Johannesburg - “We didn’t win the league because we are a good team. We won the league because we wanted it.”
That’s how victorious coach Pitso Mosimane summed up Mamelodi Sundowns’ seventh PSL championship. He says the secret behind their win lies in the work that they put in behind the scenes.
Though Sundowns boast extremely talented players, Mosimane says talent alone couldn’t have gotten them the Absa Premiership title.“We worked very hard. To watch three games of your opposition, to make corrections on your game within one and a half days and you are still training, it’s a lot of hours.
"We earned it. We put more hours on the technical team and more running on the players. With the team we have, we have to win,” said Mosimane.“It’s not about the talent. If talent alone is good enough then Barcelona could be in the Champions League final and Chelsea could also win the league.
"It’s more than talent. It’s team chemistry and discipline. We played more games than anybody. We played eight games in CAF. We travelled. We played every three days. "We never complained about playing every three days. We never complained about any referee. We kept quiet. It was difficult and now the boys deserve it.
"It’s been a long season, I think they played about 40 games.”
For the better part of the season, Mosimane could watch in admiration as his men terrorised all and sundry and Sundowns set a new points record. They amassed 71 points following 22 wins, five draws and three losses. They also managed to score 55 goals. So it's no wonder that Mosimane is impressed with how Sundowns fared this season.
“I mean 22 wins out of 30 is a big number. We are a little bit disappointed because we are one point short. "Remember when everybody was talking 60 points, our target was 72. We got 71. I cannot say I am not happy but we are one point short.
"It's a pity we couldn't turn one of the five draws into a win as that would have been really good,” said the two-time PSL Coach of the Season.
“We could have scored more but the points are more important. They (the players) worked hard and now we are reaping the rewards.
"We are happy with what we have achieved. It’s very good to see Lucas Moripe Stadium like this. We hope it can be like this every week. "We really worked hard. The guys ran and ran. I was checking physical data from our team.
"No-one ran more than us. You can talk about the depth of the team. There was depth but the team sheet never changed.”
Mosimane revealed that he will add reinforcements to his team for next season, but added that other players will be released
“We are going to release some players. They have to go and play somewhere.
"It’s very difficult to say go play somewhere because they also want to look after themselves financially. We want to improve. Next year we'll try again. We want to strengthen the team. There are still little bits of weaknesses that we need to work on.
"Turn five draws into three draws and win the other two games. That's the goal next time. We should be able to win it again but it’s not easy. We have planted the flag on top of Kilimanjaro. We say if you want to get it, you must go up,” said Mosimane who also congratulated himself.
“I am happy with myself because I never complained about any referee this season and that's how we should behave."
The Star