dribble and play but were not good with their head. It depends on the confidence they give you in your team, if you’re a tall striker they will tell you your job is inside the box, don’t go out of it too much, you must know your job is at the box.  

“Sometimes strikers want to go play in the midfield and take the ball but they should be inside the box unless he’s defending. As a striker, you need to teach yourself how to defend and also how to position yourself so you can be at the right place at the right time,” he said. 

Orlando Pirates striker Evidence Makgopa has a build similar to Ndlela’s, as he stands at 1.88m. After impressing at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, Makgopa broke into the Bafana Bafana team and moved to the Buccaneers. Bafana’s coach Hugo Broos urged his former side Baroka to work on certain aspects of his game but they fell short. The move to Pirates was supposed to help him get better as he would get improved coaching but that’s not been the case. At just 22 years old, Makgopa’s career seems to be stagnant. Ndlela has urged his duplicate to fight at the Bucs and show Spanish coach Jose Riveiro what he has to offer. 

“He has to stay and fight for his position, he has to show why they signed him and that the national team call-up was not a mistake, and he can deliver. It’s just a matter of him getting a chance and when he gets it he must make sure that he uses it. There are a lot of players waiting for the chance. 

“He must know that he’s a different striker and others don’t have what he has. He must show them that they can rely on him, he must be that guy. He must go the extra mile and focus on getting his chance,” said the former Bafana striker.