We don’t have a leader: Bartlett

(GSM) – Former Bafana striker and Captain Shaun Bartlett, who was capped 72 times at senior international level, with a return of 28 goals, said that he has still question marks over Aaron Mokoena’s captaincy for the World cup 2010.

“Steven Pienaar is our best player at the moment and I hear some say perhaps he should be the captain, there is a big question mark over Aaron, because he is not playing as he should at Portsmouth and the coach (Carlos Alberto Parreira) has said in the past that there are certain requirements of making the squad.” Barlett said.

“You got to be fit and you got to play regularly but we have to wait and see if there will be a few exceptions or not,” he added.

He explained, “My biggest problem with the current squad and this is not to sound negative about the players it is just that I don’t see a leader in that squad, that’s our biggest problem.”

“In the past Neil Tovey was the captain but you could count on at least seven players on the day to lead the team, those who had the ability to be leaders. But unfortunately we don’t have that in this team today. That’s my biggest concern,” Bartlett added.

Asked to comment on Aaron Mokoena’s weaknesses as captain, Bartlett says, “I’m not sure if I should comment on that, because you never criticize another professional player.”

He said why he is worried of his captaincy, “I just think Mokoena needs to be more commanding. He is a very quiet person by nature but so was I. Being captain of the national team changed me. The people close to me will tell you I was never outspoken, but as captain you got to stand up for your players.”