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The marriage between football and aphorisms has always been a happy one. In the last fortnight Carlos Parreira will have discovered that, as an old adage goes, 'time is more valuable than money because you can get more money, but you cannot get more time.' Even on his R1-million plus per month retainer, Mr Parreira must be painfully aware that cash is but the unfortunate handmaiden to time.

Nonetheless, the Brazilian remains upbeat about the results against Japan and Jamaica even though he has just 200 days to go to identify the South African national team's foibles and troubles and find solutions.

That said, I was delighted to read a prognosis of Bafana Bafana's problems. It takes guts to write a technical analysis in the purlieu of the local sports media because it attracts disparaging comments from the Sunday 'We Sold The Sea To Foreigners' Times, so kudos to Tiyani wa ka Mabasa, who wrote in KickOff.com, 'the biggest problem with the national team is the dearth of wing play...[Bafana's] makeshift wingers during these matches were cutting inside, instead of taking on the opposition's fullbacks and whipping in those crosses.'

The issue of the full-backs has for some time now been a point of contention in South African football. Ditto the long-running debate about the two defensive midfielders.

Both elements hint at the complexities of how the different sub-systems in any formation relate to one other, or in short, how they interact within the whole. To explain further, holding players are deployed to allow creative playmakers the liberty to conjure up offensive plays.

Acknowledging The Pyramid

As Jonathan Wilson, author of Inverting the Pyramid, told me in a recent conversation, 'Football is a holistic sport, and defensive strength in central midfield should allow greater freedom of expression for the more creative players.'

It is for this reason that I often defended Joel Santana for deploying two of MacBeth Sibaya, Kagiso Dikgacoi or Benson Mhlongo because that ought to have freed up Teko Modise and co.

And herein the gist of the issues facing Parreira; he has manifold problems to address throughout the various areas of the pitch, but especially on the right side of midfield.

Unfortunately these problems are systemic in local football and they have their genesis in the expectations of the fans and the media, who quite unrealistically, want it all.

As Santana found to his detriment, playing one striker was not tolerated by the nation who, at the same time demand space in the starting XI for the likes of attacking midfielders Modise, Siphiwe Tshabalala and Franklyn Cale, while also demurring the inclusion of stodgy midfielders. And now there are clarion calls for wingers too.

What About Jogo Bonito?

The starting line-ups for the friendlies against Japan and Jamaica allude at Parreira's likely tactical persuasion and also hint at how he will respond to the external pressure from fans and the press. In both matches Parreira ostensibly utilised a 4-4-2 formation, although because neither Modise nor Tshabalala are out-and-out wingers, it is perhaps more apt to denote it as 4-2-2-2 which is exactly the system used by Parreira when Brazil won the World Cup in 1994 (with two defensive mids too, in Dunga and Mauro Silva).

After Selecao's triumph at the Rose Bowl, The New York Times wrote, 'Parreira had been relentlessly criticized for paying too much attention to defense [sic] and not enough to "jogo bonito," the beautiful game.'

'He had been under tremendous pressure to change his lineups and tactics and had been admonished by everyone from Pelé to his own mother.'

He can expect similar criticism in South Africa - just substitute Mama Parreira for some or other dodgy politician - but so far he seems committed to a tried and tested approach to the game. There are also encouraging signs that this system, that includes two central midfielders, ŕ la Santana, might have the efficacy to prove successful.

As Wilson explains: 'It helps, of course, if you have at least one attacking full-back to change the angle of attack, and also if one of the midfield holders can pass.'

Tiyani Mabasa might not believe that Tsepo Masilela has the dynamism to offer width from full-back down the left, but his showings at the Confederations Cup do prove he has the requisite range of skills to offer another outlet. Take a look at FIFA's 'heat maps' from the tournament which I believe illustrate this quite beautifully.

Indeed, the left flank appears quite well stocked as Masilela, who is the only Bafana stalwart currently playing UEFA Champions League football, must surely be good enough to form a combination with any of the following left midfielders; Tshabalala, Daine Klate or even Cale.

The Need For Steel

The inclusion of Reneilwe Letsholonyane in midfield also offers a practical expression of Wilson's theoretical musings about the importance of a midfielder who is able to distribute the ball accurately. Bafana Bafana had far more impetus on attack with the Kaizer Chiefs man alongside Dikgacoi in the match against the Reggae Boys (although my preferred pairing would be Sibaya and Pienaar - the Everton midfielder is ostensibly seen as a playmaker, but his time in the English Premier League has seen him evolve into an excellent box-to-box player who isn't afraid to 'get stuck in').

But it is on the right side where South Africa is left short; again refer to the heat maps to see just how little the team utilised the right channel at the Festival of Champions.

Unlike on the opposite wing, no players have consistently impressed down the right. Bryce Moon is the logical option at either right-back or right-midfield, but like many European-based South Africans, the 23-year-old has been hampered by a lack of game time.

The issue, however, is further complicated by the fact that fielding two wingers and two strikers would necessitate that either Modise is demoted to the bench or that one of the central holding midfielders is disposed of.

Risky Business

Although Parreira once predicted that the future of football would see outlandish 4-6-0 formations, he is unlikely to radically alter the shape of Bafana Bafana because he doesn't have the time or goodwill of the people to risk experimentation.

Furthermore, recent results, as well as the theories mooted here, prove it would be untenable and nigh suicidal for Parreira to take drastic action.

During his first spell with Bafana Bafana, he conducted a number of experiments, many of which failed. Fielding one holding player versus Egypt in November 2006 resulted in a 1-0 defeat while the same happened against Scotland in August 2007. Failing to solidify the middle of the park at the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations also saw a heavy 3-1 defeat to Tunisia and draws to continental minnows Angola and a Senegal side in the twilight of its glory days.

Parreira has already identified some of these concerns and the role of full-backs seems central to his strategic thinking.

"We need to work more with our overlapping full-backs to get more crosses in and therefore more chances to score," he said.

"We need to work a lot on ball possession and play to our strengths which is attacking. It's very clear that when we do this then we look like a dangerous side and it's important that we have full-backs who overlap."

A Culture Of Mediocrity

As was mentioned earlier, local football culture is partly responsible for the current predicament. I recently spoke to former Dutch international and Orlando Pirates coach Ruud Krol and asked him how South African footballers compare to players from other African nations and Europe.

"The biggest problem is everyone wants the ball at [their] feet," he said. "That means they don't always see the space off the ball."

Perhaps this is why the full-backs need to be told to overlap and don't do so instinctively despite this being especially vital in a system that sees the men in front of them cut inside.

Hopefully Parreira can improve on Santana's tenure by ensuring that the two flanks and bands of midfield and attack combine together organically to become a proper team. Central to an efficient system will be that the South American tactician finds the right balance between attack and defence. Unfortunately, it seems to me that most South African commentators propose a top-heavy line-up brimming with too many attackers and sans any real backbone.

It is here where Parreira will earn his salary. Benni McCarthy might have returned and Nasief Morris and Pienaar will also come back into the fray, but this game is bigger than individuals. It's about leadership, team work, and, as much as the local media hates it, it's also about tactics which as former AC Milan manager Arrigo Sacchi famously said, exist to 'multiply the players' qualities exponentially'.

How else do we expect Bafana Bafana to compete at the World Cup?

richard.ferraris@teamtalkmedia.co.za