Johannesburg - Ahead of their departure to Algeria - via Istanbul, Turkey - on Tuesday night, Mamelodi Sundowns coach Pitso Mosimane seemed more occupied with player movements than his side’s opening CAF Champions League group stages clash away to ES Setif on Saturday night.
Mosimane said he did not have “the numbers”, with several key players missing through suspension, a bout of flu and, much to the coach’s frustration, contractual disputes. The reigning South African Premier League champions will be without goalkeeper Denis Onyango, defenders Ramahlwe Mphahlele (also captain), Soumahoro Bangaly, Tebogo Langerman, Anthony Laffor, Katlego Mashego as well as Mzikayise Mashaba.
“We are really depleted,” said Mosimane, whose team earned their place in the group stages of the competition through the back door following CAF’s decision to reinstate them after AS Vita were found to have used an ineligible player - Idrissa Traore - in the earlier rounds, including the game against Sundowns in April.“And also, some guys’ contracts are finishing.
This means we have to ask ourselves questions and figure out whether we want them or not. But this means you have to run with less numbers. Remember that when we sign players, we sign from August and the contracts expire at the end of May. But these guys are registered for CAF and suddenly they are not part of the team.
The truth is that we might not need some of these players for next season, but you are forced to keep them because of the CAF numbers.”Mosimane was referring to Mphahlele, Laffor and Katlego Mashego, three players whose current deals expire on June 30. There is a whole host of players who are still waiting to kick start negotiations.
Laffor has an option to renew his contract at Sundowns, but has apparently told the club he is not interested. Mphahlele has been linked with a move to Kaizer Chiefs despite Sundowns having offered him an improved deal, which he has so far rejected.
Ditto Mashego, who the coach also added has told the club he wants to move on after spending their championship winning season as a fringe player. The trio did not travel to Algeria.“I have registered Tiyani Mabunda because I think he has earned it.
And Samuel Julies, who you might have seen in the past, is also an option,” Mosimane revealed, even though he scrambled to get to 18 players to make the trip to Algeria. “You have seen in the past that when Pirates were playing the CAF tournaments that they also struggled with the numbers because some players moved on while they were still in the group stages.
I don’t want to open a can of worms, but it is the way our football calendar is run, which is from August to May. The rest on the continent is on a different schedule. Transfers are ongoing and you cannot hold on to players.”Saturday’s game will be played at 11:15pm SA time (Algeria are an hour behind) because of the month of Ramadan.
ES Setif players will be fasting and the club requested the game be played much later in the day. Mosimane said he was confident the Brazilians would at least come home with a draw because they want to be a bit more adventurous in the group stages instead of being as cautious as they were in the preliminary rounds, for instance.
@superjourno
The Star